According to the general consensus amongst Broadsheet fans and writers, a "sexist dick" is somebody who disagrees with the writer's knee-jerk, hypocritical, politically correct bullshit.

They're also not all men. (Karma: Excellent. UserID in the 500k range. I'm not one of the dinosaurs, but I've been there awhile.)

But there are a few. I don't think that speaks for geeks in general, just for Slashdot. It attracts trolls like a bridge covered in goats. Some of those trolls are more than willing to say anything that'll start a flamewar. Using Slashdot comments as any kind of representation of anything is probably faulty. The Karma system weeds out a lot of the posts that ought to rightfully be ignored, but not all of them.

Slashdot is a culture all its own. It has an 'image' of the Slashdot poster which is probably not at all accurate: male, fairly young, probably overweight, unattractive, living in his parent's basement, and definitely no girlfriend in the picture. This fits relatively few of the serious posters, but it's still a running joke. "My girlfriend..." "How did you get a girlfriend? What're you doing *here* if you have a real live woman to pay attention to?"

Despite that, as a woman posting there, I've never felt in the least bit marginalized or been treated poorly because of it. Not everybody there is nice or worth reading, but many people have something useful to say and... if they don't outnumber the trolls, at least the karma system allows them to be easier to find. The trolls, meanwhile, are usually equal-opportunity jerks, and best ignored.

And looking above just before I post this, in typical /. fashion, the first post is a troll. Now, all we need is a joke about Soviet Russia!

No public comment on women's looks is acceptable? Kind of like a victorian sex rule. Or are men supposed to start judging women by the same standards that women judge men by and discussing THAT in public is Ok? Or are men supposed to judge women the way women judge women. Or the way men judge men. How about the way gay men judge men. Or gay women judge women. Or gay women judge men. Or gay men judge women. Or gay women judge gay men. sort it out for me will ya

[see comments 1 & 3] but maybe they'll eventually get bored and move on to some other site.

Could you please post a link with a picture of Annalee Newitz so we can form our own opinion on the matter at hand?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Since we're discussing slashdot, I have to ask - What did you think of the pink, OMG!!!! Ponies!!! April Fools day joke? This is when they turned the entire site pink and posted a message about how they were attempting to appeal to women by redesigning their site. Were you horrified, and did you find it amusing or revolting?

Anyone trying to draw serious social conclusions from comments on /. needs to read up a little bit on the /. trolling subculture first:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slashdot_trolling_phenomena

The fact is that there are a large number of people out there who derive great entertainment from flamebaiting and trolling in the /. comments... including contests among themselves to see who can provoke the longest thread. Sure, there's a lot of crudely racist, homophobic crap posted, but it's modded down quickly and the skilled trolls focus on more subtle techniques of provocation. Like posting comments on the appearance of a woman article author.

Besides the trolls, there are a large number of bloggers on the site who are absolutely dying to be slashdotted. So when a blogger "hits it big" and gets a front page link there's a certain amount of sour grapes that motivate personal attacks.

I don't mean to imply that there aren't sexist dicks out there, but I think Analee (especially in comparing /. to the NYT) is being somewhat opportunitistic in her dismay... I have a hard time believing she's not aware of the site's culture.

If a writer doesn't want people commenting on his or her looks, then don't post a picture with the article. If the publication insists, post a facsimile/caricature a la Cary Tennis in Salon.

I bet I wouldn't have to look very far into the archives of Salon to find some editor, not to mention readers, commenting on how dishy Jon Stewart is. That doesn't mean you don't find him funny, politicaly incisive, and able to spark interesting dialogue on social justice.

Writers are entertainers. Most people consider the entertainer entire when judging the merit of his/her work. Lots of people comment on how Robin Williams's pelt - it has nothing to do with his comedy, but he can't stop us from noticing. Same way Sarah Silverman is often complimented on the size of her bust in the same breath as her comedy. Lots of people have noted how Stephen King is a little freaky looking but lots of people still buy his books. I am not the first to notice that John Grisham is handsome - does that mean that I'm not taking him seriously as a writer?

I'm all for stopping real sexism in its tracks. But let's save the outcry for real problems. Comments about the looks of a female writer posting to a mostly male audience are to be expected. The comments might be dumb and irrelevant - but as long as they don't cross the line of decency, let it roll off. Pick your battles.

I'm regularly surprised by the freedom with which seemingly normal people make snap judgments about women based solely on their looks. You never find the same comparisons made about men, and certainly never in the same numbers. Just look at all the vile remarks made about Helen Thomas on various sites if you want to feel nauseated. By way of comparison, I never see anyone giving Walter Cronkite or similiar elder males the same level of disrepect. Slashdot is only a reflection of the culture at large. Everybody knows women are judged by their looks. The worst thing isn't when geeks do it, it's when we do it to ourselves.

I've been reading /. for a long time as my fashionably-low user ID (low 5 digits, yay I'm such a nerd but hey I gotta establish my cred) attests. I'm also a professional software developer, so I'm familiar with geeks and consider myself to be one, despite my amazing lack of a Y-chromosome. Slashdot regularly runs articles on the mystifying dearth of female techies, or the latest game industry tactic to target the female demo, or the supposed unsuitability of the female mind for mathematics and computers. It's one of their perennials. Have a gander: http://slashdot.org/search.pl?query=women

Whenever one of these "Gender Gap" articles comes up there are bound to be a ton of comments. Normally I'll scroll through the higher-rated replies, but I rarely read past the first couple. If I stopped to think about why I almost never bother to participate, I suppose it would be because of the inevitable ignorant/sexist comments... that are usually regarded as funny. There are so few women who read the site that complete ignorance can be rated "Insightful" or "Funny". Stereotypes thrive when you can express an ignorant opinion and not be challenged on it. I think that sums up Slashdot pretty well. It's an Old Geeks' Club.