Quickies
Quickies: Diversity, Studying Fear, and the SXSW Harassment Fiasco

- Diversity is for white people: The big lie behind a well-intended word – “The term diversity has become so watered down that it can be anything from code for black people to a profit imperative. Consider the cringe-worthy experience I had sitting in on a corporate diversity training, where initiates learned that diversity could mean our preferences for working at daytime or at night, or our favorite animal. As a Deloitte study showed, many Millennials take it to simply mean one’s unique culture and perspective.” From Courtney.
- The Scientist Whose Lab is a Haunted House – “Kerr has long been interested in studying the science and culture of fear, and parlayed that into becoming the sociologist-in-residence at Scarehouse, where she can observe and collect data on visitors who undergo the attraction’s frights.”
- Vox Media and The Verge will not attend SXSW unless it takes harassment seriously – “In a pattern that is becoming too familiar, efforts to curb harassment online have frequently been met with even more harassment” From Jamie.
- Fox News Invites ‘Panel of Fathers’ to Discuss the Merits of Leggings – They brought out women to comment on their clothes. Then they made remarks about their bodies. I mean, wow, I have no more words to describe this.
- This Man Failed A Paternity Test Due To His Vanished Twin’s DNA – “DNA researchers report a father failed a paternity test because the genes in his saliva differ from his sperm’s. One in eight people might possess such ‘chimeric’ genes caused by a twin lost in the womb.”
Jeez. There are STILL idiots who try to ostrich away violence and threats with empty babble about ‘big tents’ and on-the-other-handery.
SXSW’s cringing in the face of threats was actually couched in these terms (quote pulled from Butterflies and Wheels):
“SXSW feels that both the organization and its staff have been under siege from all sides and from all parties since they announced the panels,”
Show us the numbers assholes.