[LRUG] Suggestion

[Luke Morton]

I think most people would agree it doesn't matter whether you are or aren't
a developer. Therefore the question probably wasn't needed.


On 12 February 2014 22:28, Aanand Prasad <aanand.prasad at gmail.com> wrote:

> To be clear, I was drawing an analogy to the "are you a Ruby developer?"
> question, not the proposed "everyone here is a developer" assumption.
>
> I'm not advocating blanket assumptions - I'm advocating being careful
> around asking questions which might have othering effects.
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 1:34 PM, Warren Guy <warren at guy.net.au> wrote:
>
>> Aanand Prasad wrote:
>> >> I will admit that I did ask this question at least a couple of times,
>> and I am truly sorry if that bothered or offended anyone.
>> ...
>> > The effect, in aggregate, of having this conversation again and again
>> is harmful far beyond the innocent intentions of any one person asking it:
>> the othering of those who don't fit the norm. The question behind the
>> question, as Hari Kondabolu puts it: "Hey. Why aren't you white?"[1]
>> ...
>> > This is a microaggression[2], undoubtedly, and it should be treated as
>> one: largely unintentional, perhaps even well-intentioned, but nonetheless
>> harmful and something we should be taking direct action to avoid. Because
>> we *want* more people in our social spaces who don't fit the norm.
>> >
>> > It takes a bit of extra effort to watch that we're not alienating
>> people, but it's worth it.
>>
>> I'm aware of this phenomenon and its harm, but to be honest I can't
>> quite get my head around how the analogy fits here.
>>
>> To me, making an assumption that everyone at an LRUG event is a Ruby
>> developer just like you seems far from inclusive. If Monday's meeting
>> was typical in this regard, there are all kinds of developer,
>> pseudo-developer, and non-developer folk at the meetings. The community
>> comprises all kinds: developers; hobbyists; beginners; entrepreneurs;
>> managers; and others who won't identify themselves as "developers".[1]I
>> can't imagine anyone being offended by someone inquiring what their
>> interest in Ruby is, at a Ruby meeting.
>>
>> While personally I would not be offended by someone assuming I was or
>> was not a Ruby developer, to suggest that we all assume that everyone
>> *is* a developer seems to seek only to exclude. Stephen's original post,
>> regardless of any intent or lack thereof,really gave me the impression
>> that non-developers do not belong, or are less welcome than "Ruby
>> developers", at LRUG events. I do not assume that Stephen's comment had
>> any malicious intent. I just thought it was worth making the point that
>> we're not all developers and that it is exclusionary to assume so.
>>
>> Warren
>>
>> [1] For clarity, I don't intend to exclude beginners, hobbyists, etc,
>> from also considering themselves Ruby developers. Some will, some won't.
>> I think it's a personal thing.
>>
>
>
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