I was more shocked that they cost $40...

Reading the comments of that thread is very sad. People don’t seem to be aware that privilege exists. Even if one doesn’t acknowledge it, it’s there. It’s rampant.

The sum of all parts (e.g. a t-shirt not coming in men's, a site that by design excludes a huge number of people) add up to a create a huge problem in our industry. A lot of people can’t grasp that. But it’s there and it exists.

What confuses me so much about the entire matter is this: empathy. To be a good designer, you need empathy. You need to be able to try and see things from someone else’s perspective. So many commenters on that post appear to lack empathy..

Sidenote: I know that as a white middle-class male I automatically have privilege and will never understand what it feels like to be a woman in this industry, but I can at least consider that everything I create must be inclusive by default.

I don't think most of the commenters have a problem with addressing sexism. Many, myself included, had a problem with how Daniel handled the issue. There was an opportunity to be a grown up and confront DN directly with a polite email or other form of correspondence. Instead we get a Twitter tantrum that causes more problems then it solved. The discussion became about public shaming instead of finding ways to ensure something like this doesn't happen again. I'm all for fixing the issues surrounding sexism. I have a 3yo daughter that I don't want to grow up and have to face these same issues. I also want her to know how to solve problems properly and this trend of public shaming as a starting point is a great example of one way to NOT do things.

I know that privilege, and unconscious sexism and racism are hard things to wrap your mind around. It took years for these to finally sink in from the first moment someone criticized me. I just wish people weren't so aggressive and self righteous here. It's rendering this community unsafe, and somewhere many of us don't want to be anymore.

Reading the DN comment threads related to gender and race has been really difficult in the past couple of months (this as a white male, I can't imagine how difficult it is for women or people of color). This community would seriously benefit if more people took a moment or two before typing out their gut reaction and causing other people pain.

Should Designer News change it's brand colors from blue to a more neutral color? Blue is pretty boyish if you ask me.

Another thing that has bothered me at times is when a superior crits a design or method as sexy or hot. Not only is it uncomfortable, it's just not a helpful critique.

But of course there are tons of little things that happen all the time, and maybe women have learned to not let it bother us, but how many mockups I see with only male avatars or ladies in the office are referred to as girls, even just calling someone or something ballsy. Idk, tons of stuff.

Thank you so much for sharing this. As upsetting (and frankly, terrifying) as some of the degrading and ignorant responses to these topics on DN were this week, I am encouraged by the fact that this community is willing to engage on these topics, and I very strongly hope that this dialogue can remain open and ongoing here and in other pockets of the design space. Designers have a unique opportunity to be leaders towards empathy and inclusiveness across nearly all industries, cultures, and communities. Let's not take that opportunity (and more importantly, responsiblity as humans) lightly.

I subscribe to everything except:

Dudes, this isn't about you. Sorry, but unless you are experiencing sexism, you don't get to write it off or mock it.

This whole scenario could've been handled much more cleanly without all the incendiary victim-hood culture that is so prevalent in society today. I'm sure if someone just asked nicely for women's tees DN staff would've obliged. It's funny how when the thread to suggest this was first posted no one noticed the absence of ladies tees.

This is a very important conversation that the community needs to have. Thank you for providing us with some insight.

Frustrating line between being a feminist male and coming across as having white knight syndrome.

Fairly often people just don't know how they should be acting because quite simply it's impossible to put yourself in someone else's shoes.

Thanks Emily for having the courage to write this up. I missed the original T-shirt episode, but it's reassuring to see the community willing to talk openly about sexism and inclusion. Just seeing women willing to speak up, and men willing to listen, is a great place to start.

Oh boy. The responses here are way over the top considering the harmlessness of DN's oversight and their subsequent apology.

I'm hoping DN takes this to its logical conclusion and bans the users who have written unproductive comments here. I am sorry that you've had to deal with it, and I hope they stop facilitating this behavior.

