Microsoft Apologizes for Big Boobs

[cobra_ky]

You're comparing "big boobs" to phrases that describe actual human beings. More importantly, you're completely ignoring the context that it was used in.

There was no obvious reason whatsoever to use that value, other than the programmer writing it found it amusing. "0xBI6B00B5" constituted a joke. the "humor" ostensibly derives from the fact that it's an inappropriate phrase. Why is it inappropriate? Because breasts are a sexually objectified portion of female anatomy. Sexual objectification of women is sexist.

You're kinda sabotaging your point because you're providing reason for people to get in a huff over this.

i haven't provided a reason for anyone to get in a huff. The only huff here has been a kneejerk reaction to "feminism" in a story that involves exactly 0 women and didn't even get a remotely feminist response until i showed up two pages in.

before you accuse me of sabotaging my point, maybe you should tell me exactly what you think my point is.

The phrase big boobs is no more sexist than the phrase big dicks... Or bum, or any juvenile profanity for that matter.

It's asinine and juvenile... not sexist.

If the code had of been

0xB16D1C45

not a single fuck would be given. Eyes would roll and there'd be many a

moments.

But no piss, shit and vomit storm.

The reaction to the line of code is what is sexist.

ok, assuming '4' is a reasonable stand-in for 'k'...

...It's still horribly inappropriate and unprofessional and Microsoft should (and no doubt would) have handled it in exactly the same way, by publicly apologizing and patching it out.

 

[Coolshark]

Paolo, Matthew

Harden the fuck up.

Slow news day

What you did there now,

I saw it, you know.

But that's not Haiku.

 

[Keepitclean]

Paolo, Matthew

Harden the fuck up.

Slow news day

What you did there now,

I saw it, you know.

But that's not Haiku.

Hahaha, I didn't even notice actually.
Now that you've pointed it out I'll make one just for you.

There we go, check page 1

 

[cobra_ky]

You're comparing "big boobs" to phrases that describe actual human beings. More importantly, you're completely ignoring the context that it was used in.

There was no obvious reason whatsoever to use that value, other than the programmer writing it found it amusing. "0xBI6B00B5" constituted a joke. the "humor" ostensibly derives from the fact that it's an inappropriate phrase. Why is it inappropriate? Because breasts are a sexually objectified portion of female anatomy. Sexual objectification of women is sexist.

You're kinda sabotaging your point because you're providing reason for people to get in a huff over this.

i haven't provided a reason for anyone to get in a huff. The only huff here has been a kneejerk reaction to "feminism" in a story that involves exactly 0 women and didn't even get a remotely feminist response until i showed up two pages in.

before you accuse me of sabotaging my point, maybe you should tell me exactly what you think my point is.

You're saying it's silly for people to be getting annoyed over this because no feminists are saying it's actually sexist.

And then you're saying it's sexist.... which it isn't.

Yes. I decided if people were going to rail against feminist straw men anyway, we should at least have an actual feminist to straw man. one of many services I provide.

The phrase big boobs is no more sexist than the phrase big dicks... Or bum, or any juvenile profanity for that matter.

It's asinine and juvenile... not sexist.

If the code had of been

0xB16D1C45

not a single fuck would be given. Eyes would roll and there'd be many a

moments.

But no piss, shit and vomit storm.

The reaction to the line of code is what is sexist.

ok, assuming '4' is a reasonable stand-in for 'k'...

...It's still horribly inappropriate and unprofessional and Microsoft should (and no doubt would) have handled it in exactly the same way, by publicly apologizing and patching it out.

It may be inappropriate but that's not the point. How is Big boobs sexist but big dicks not?

Neither of them are sexist, they're just juvenile shit.

Absolutely nothing to be getting in a huff about because they're not somewhere 99.999999999999% of Microsofts customer base could even find them. Let alone notice and take umbrage with.

It's entirely the point. Microsoft handled this exactly the same way they've handled other <a href=http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/microsoft-apologizes-using-japan-disaster-mar>embarrassing <a href=http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Apologizes-for-Inappropriate-Language-in-Presentation-Song-274798.shtml>missteps in the past: offer an apology and try to fix it.

The only difference here is that everyone decided that clearly this was the work of hypersensitive feminazis, and that Microsoft's perfectly reasonable standard corporate response was WAY out of proportion and oh no the world just isn't safe for men to make tit jokes anymore. Please.

I don't actually care whether or not you think the joke is sexist. We can agree to disagree on that. What I take exception to is people taking this embarrassing but not particularly significant event and holding it up as evidence of feminist persecution.

 

[bigfatcarp93]

This is the dumbest thread ever... of all time. You're all arguing about something that isn't even element. And I'm helping... goddammit.

