Diversifying TypeDrawers

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  • Stephen ColesStephen Coles Posts: 994
    edited August 2015
    Scott said: 
    Are there individuals involved with type design who believe their participation here is not welcome because of their gender, race, nationality, or ethnicity? Stephen, has anyone said this? 

    Not explicitly, no. But, as some have described, there are reasons beyond outright hostility that dissuade some from participating. Up until this week I have been painfully aware that TD had a woeful lack of active women and minority participants, and I wanted to explore ways that we could be more inclusive. Can’t hurt. I think, despite a few digressions, this discussion is useful. At least it’s encouraging women to express their concerns. It’s a start.

  • Stephen ColesStephen Coles Posts: 994
    edited August 2015
    Good point about social media, Isabel. Occasionally I link to TD from @typographica on Twitter, but just last night I set up the @typedrawers account and I'll be pointing to interesting discussions from there.
  • Thanks, @Stephen Coles and the moderation crew. The discussion is valuable, and I’m hopeful to see this kind of insight grow in the community at large. I’ve had great talks on similar topics at the Oslo Typostammtisch (back in  with people like our own @Frode Bo Helland and @Kostas Bartsokas, and it’s always led to a stronger mutual understanding.
  • Hi from a newly approved member (who has been reading TypeDrawers posts since it began). There's a well written piece by Elizabeth CareySmith on Medium that is on point here: https://medium.com/@theoriginalecs/ain-t-i-a-type-nerd-too-27dde21f2d0
  • Ray LarabieRay Larabie Posts: 1,376
    edited August 2015
    Equality can be achieved by working twice as hard? Chop chop! Double time, everyone. Well... not everyone.

    [edit: the post I was referring is no longer visible]
  • PabloImpallariPabloImpallari Posts: 777
    edited August 2015
    Discriminate against a woman (or whatever), just for being a woman (or whatever), is plain silly.

    I've hired a few people to help me on my projects on the past years, so far 2 man and 1 women. But I've never weighted the sex, that will be silly. I've only
    weighted their skills, which was the only thing that matters to me. Hey! They might have been man, woman, crocodiles, elephants, martians or whatever... I just don't care about that. My only concern was "can this person get the job done well, and on-time?", everything else is of no importance.

    +1 for diversity
  • Ray LarabieRay Larabie Posts: 1,376
    edited August 2015
    Reason for flagging is because you were baiting the moderators: not cool.

    [edit: the post I was referring is no longer visible]
  • Ben BlomBen Blom Posts: 250
    edited August 2015

    From TypeDrawers Rule Number 2:

    Post topics appropriate for TypeDrawers, and post them in the appropriate category. Get to know the categories listed on the left. If the topic you wish to discuss doesn’t fit in any of those categories, it’s probably not right for TypeDrawers.

    I think it is irrelevant, whether someone who contributes here is a woman, a man, or belongs to any minority.

    I am in favor of diversity of ideas, opinions, techniques, thoughts, etc., which is relevant for TypeDrawers.

    I am in favor of diversity in many, many other ways—but I don't speak about that here, because it is not relevant here.

    I think the current discussion doesn’t fit in any of the categories listed on the left.


    PS. The rules for decent behavior here, are the same for women, men, and members of any minority.

  • Stephen ColesStephen Coles Posts: 994
    edited August 2015
    A brief note of sincere apology: A post by Michael Clark was flagged by several users as Abuse or Troll. After 5 flags the system collapses the post and makes its text gray. Ray’s "Edit" comments made me believe that only Moderators could see the collapsed post and that it was invisible for all other users. Assuming this, I made the dumb mistake of deleting it completely when it showed up in my moderation queue. This is completely my own fault and I regret it. In the future we will rely on flagging to collapse posts. All collapsed posts will remain intact so the thread is still understandable for those who want to follow it. Exceptions to this policy will be rare, such as robotic spam.
  • "...it's pretty clear he is just nicely telling women they should keep their mouths shut."

    Jackson, I disagree with your interpretation. Everyone interprets things differently and while Michael's comments could be considered strong by some I don't think he intended to insult anyone, even obliquely. Even if he did, it's just his opinion, nothing more.

    FWIW, I have known some male type designers who would have been better received had they lost their megaphone too.  :-)

  • Well Jackson, I think you'll find that we have no plans of leaving anytime soon! Thanks for the words of support.

    The events of the past four months have shown that it's time for us to speak out - as ignoring those that could use a bit of education (and empathy) was good for our sanity, but not for the greater good of our industry.
  • Chris LozosChris Lozos Posts: 1,458
    What I find happening on both sides of the XY Chromosome aisle is that we too often say either men do this or women do that.  I would very much hope we can change this to "some [men/women] I have encountered do thus and such. We can point to men like Ray Rice and say he punched a women in the face because there is visible evidence. It is very unfair, hurtful, and untrue to generalize this horrid behavior to all men. I resent it and am offended by it just as women are offended by being equated with the bad behavior of a few.  There is a percentage of assholes in every race,creed ad gender.  We need to single them out and not punish all the rest for the behavior of a few. Likewise, we need not jump to conclusions about any gender or group without evidence.  Guilty until proven innocent is a horrible thing. If we suspect a problem, we should find evidence before we make an accusation.
  • I've just joined and I'm a middle-aged white male. Sorry for bring down the diversity average. :-(
This discussion has been closed.