I once approached a man at an EA social event who I had heard make a misogynistic comment that I found particularly reproachable. He apologized for being “unprofessional.” We were playing beer pong; professionalism had nothing to do with it. There is some kind of mental disconnect making the rounds, to the effect that this behavior is only a problem in professional contexts, and men behaving poorly to women in social contexts has no ramifications on the community.
I think this is spot on. There have been many discussions on the forum proposing rules like “Never hit on women during daytime in EAG, but it’s ok at afterparties”. And they’re all basically doing something blunt on the one hand, and not preventing people from being a**holes on the other hand.
I think the bright-line rules serve several important purposes. They are not replacements for “don’t be an a**hole,” but are rather complements. A norm against seeking romantic or sexual connection during EAG events, for instance, is intended in part to equalize opportunities for professional networking at a networking event (which doesn’t happen if, e.g., some people are setting up 1:1s for romantic purposes).
It is easier for everyone to realize when a bright-line norm would or has been breached. That should make it more likely that the norms won’t be breached in the first place, but also should make it more likely that norm violations will be reported and that appropriate action will be taken.
I once approached a man at an EA social event who I had heard make a misogynistic comment that I found particularly reproachable. He apologized for being “unprofessional.” We were playing beer pong; professionalism had nothing to do with it. There is some kind of mental disconnect making the rounds, to the effect that this behavior is only a problem in professional contexts, and men behaving poorly to women in social contexts has no ramifications on the community.
I think this is spot on. There have been many discussions on the forum proposing rules like “Never hit on women during daytime in EAG, but it’s ok at afterparties”. And they’re all basically doing something blunt on the one hand, and not preventing people from being a**holes on the other hand.
I think the bright-line rules serve several important purposes. They are not replacements for “don’t be an a**hole,” but are rather complements. A norm against seeking romantic or sexual connection during EAG events, for instance, is intended in part to equalize opportunities for professional networking at a networking event (which doesn’t happen if, e.g., some people are setting up 1:1s for romantic purposes).
It is easier for everyone to realize when a bright-line norm would or has been breached. That should make it more likely that the norms won’t be breached in the first place, but also should make it more likely that norm violations will be reported and that appropriate action will be taken.
So I think this is a both/and situation.