 

[cobra_ky]

You're all arguing about something that isn't even element.

I'm sorry, are we boron you?

 

[pppppppppppppppppp]

You're comparing "big boobs" to phrases that describe actual human beings. More importantly, you're completely ignoring the context that it was used in.

There was no obvious reason whatsoever to use that value, other than the programmer writing it found it amusing. "0xBI6B00B5" constituted a joke. the "humor" ostensibly derives from the fact that it's an inappropriate phrase. Why is it inappropriate? Because breasts are a sexually objectified portion of female anatomy. Sexual objectification of women is sexist.

Well, of course it was put there as a joke, but I'm sure any sort of phrase embedded in hexadecimal would garner some laughs. Hell, I always got a kick out of spelling out "hello" on an upside down calculator to classmates, but it's not like saying hello is inappropriate. The joke was probably way more "Isn't it funny how I can spell out dumb stuff in the middle of coding?" than "Aren't female body parts funny? Let's laugh at them"

Second of all, how is the mere mentioning of breasts constitute sexual objectification? Say I was describing someone I just met, what would I be allowed to say? Could I say they had curly hair? Short arms? A large torso? Thin lips? If it were a man, could I say he had nice pecs and a killer six pack? Could I say a female had big breasts? If you said yes to everything but the last one, I don't understand your logic.

Just because some men sexually objectify boobs doesn't make them off limits for mentioning, that's ridiculous. Hell, men can be objectified too, but no one would care if they put "big cocks" in the code or something. I think you're inferring far too much from just a two word phrase describing a body part.

 

[cobra_ky]

You're saying it's silly for people to be getting annoyed over this because no feminists are saying it's actually sexist.

And then you're saying it's sexist.... which it isn't.

Yes. I decided if people were going to rail against feminist straw men anyway, we should at least have an actual feminist to straw man. one of many services I provide.[/quote]


Soooooo.....

You're intentionally sabotaging your point?[/quote]

Don't get me wrong, i still think it's silly for people to get annoyed over this even if feminists ARE saying it.

It's silly to get annoyed over this, period. Microsoft did exactly what any reasonable company would have done in this situation, with any joke that could be offensive for any reason. That's my point.

I'm not bothered about Microsoft taking it down. I'm bothered about peoples reaction to it. Namely that Linux guy.

It's just forced. Screams of 'Im worldly, I think women are totally subjugated. Look how open minded I am'

The reaction to this should have been nothing more than, 'lul... coders.'

It's not sexist in any way. And I'm sorry, but anyone who says it is......

Go on. Finish the thought. What were you going to say about me?

Sorry, but if you think the solution to this is "lul...coders" then you have no idea how the software industry works.

i'll just borrow this quote from this blog post here: http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/microsoft-code-contains-phrase-big-boobs-yes-really

Everyone, of course, is entitled to their own opinion as to whether this particular "joke" was offensive, and, if so, whether it's worthy of criticism. Offensiveness is largely in the eye of the beholder.

What you're not entitled to is your own opinion as to the state of today's workplace laws, rules and general expectations, both those of employers and most employees. These matters have settled into the realm of fact, not opinion (as a Boston radio personality is fond of saying). You cannot use sexist phrases like "big boobs" even in obscure corners of the workplace; even in obscure corners of software code. You can't do it without risking being called out, at the very least, if not officially censured ... or worse. You can't do it without also exposing your employer to risk. You can't do it without offending people. And you can't do it without making yourself look like, at best ... oh, let's go there, a boob.

You just can't do it.

Again, this isn't an opinion; it's a factual characterization of the 2012 state of affairs as they exist in this country. And, moreover, this didn't just happen; this state of affairs has been a bedrock fact for years now. That some still chafe at it, that some find it stifling, prudish, politically correct -- and wish it were not so - these, too, are facts, as we're reminded every time one of these workplace flaps pops up like a summertime thunderstorm.

The chafers are going to chafe - that much is their right -- but their kicking and fussing at the likes of Garrett amount to just so much noise, nothing more, because there's no meaningful debate about these issues anymore. The debate ended a long time ago.

Now there remains only a need for the holdouts - like Mr. Big Boobs -- to change their behavior.

Care to argue otherwise? OK, find me a single corporate legal counsel, a single human resources professional, or a single high-level executive - man or woman - who will attach their name and reputation to the view that it's OK for a software developer to slip "big boobs" into code that carries their company's name.

