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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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Original poster

Gym thinks only men can be Drs

363 replies

DrElizabethPlimpton · 18/03/2015 18:21

I've just seen a link to a Daily Fail article (I won't link obviously) about a gym in Cambridgeshire

A paediatrician joined and she found that her electronic key wouldn't allow her access to the female changing room. The 'glitch' was explained by staff - apparently her title Dr automatically defaulted to the assumption she was male.
I'm currently speechless.

OP posts:
YonicScrewdriver · 20/03/2015 22:05

Well, this thread is surreal now.

FatCunt · 20/03/2015 22:07

I don't think commercial software is commonly provided with any kind of warranty against the designer being a sexist fuckwit. This should all have been dealt with in the specification anyway.

Heckler · 20/03/2015 22:07

Not the way that commercial companies work, Kim.

Sorry.

YonicScrewdriver · 20/03/2015 22:08

That would be a good warranty, FC.

Heckler · 20/03/2015 22:09

We usually have a 3 month warranty period. If you don't find the problem in that time then tough. You pay for it. (and 98% of the time it is because they didn't think of something they should have asked for)

EBearhug · 20/03/2015 22:09

It should be an easy fix in purely technical terms, but what will probably happen is something more like:

Someone submits a change request. It gets added to the list of requests. Someone reviews new entries to the list and assigns them priorities. A request that's about some girls (yes, I did choose that word rather than women) making a fuss about titles is likely to be seen as lower priority. It will definitely be lower priority than something which affects revenue, e.g. errors in billing modules or something.

At some point, it will get to the developers, and they will spend some time working on this, which might be just half an hour's work, but I am assuming it's not really madly programmed in the first place, and it's just a simple change. Then it goes to the testers. It may go back to the developers for changes. At some point, it will go to user testers - depending on the policies where they are, it may have to wait for a testing slot, if they're only released at certain times, or other functionality is being tested. Obviously any issues which show up in testing will need to go back for testing. Eventually it will get signed off, and it will then go into the next release. That might well happen once a month. Some places are less frequent.

Either way, it could easily take 6 months or more.

JeanneDeMontbaston · 20/03/2015 22:16

Exactly. That's the main thing. She needs access to the changing room. Is there a way that can be achieved quickly and easily whilst the database error is sorted out?

That's all I've been trying to say. How can she get access to the changing room easily?

Er, like alex suggested already? Many, many, many posts ago, and without being patronizing or dismissive?

kim147 · 20/03/2015 22:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EBearhug · 20/03/2015 22:17

I hate the number of online forms which insist on having title as a compulsory field - it is not necessary, and almost never gives the option of having no title at all (as I prefer.) If it is necessary to know someone's sex (e.g. it is relevant for a GP's patient register), they can have a separate field for that. But I really don't understand why the bank will let me have a card with no title, but they won't let me have an account without a title, even if that's my preference. It's not often relevant whether I'm male or female or however else I might identify, and it's even less relevant whether I'm married or not. It's shoddy programming, but it's so common.

kim147 · 20/03/2015 22:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mariamin · 20/03/2015 22:19

You still don't get it Kim.

kim147 · 20/03/2015 22:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JeanneDeMontbaston · 20/03/2015 22:21

Yes, your answer was pragmatic, but it was also dismissive and erasing of sexism.

Those things do matter to some of us.

The fact you've seen a less sexist option and still cling to your own is inexplicable. It's completely unnecessary.

kim147 · 20/03/2015 22:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

JeanneDeMontbaston · 20/03/2015 22:34

You were claiming it was an easy fix, quickly sorted - so she would only need to be let in once (and that is no more difficult accompanied by the person on the desk than not).

Or, do you now think it would be a hard fix, requiring enough time she'd need her own card?

It can really only be one or the other.

WidowWadman · 20/03/2015 22:37

Seeing as this has some reputational impact it can quickly affect revenue, so it's in their interest to fox quickly.

Btw what the heck is all that homeing in on Kim about? There seems to be a lot of very bad faith interpretation of her posts

JeanneDeMontbaston · 20/03/2015 22:40

You'd think it'd be in their interests, WW.

Did you mean to be so rude, though? 'Bad faith' is not a very nice thing to say. Why the need for the attack?

OutsSelf · 20/03/2015 22:41

*Exactly. That's the main thing. She needs access to the changing room. Is there a way that can be achieved quickly and easily whilst the database error is sorted out?

That's all I've been trying to say. How can she get access to the changing room easily?*

See, from my point of view, this is not an easy fix because the problem is sexism. So a designer could loftily waft their phone at it or whatever the fuck they do and solve this specific issue but the problem is the underlying sexism which won't go away because this woman has access to a changing room. And to say that this problem will be solved with a bit of code is to dismiss the ongoing sexism that it performs. And to say that it's just a glitch is to dismiss the ongoing sexism that it performs.

So to my mind thinking through the pragmatics and then wondering in a sort of disinterested way what would happen if similar person-gets-into-wrong-changing-room situations is a way of casually dismissing the sexism at play. To me, this is a discussion about sexism and not really a discussion about MyAsHole or whatever programming language it is. Which is why you're coming across as not getting it, Kim

Heckler · 20/03/2015 22:46

I wonder if they will fix just the DR bit. Will they also fix the Prof, Rev etc?

WidowWadman · 20/03/2015 22:47

Jeanne - so you keep doing personal attacks on one user but calling you out on it is rude? Confused I'll never get the hang of that politeness thing

JeanneDeMontbaston · 20/03/2015 22:51

I think you've confused me with someone else, WW.

heckler - don't be silly! Everyone knows women are never Revs or Profs! The idea! Why, their wombs might drop out.

YonicScrewdriver · 20/03/2015 23:15

WW, report anything you think is a PA. You know that.

JeanneDeMontbaston · 20/03/2015 23:17

yonic, to be fair, it is a long thread and she probably didn't read it, but saw kim's posts, which she retracted. It's not necessarily anything more than that.

EBearhug · 20/03/2015 23:19

I wonder if they will fix just the DR bit. Will they also fix the Prof, Rev etc?

Probably depends on whether it's picked up by someone who will do only what they have been asked, no more, no less - or someone who will fix the overall issue, which would pick up Prof, Rev, etc as well or just remove all the bloody titles all together.

Which you get may depend on how crap the IT management has been of late.

(This post may be written through the filters of my own employment situation, and may contain some bias as a result...)

JeanneDeMontbaston · 20/03/2015 23:23

We just need someone to get rid of the whole idea of gender. I find it so depressing this is seen as if it were rocket science - the idea that we could all just, you know, leave each other alone and stop judging based on trivial externals.