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Men of DesignerNews(menofdesignernews.tumblr.com)

over 7 years ago from Ian Williams, ✍ ◐ < ◑ ☞

  • Jonathan CutrellJonathan Cutrell, over 7 years ago

    That's fair, to some extent.

    I do believe that language is important, seeing as that's how we get in these kinds of messes, so it shouldn't be glossed over on either side. What we say affects the way people think.

    If I created a generalized title of "Women of Designer News" and then chose only a particular subset of those women, I would be inaccurate to some degree with my language, and that is harmful.

    To say that "there is no one who goes on the site that believes it is representative of all men on designer news" doesn't cover the tracks all the way, because the language is still indicative that it is all encompassing. Again, we can go back to the zoomed out view - why not name it "People of Designer News" instead, since we wouldn't assume it meant all the people?

    So, I don't think we can demand better, more respectful language on one hand, and allow for inference on the other hand.

    With all of that said, it's a minor inconvenience to me, and more likely a major inconvenience to a large number of women on Designer News, and my quibbles are probably better kept to myself. :)

    We don't run out of apologies, gentlemen. They are free and powerful, if sincere. Use them generously.

    6 points
    • Ethan BondEthan Bond, over 7 years ago

      I just wanted to say that this is a really great comment. I understand the complaints in terms of accuracy, but I hate when people use it to delegitimize the complaints themselves.

      You did a fantastic job of balancing the need for specificity of language with the need for real action.

      0 points
    • Jake Lazaroff, over 7 years ago

      I think we'd be giving up some powerful artistic and rhetorical tools if we tried to make the title of everything exactly accurate.

      e.g. "Humans of New York", "Techies", "People of Color in Tech"

      No one complains that "Silicon Valley" isn't instead called "A Satire of Silicon Valley Stereotypes".

      We don't run out of apologies, gentlemen. They are free and powerful, if sincere. Use them generously.

      ^ great comment :)

      2 points