Well, of course it was put there as a joke, but I'm sure any sort of phrase embedded in hexadecimal would garner some laughs. Hell, I always got a kick out of spelling out "hello" on an upside down calculator to classmates, but it's not like saying hello is inappropriate. The joke was probably way more "Isn't it funny how I can spell out dumb stuff in the middle of coding?" than "Aren't female body parts funny? Let's laugh at them"

Ok then. why not use 0xDEADBEEF or 0xC0DEF00D or 0xBA5EBA11 or any of the myriad other phrases which common sense tells you are less likely to be considered offensive. (apparently the source code originally also contained 0x0B00B1E5, so you can't argue the programmer was picking words out of a hat.)

I'm ignoring the rest of your post because i never said anything about the "mere mention" of the phrase. I'm talking about the specific usage of it in this specific instance, and the fact that it absolutely IS off-limits in professional software development. [see quote above]

 

[pppppppppppppppppp]

Ok then. why not use 0xDEADBEEF or 0xC0DEF00D or 0xBA5EBA11 or any of the myriad other phrases which common sense tells you are less likely to be considered offensive. (apparently the source code originally also contained 0x0B00B1E5, so you can't argue the programmer was picking words out of a hat.)

I'm ignoring the rest of your post because i never said anything about the "mere mention" of the phrase. I'm talking about the specific usage of it in this specific instance, and the fact that it absolutely IS off-limits in professional software development. [see quote above]

Actually, I could totally see the same programmer putting something like "poop", "cock", "wiener", "boner", "asshole", "sphincter", or anything equally juvenile, provided he could find a way to write it in hexadecimal. And I'm fairly confident that no one would have such a serious problem with any of those words.

And why is the context of the usage so important? There practically is no context, other than "hurr durr I'm funny for saying boobs in the middle of code". That's basically the programming equivalent of teenagers scribbling obscenities on a bathroom wall: stupid and thoughtless, but not holding any sort of agenda one way or another.

You can argue what he did was stupid, immature, thoughtless, unprofessional, tasteless, or unwarranted, but I've yet to see any sort of argument to support calling it discriminatory and thus sexist.

 

[cobra_ky]

Ok then. why not use 0xDEADBEEF or 0xC0DEF00D or 0xBA5EBA11 or any of the myriad other phrases which common sense tells you are less likely to be considered offensive. (apparently the source code originally also contained 0x0B00B1E5, so you can't argue the programmer was picking words out of a hat.)

I'm ignoring the rest of your post because i never said anything about the "mere mention" of the phrase. I'm talking about the specific usage of it in this specific instance, and the fact that it absolutely IS off-limits in professional software development. [see quote above]

Actually, I could totally see the same programmer putting something like "poop", "cock", "wiener", "boner", "asshole", "sphincter", or anything equally juvenile, provided he could find a way to write it in hexadecimal. And I'm fairly confident that no one would have such a serious problem with any of those words.

It's not silly to get annoyed over the fact that if it'd been 0xB16D1C45 or something to that nature, not a single fuck would have been given.

It would literally have been a 'Oh, coders' moment.

And I'm telling you both that you're wrong, that just as many fucks would have been given and the response would have been the exactly the same. the only difference is that maybe people wouldn't have been so quick to blame "feminists" for taking away their god-given right to crack dick jokes at work.

Read that quote again, take out the word "sexist" if you like, and replace "boobs" with "dicks". It's every bit as applicable.

The phrase is juvenile, and someone could probably make an argument for it causing offense... but sexist?

Are we literally just going to start using that word wherever we please now? Has it completely lost all meaning?

i'll just borrow this quote from this blog post here: http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/microsoft-code-contains-phrase-big-boobs-yes-really

As I've said, I'm not bothered about action being taken against it for being inappropriate or juvenile. I only take issue with it being classed as sexism.... because it isn't sexism.

We can't just throw that word at whatever we feel like and see what sticks.

You'd have a point there if i was trying to argue that the phrase "Alaskan Salmon" was sexist. I've already explained why I think it's sexist and i'm certainly not alone in thinking that way. You're welcome to disagree, but please don't pretend i'm pulling this out of my ass. It's insulting.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

...It's still horribly inappropriate and unprofessional and Microsoft should (and no doubt would) have handled it in exactly the same way, by publicly apologizing and patching it out.

Dude I'm pretty sure that just smacking the coder upside the head and calling him a dickhead would be sufficent to deal with this.

 

[D-Class 198482]

TITS!!!!

Bosoms, melons, milk factories, busts, funbags, knockers, ballistics, boobies, jugs, nipples, jubblies, STONKING GREAT TITS!
I'll be called out as sexist at some point and then people will realize thats a Zero Punctuation line and they would generally be calling Yahtzee sexist which would be BAAAD
Captcha: The dude abides
That he does, captcha. That he does.