Thank you for taking the time to write out your thoughts and feelings on the subject. I'm a bit stunned by how calm, collected, and selfless you've remained in light of a situation that makes me pull at my hair.

Thank you for writing this. I don't know if the folks who need to hear it will hear it, but as someone who believes strongly in all of this it's nice to see this here, to see this upvoted, and to read all the supporting comments.

Also: major props to all the men who continually jump in on the toxic threads to try to steer things away from total shit. I don't have the energy for it that I once did, but I really appreciate it.

I like what feminism has come to. From equal rights to shirt size.

Love this post. But quick question:

Dudes, this isn't about you. Sorry, but unless you are experiencing sexism, you don't get to write it off or mock it.

Considering we're reading/commenting on an 85-comment-deep post about what some deem as sexism (big or small) couldn't one categorize the quoted statement above also...sexist?

Thank you for writing this, I feel like we could talk about this stuff every day and still not cover it enough because of how much this dialogue is needed.

Just want to comment that this is almost the same discussion that was had over the InVision / Design Disruptors and race.

Though topics of discrimination often bring out the ugly in some, its great that we have the opportunity to hash it out!

I just wanted to take the time to recognize the sheer number of comments surrounding this issue on here (both good and bad). It's a testament to this conversation being on the rise and getting more exposure in our industry which is really amazing.

Also, Thanks for providing your personal point of view, Emily.

Well said. Great to see this being addressed productively (no offense to Dan, who pointed out a real and ignored problem and made enough noise to force validation // Idgaf how he did it; it needed to be done).

The last few months of conversations regarding representation of race and gender (somehow, orientation seems to have been omitted from most/all convos) on DN have been deplorably toxic, and so many of those participants, at least the visible majority, have been little more than vitriolic, offensive, and destructive. It's surprising to me particularly because at least in Austin, while people are nowhere near as progressive as they could be, they are at least aware of the inequalities in their field, their own privilege and its daily manifestations, and somewhat of their own personal biases.

Hopefully this'll become the first productive, progressive conversation on DN in a while (never seen one myself).

This comment thread be like http://i.imgur.com/cMWalaa.gif

I am a man. I find those unisex shirts unflattering for men and would prefer shirts that are more comfortable to wear. I like muscle shirts and I'm appalled that DN just completely ignored that.

Thanks for this post. It is definitely an issue worthy of discussion and there is much to be done in working towards equality both in and out of this industry. That said, I do take issue with your use of the term 'mansplaining'. It is both a sexist and derogatory term that detracts from the discussion and implies that men are not able to contribute in a rational way without condescending.

Ya'll are too smart for me.

Hey Emily, I just saw this whole shit-storm of posts in my DN digest email... and wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to write this response. I've thought so many times about writing posts like this in response to similar awful sexist threads that pop up here, but in the end I just get discouraged and decide its not worth it. So thanks for speaking out as a woman when you already know the audience is like, hundreds of dudes screaming at each other. Its so important, and I know that women who have long left the site appreciate it.

Nothing new here.

Mansplaining. Men wanting to take over feminism. "What about the men?". Men mocking women when they are trying to explain something about sexism, when they don't suffer from it. And the list goes on...

Funny how 90% of the people mocking the sexism topic weren't actual designers, but developers. :)

several hand clap emojis

I missed out on most of the flame. But from what I've seen it looks like the problem was addressed from the shoulder, and not from the heart of those involved. (at least based on my review of Tweets) and really I'm disappointed that the solution is to make the shirts not available to anyone. I agree it was a good decision by Maxwell to speak out about his mistake, but all or none is never a solution I agree with. And there is such a thing as tact, and grace when it comes to speaking out about problems.

As a founder of a small design agency that is 83% female, I would like to thank the many people here who don't understand why or how a safe environment is important, for making recruiting so much easier for us.

(No, really, I'd rather everyone catch on.)

Yes, very well said~