I am not aware of any recent egregious issues and I don't think code4lib is a hotbed of misogynist behavior, certainly not compared to more mainstream tech conferences or something notorious like DefCon. Having a policy in place (which was my only request in that original email, and which we now have, yay!) is a good idea regardless of whether any individual incident in the past meets anyone's individual criteria for harassment. It protects conference organizers legally, it gives us an agreed upon way to respond if incidents do arise, and having such a policy is a proven way to make conferences more welcoming to women and gender minorities. 

I am not comfortable discussing my individual experience in public more than I already have. I have acted as a lightning rod for these kinds of discussions in the past and I am not interested in playing that role again. 

I am not comfortable discussing specific incidents that have been related to me in confidence, and I am REALLY not interested in rehashing more public incidents, I think that would be a train wreck. As for what has happened that we're trying to address: Sometimes people make thougtless jokes. Sometimes people say alienating things without meaning to. Sometimes people do things they might later wish they hadn't done, because they were drunk, or having a good time, or never knew a certain word carried a certain connotation for some people. These things are not really news-worthy individually. I would prefer instead to put energy into knowing how to respond to problematic behavior in the moment, how to discuss questions of privilege and inclusiveness without creating hostility, and how to make library technology more inclusive in general. 

Bess


On Dec 18, 2012, at 5:16 PM, Michele R Combs <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Much better to do it that way than on the list, IMHO.  Then the list can get back to code :)
> 
> It's possible that the ratio of idiots at a code4lib function is comparable to the ratio of idiots anywhere else (e.g., an ALA conference or SAA function or, heck, your basic office party).  In that case, I submit that no special method of attack or treatment is required -- just the same approach used when one encounter jerks in any other area of one's life.
> 
> Michele
> ________________________________________
> From: Code for Libraries [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Jonathan Rochkind [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2012 7:14 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] Question abt the code4libwomen idea
> 
> ...Is this a good idea, or just a disaster trainwreck lying in wait? If
> it's a good idea, we could easily set up a wiki page where people can
> easily anonymously describe incidents (again, what I'm going for is NOT
> calling specific people out, but just giving us an idea of what it is
> that has happened that we're trying to stop from happening, you know?)...