I'm a lurker on this list and haven't had time to go to an actual plug meeting in years so take my input as you may... that said PLUG should take these issues seriously because these are the kinds of issues that tear apart organizations.

When people take the time to cite specific examples and tell you that they feel a negative bias towards them the wrong response is to deny their feelings are valid. A major problem most clubs/organizations have unless they make a concerted effort not to be is that overtime they get cliquish and non-inclusive; unless an effort is made not to do so long time members start to feel and act as if it is their organization and can seem like dictators to new people. I haven't been involved enough in PLUG to know if that is happening here but the emails flying around right now make it sound like it could be that way. I've seen these kinds of issues destroy groups before; I'm sure I'm not the only person that has no desire to be a group that discriminates against women or any other body of people.

Linux is for everyone and has the most diversity of any operating system I know.

-- JD Austin
Voice: 480.269.4335 (480 2MY Geek)
jd@twingeckos.com

On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 9:38 AM, Kaoru Wilbur <m.kaoru.wilbur@gmail.com> wrote:

Definitely! Thanks for that.

When asked what I would do with my pi, I mentioned I was going to do a Tor Relay. One member looked at me, laughed and said, Good luck with that.

Another time, I was assisting someone with an install. The idiot next to me was flinching twitching and making grunting noises.

Finally, I turned off the machine and said, "And what would you do?!"

He made a suggestion which was what I actually had done already.
The woman who I was assisting even said, "Isn't that what you were doing"

Another incident was when I stated that one member of the installfests was rude and if Todd didn't take care of that, I would. I was accused of threatening this member when I was simply stating in front of a group of people that Mark was a rude arrogant problem that needed to be dealt with.

Now, maybe, it's just Todd. However, I went to leadership who did nothing until I started making noise at a higher level. The noise wasn't even about the gender bias but the push on Ubuntu and the treatment of members.
Incidentally, when I went to local leadership, he acted as if I were lying before any investigation.

Women come to your meetings and then leave. Maybe the general population of the group do not realize why because so many people come and go from the PLUG. Maybe people think women cannot handle the content or that they are leaving because of other reasons.

I was all but pushed out of your old boys club. In fact, Todd stated he didn't want me at the installfests. Was that because I was insisting on positive change or because I was female. You tell me? He laughed at me several times. Of course, he was not that nice to other members either. I never noticed him condescend to any of the males though.

There is gender bias. Maybe not at your local meetings because it's just ALL LECTURE.

On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 8:41 AM, Shawn Badger <shawn@badger.pro> wrote:

I have been in the PLUG for a while now and have not seen any gender bias.

Can you point to any examples of how the group is gender biased so the group can work on those issues?

On Tue, Dec 2, 2014 at 12:33 AM, Kaoru Wilbur <m.kaoru.wilbur@gmail.com> wrote:

hans,

I am sorry you cannot take a joke.

Of course, sexual harassment is no joking matter.

Accusations of this are quite serious.

I never witnessed anything or experienced sexual harassment.

Gender bias is quite obvious in your LUG.

On Mon, Dec 1, 2014 at 10:44 PM, der.hans <PLUGd@lufthans.com> wrote:

Am 01. Dez, 2014 schwätzte Kaoru Wilbur so:

Well, this was an interesting thread.
I would like to chime in here for a moment.

While I have not experienced unwanted sexually advances by anyone at PLUG
in recent years, I will state there is a gender bias, definitely.

Some people may not experience this gender bias because, well frankly, we
are unsure of your gender...

That's uncalled for, especially right as you're claiming there is gender bias.

All joking aside, as a community, we really could be a little more
thoughtful, tactful and less like assholes.

Most of us do a good job. Over the years there have only been problems
with a few people. Most adjust their behavior when it's pointed out.

ciao,

der.hans
--
# http://www.LuftHans.com/ http://www.PhxLinux.org/
# "Every person who has mastered a profession is a skeptic concerning
# it." -- George Bernard Shaw

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