> the women I've talked to about this are furious with her
This doesn't represent the views of all women in tech. What happened to Adria could happen to any of us outspoken women. She didn't handle the situation perfectly, but there's no way she could have known this would unfold in this way. She said she didn't want the guy to get fired and apologized to him. I'm horrified by what happened to her and now afraid the same could happen to me.
None of us should have to be afraid that a tweet like that could get someone fired, provoke threats, or warrant attacks on our companies.
The nature of the attacks against Adria are EXTREMELY misogynistic (rape threats, death threats, people calling her a c_nt, b_tch, wh_re, etc) and many people have taken up a "burn her at the stake" mentality. They've also pulled into question her professional credibility and called her an affirmative action hire. They are saying this kind of behavior should be expected from someone with the domain "butyouragirl".
There is a simply an undue level of hatred for Adria which is correlated to her gender, I think in large part because she is an outspoken feminist.
I'm trying to be more outspoken about gender bias I encounter in the workplace, but incidents like this are a terrifying reminder of why that can be dangerous.
I'm not mad at Adria. The larger and more striking problem is how much hatred for women exists in this community and how threatening that feels.
If anything good came of this, it's that these biases are now coming to a head, right out in the open for all to see.
I agree with a lot of the sentiment you've expressed, so I want to share my perspective.
> She said she didn't want the guy to get fired and apologized to him.
She may have expressed sympathy, but she did not apologize. An apology may have gone a long way at stemming this disaster, but that's speculation at this point.
> I'm horrified by what happened to her and now afraid the same could happen to me.
Likewise, I'm horrified what happened to the men involved could happen to me. From everything I've read (which is not all-inclusive), their comments occurred in a 1-1 conversation during a loud presentation.
Moreover, frankly, it was innocuous if vaguely inappropriate. The dongle joke was not beyond the pale. It was not a firing offense, and it certainly did not deserve anyone's face being blasted all over Twitter along with harassment allegations.
Rest assured, we're all quite paranoid as a result of this.
>The nature of the attacks against Adria are EXTREMELY misogynistic (rape threats, death threats, people calling her a c_nt, b_tch, wh_re, etc) and many people have taken up a "burn her at the stake" mentality. They've also pulled into question her professional credibility and called her an affirmative action hire. They are saying this kind of behavior should be expected from someone with the domain "butyouragirl".
While I haven't spent much time on Twitter, I don't think it's really fair to draw a line between some of the extreme views voiced there and the tech community. This transcended tech very quickly, and never recovered. My sense is that many of the most vocal contributors to the discussion arrived at it second hand.
> I'm not mad at Adria. The larger and more striking problem is how much hatred for women exists in this community and how threatening that feels.
I may be blind to this as I'm not a woman, but I honestly don't perceive hatred towards women in the tech community.
The Twitter & internet mob response should not be taken to represent this community. It [tech] may be flawed, there may even be overlap, but they are not one and the same.
> What happened to Adria could happen to any of us outspoken women.
Only if by "outspoken" you mean "inept witch hunter with a messiah complex".
> ... many people have taken up a "burn her at the stake" mentality.
The chief occupational hazard of the witch hunter is being caught out by one's followers. The disciples possess only the paranoia and lack of mercy drilled into them.
This doesn't represent the views of all women in tech. What happened to Adria could happen to any of us outspoken women. She didn't handle the situation perfectly, but there's no way she could have known this would unfold in this way. She said she didn't want the guy to get fired and apologized to him. I'm horrified by what happened to her and now afraid the same could happen to me.
None of us should have to be afraid that a tweet like that could get someone fired, provoke threats, or warrant attacks on our companies.
The nature of the attacks against Adria are EXTREMELY misogynistic (rape threats, death threats, people calling her a c_nt, b_tch, wh_re, etc) and many people have taken up a "burn her at the stake" mentality. They've also pulled into question her professional credibility and called her an affirmative action hire. They are saying this kind of behavior should be expected from someone with the domain "butyouragirl".
There is a simply an undue level of hatred for Adria which is correlated to her gender, I think in large part because she is an outspoken feminist.
I'm trying to be more outspoken about gender bias I encounter in the workplace, but incidents like this are a terrifying reminder of why that can be dangerous.
I'm not mad at Adria. The larger and more striking problem is how much hatred for women exists in this community and how threatening that feels.
If anything good came of this, it's that these biases are now coming to a head, right out in the open for all to see.