Written as a response to: opal/opal#941
I want to put some effort into separating what I see as two different things, here.
Btw, half of this discussion wouldn't happen without the very harsh and personal answer @meh wrote when closing the issue. That answer express exactly what are his opinions about (the lack of) tech diversity. If this doesn't prove how individuals opinions are pervasive in OSS culture (not only tech), I don't know what does.
The issue was on the issue tracker of Opal, and the issue wasn't related to Opal, it was related to differing opinions of @CoralineAda and @elia, on words said outside of Opal.
I wish to point out that @meh, the maintainer, actually has a point here. At the very least, I, as a cis-white-male, can definitely understand why he's become so unreasonable and defensive (and yes, @meh, you are being extremely unreasonable in nearly every post on this issue. Stop it and actually read.) since his original response.
From his point of view; some reactionary individual (sorry, @CoralineAda; making a point) tried to simply use his project as a way to attack somebody they had an unrelated issue with. Understand that, to him, this looks a bit like somebody showing up here after seeing a poster's signature on a forum, and decided to try and ‘get them fired’ as revenge for some argument about using PHP. If that happened to a project I was working on, I'd unceremoniously enjoin that person to fuck-right-off.
Now, @meh, hopefully believing that I understand your point of view ... please, please understand that “I burn Black people,” “females are just less intelligent and skilled at abstract thinking!”, and “just because somebody thinks they're a man doesn't mean they're really a man” are special cases.
Again, I want to theorize that I can understand where you're coming from; if you're not immersed in the realities of these forms of bigotry every single day, it's easy to feel like they're very political. It's (I repeat) easy to equate somebody's views on the equality of women contributors to, say, the equality of PHP contributors: “I don't care what horrible things says about PHP developers in another forum. He's not saying those things here; and he's not actively working to exclude you, my PHP-developer-friend, from our project ... so this is consummately not our problem.” And that would be the correct response!
The problem that arises, here, is that as a privileged¹ individual, you're missing out on the difference between one's political difference against a held opinion, and one against a immutable state of being. If somebody Hates Me for my conservative fiscal beliefs, or for liking PHP, then their issues with me can be said to not be relevant to an unrelated group of people among whom that issue isn't directly brought up. If I were to say to you, as a leader of men, that I couldn't participate because your project included other individuals who were publicly, and loudly, dismissive of PHP ... you'd be right in asserting that that is equally-much my problem (for caring so strongly about PHP, and being unable to let go of my own strongly-held opinions) as it is theirs for speaking so; and thus, not an issue of community here in Opal.
Conversely, however, being a woman, or a person of color, is not a held-opinion: a Black person, for instance, does not have the option of simply stopping having coloured skin, if they wish to participate in your community alongside an outspoken racist. They have precisely two options: work closely alongside, and deal daily, with a person who literally wants to kill them ... or avoid joining the community at all. And in this case, unlike that of PHP or fiscal policy or anything else that could easily be termed ‘political,’ there is only one party at any sort of fault: one, by definition, cannot be at fault for simply being.
- And understand that you are privileged in this way. Even if you're not (as many in here suspect and have intimated) a young, straight, white, American, etcetcetc male; you're clearly cisgender, and being able to recognize your privilege in this matter despite whichever disprivileges you hold lies at the heart of intersectionality.)
Now, I fear that all of this will fall on deaf ears, because you simply won't care. All of the above is only of interest if you're actually interested in creating a safe space in which people can co-operate towards making great software; I want to believe the best of you, as I wish to of most everybody, so I've written it in that assumption ... but in reality, it's entirely too possible that your response could be along the lines of “So what? PHP developers get shat on a lot, too. These women will just have to develop a thicker skin to work on software in our world.”
... continued ...