[TriLUG] Palmer for another SC term; proposed amendment to the bylaws

[Brandon Van Every]

On Wed, Apr 24, 2013 at 1:56 PM, Phillip Rhodes
<motley.crue.fan at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> I just want to be *very* careful that we don't create an environment
> where people feel like they are walking on eggshells, having to
> constantly worry about being busted by the "PC police" at every turn,
> when they are at a TriLUG function.


Given the overwhelming gender imbalance in the computer industry, I frankly
wouldn't lose sleep if the policy said "men who say X Y Z will be shot on
sight."  ;-)  A certain level of exaggeration is tolerable because in the
real world, policies have almost no force.  Doing anything that even
suggests having a policy, no matter how sloppily or callously worded, is to
the good, as social reprogramming of people's deeply entrenched habits is
very very difficult.  A policy pretty much spits in an ocean of deep
economic and educational imbalance, that makes the landscape what it is, so
if the policy is a big jaw stocking hockey of a spitball... who cares?  why
worry?  No manhood is likely to be impuned in the making of this film.

I'll reconsider my "it doesn't matter what it says" position when women
prove that they actually *do* have some power at a TriLUG meeting and
really *are* making some men uncomfortable with it.  At which point, I
would say "Aha!  The shoe is on the other foot, what a great exercise in
empathy" and ask for people to wordsmith something to deal with it.  Until
that's a working reality....


Cheers,
Brandon
who is really sick of the gender imbalance of this industry, and thinks
steps must be taken in broad strokes