[Noisebridge-discuss] XY Combinator

[Ken Adler]

I wonder how long that picture on the home page stays there.  Anyone want to
start a betting pool?

I know one of the guys in the picture and gave him the heads up about the
site.   He  (a) was not aware of the site,and (b) was "not amused" that his
picture was being used without his permission.. especially in this context.

Ken

On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 9:46 AM, Tom Cauchois <tcauchois at gmail.com> wrote:

> This is an example of something that's hard to pick up on for guys who have
> never really thought about it, because I don't think it's trying to be
> offensive.  It's just trying to make fun of startup founders.
>
> The part that makes it obvious, and the part that really annoys me, is
> again "all startup founders are guys and we need to get them dates through
> the internet".  That's a denial of the great women in tech and a
> discouragement for more women to enter tech.  Maybe low impact because it's
> a joke site, but it's also the pervasive thinking, which sucks because a
> gender balanced tech workforce would be sweet.
>
> It also implies these guys are dateable, in spite of "The Social Network".
>
> On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 3:03 AM, Christie Dudley <longobord at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> On Tue, May 24, 2011 at 12:10 AM, Griffin Boyce <griffinboyce at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> I would think in this case that the guys would be the "commodity" since
>>> they are the ones vying for the affection of those who are considered to be
>>> socially-superior.
>>>
>>
>> uh... no, not really. When you seek money for your startup, it's the money
>> that's the commodity, not the unique original idea that you have. Last I
>> checked, the whole point of money is that it's a commodity.
>>
>> I found the whole thing more sad than funny. It seemed a lame attempt at
>> humor, relying on stereotypes (thus reinforcing them) to make a joke that at
>> best was really childish, like laughing at a disabled kid for not being able
>> to play ball like normal kids. Not only do I agree with Liz about the
>> assumption that it's only men doing startups, but entirely found the
>> treatment of women on that site uncomfortable. Although I suspect they meant
>> it to be creepy, it is neither truly over the top, nor not-creepy, thus
>> failing on either side.
>>
>> They might have been able to pull it out with interesting embellishment or
>> even meaningful credibility, but failed there, too. I mean seriously, no
>> feedback form? Just an email address? You never got to know anything about
>> the girls, not even how they select them. They could have taken that
>> humorously quite a long ways, potentially making the women seem even *gasp*
>> desirable in any way at all other than "lovely young". But by that omission,
>> they so thoroughly commoditize the women, they assure that it falls flat.
>> (They seriously would do better with cattle!)
>>
>>
>>> To me at least, it's coded as access to romance and basic human
>>> affection, which (again in my experience) isn't limited to "access to a
>>> vagina."  In fact, it's incredibly insulting that it's so frequently assumed
>>> that "all men want" is sexual interaction.  And yes, I've met (and
>>> frequently dated!) men who were exceedingly polite and respectful, but were
>>> too shy in most circumstances to make a good first impression.  The same
>>> goes for women, come to think of it.  Something like this could be a good
>>> way to meet people for all genders and sexualities.
>>>
>>
>> Oh, and I guess you missed the FAQ where they tell you they don't offer
>> boys to date. "Our model works best." was their response. It makes
>>
>> I think the biggest reason the joke here falls flat is because it's not
>> even outrageous enough that it's clear to people who read it through that
>> it's a joke. Or maybe that's the joke?
>>
>> Christie
>> _______
>> I'm the kind of person who finds and makes choices where there appear to
>> be none.
>>
>>
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>
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-- 
Ken Adler
510-290-5806 (cell)
Ken at adler.net
----
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