I see this from a different perspective. We are finally getting to the point where a critical mass of people are not going to tolerate sexist misinformed crap as they encounter it, and will instead speak out en masse.
The blog post on sexism wasn't a "controversial opinion." The author wasn't bravely standing up to the mainstream. It was just his crappy opinion that tech needs to continue to try very hard to move past.
Most importantly, his opinion was NOT silenced. Why do people in this arena of conversation seem to consistently misinterpret the meaning of free speech? He espoused his opinion, and then a whole bunch of other people espoused theirs. Nobody was silenced. Quite the opposite, actually.
> "We are finally getting to the point where a critical mass of people are not going to tolerate sexist misinformed crap as they encounter it, and will instead speak out en masse."
Except this critical mass of people behave more like an angry mob with pitchforks and torches, rather than a room full of shouting retorts.
The internet has given us a remarkable freedom in expression - it has also lowered the floor for discourse. Instead of writing an angry email explaining how you're wrong, there are more people who will post your address, take satellite pictures of your home, threaten to kill/rape you... I could go on.
I don't think this post was about the people who disagreed with him (for the record, I do disagree with his first blog post), but rather the extreme, vitriolic, disturbingly violent blowback that we see so much these days.
And this applies to all subjects and all sides. On the internet it seems if you say something sufficiently controversial, you will be deluged by a flood of extreme sociopathic behavior. We're talking well beyond just ad hominem attacks and insults - many a blogger have been entirely silenced from blogging due to personal threats, mob outrage, incitement, and simply inhuman levels of anonymous cruelty that, prior to the internet, were the sole territory of deranged psychopaths.
> "He espoused his opinion, and then a whole bunch of other people espoused theirs. Nobody was silenced. Quite the opposite, actually."
I don't think the mild, "I think you're stupid and wrong" responses are why he's quitting Twitter.
> The blog post on sexism wasn't a "controversial opinion." The author wasn't bravely standing up to the mainstream.
So very much this. The author wasn't deviating from the mainstream, he was promoting mainstream, sexist points of view regarding women and work. That many people took offense to this and called him out on it is to be expected.
Can you point out exactly where he promoted "sexist points of view regarding women and work?"
Because as far as I can tell, regardless of whether he is right or wrong (I think he is wrong), his blog post had very little to do with expressing a sexist point of view of women, and was more of a critique of how we currently judge discrimination and how the current dialogue around sexism is framed.
He was silenced with thousands of page views on his blog. He was silenced with hundreds or thousands of tweets. He was silenced by making HN front page. Yeah "controversial" opinions are really in danger.
I'd be curious how many people here find this beyond the pale. As a data point, I didn't. I don't agree with all of it, but I don't see what part of it counts as sexist, in the sense of advocating discrimination based on gender.
I think it's a thoughtful post. It's clear that he doesnt like discrimination against anyone, and is proposing how we should act in order to treat everyone in an inclusive and fair manner, for the benefit of all parties.
"Sexist" is advocating discrimination based on gender in the same sense that "theory" is used to trivialize evolution. Both mean a whole lot more than a brief look at them outside of the context in which they are rooted leads one to believe.
Well, /he/ is not silenced, but definitely the next thoughtful persons will likely decide to keep silent.
In a very brief skimming of this topic, I noted even tweets dragging his employer (and by extension his livelihood) into this, which imo is likely the real reason for his departure from tweeter.
The fact is that there are dissenting views on this topic by well meaning and civilized humans.
That is no fact. I hold that the status quo, which is the opinion expressed in that blog post, is finally facing the criticism it deserves.
Well-meaning and civilized has nothing to do with it. Your intent and whether you view yourself as sexist has little to do with whether the views you espouse are actually sexist.
With regard to further opinions of this type being silenced... this will not take place, going by the lengthy historical precedence.
The blog post on sexism wasn't a "controversial opinion." The author wasn't bravely standing up to the mainstream. It was just his crappy opinion that tech needs to continue to try very hard to move past.
Most importantly, his opinion was NOT silenced. Why do people in this arena of conversation seem to consistently misinterpret the meaning of free speech? He espoused his opinion, and then a whole bunch of other people espoused theirs. Nobody was silenced. Quite the opposite, actually.