Re: Things to notice (was Re: Code of Conduct: Is it time?, broken thread I hope)

Hi,

On Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 10:10:23PM +1300, Gavin Flower wrote:

> The phrase "Mere Male" was title of a column I read in NZ Women's Weekly
> that my mother bought when I was a teenager.

That's nice. I still found it offensive enough in the context to
think it worthy of note. (I'm not really one for umbrage-taking, but
given the topic I thought it worth calling out.)

> Note that even between England and the USA there is a culture gap.

Indeed, between Canada and the US there's one, too (a gap that I
appreciate even more now that I am marooned in New Hampshire). But I
think you're missing my point, which is that when one is working on
the Internet with an unknown selection of people from widely-differing
cultures, one needs to be even more sensitive than usual to the
possibility of creating a chilly environment. I seem to recall that
Josh suggested at the start of this discussion that the lack of a CoC
discourages some class of participants. One might wonder whether that
is the class one wants, and that decision is certainly past my pay
grade. All I was trying to note was that the current conversation
about this topic itself may create the very kind of environment people
are worried about.

> So my world view might be bigger than yours!

Indeed, it might. And I don't think I was suggesting it was bigger or
smaller; there's a reason I elided the attribution, and the "you" in
what I wrote was intended in the generic sense. I apologise in case
that wasn't clear.

> It is the perceived intention of what one says that is important, not what
> one actually says!

I think that is perhaps a false dichotomy. But I also think I have
said enough on this topic, so I shall stop now.

Best regards,

A

--
Andrew Sullivan
ajs(at)crankycanuck(dot)ca