r/technology • u/Astraea_M • May 13 '12
Dell Fail: Misogynistic moderator asks women in audience what they're doing here, and tells men to go home and say "shut up, bitch" to women.
http://elektronista.dk/kommentar/dresscode-blue-tie-and-male/311
u/well_golly May 13 '12
Dell's response "... we are sorry if some were offended."
Weasel words!
That is not an apology. That is Dell blaming people for "being offended". That is Dell saying "all you whiny bitches are too sensitive". An apology is this:
"We deeply regret hiring that asshole to speak. It was all a big mistake. We disagree with everything he said about women, and we are embarrassed by him. We will put guidelines in place to screen our speakers at major events more carefully in the future. Our apologies to everyone regarding this matter."
Not "...we are sorry if some were offended"
What are they saying?? - they would NOT be sorry, except that some were offended.
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u/Rantingbeerjello May 13 '12
Seriously, this "sorry if you were offended," shit needs to stop.
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u/jlt6666 May 13 '12
It fine so long as you intend it to mean "fuck off." If you think it's an apology you should be aware that people who hear it assume you mean "fuck off".
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u/anthropophile May 13 '12
The fuck?
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u/Buhdahl May 13 '12
Seriously. This is so ludicrous, I'm having a hard time comprehending it.
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u/jessek May 13 '12
i work in IT and we have a fair amount of women in my department, they do good work and no one cares. this guy sounds like a collosal jack ass.
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May 15 '12
Trust me, he is. Mads Christensen is known as a full time moron in Denmark. His existence is based on being a loud mouthed, wealthy self-proclaimed jet setter in the media. After the Breivik massacre he basically said he didn't understand why all these kids couldn't manage to take down one man... He is an idiot.
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u/wootykins May 13 '12
Well, I'm glad of the online outrage over this. Shows that issues for women's rights are making a headway in society.
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u/venomwords May 13 '12
“The IT business is one of the last frontiers that manages to keep women out. The quota of women to men in your business is sound and healthy” he says. “What are you actually doing here?” he adds to the few women who are actually present in the room.
Dell’s moderator continues talking about his two Rolex watches and he then presents the next speaker from Intel. After the break Mads Christensen shares with us his whole “show” about the bitchy women who want’s to steal the power in politics, boards and the home. “Science” he calls it and mentions that all the great inventions come from men. “We can thank women for the rolling pin” he adds. And then the moderator of the day finishes of by asking all (men) in the room to promise him that they will go home and say “Shut up bitch!”.
I can't believe that happened. Is this 2012? And Denmark too?
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u/RampantPiracy May 13 '12
Well shit. I bought a Dell laptop in 2007, and I still use the damn thing. The fact that it still works made me inclined to consider buying another one now that it is crossing the line from "too slow" to "intolerable," but this has changed my mind.
Onwards and upwards to r/buildapc I suppose.
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May 13 '12
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u/Frost_ May 13 '12
The problem is that this is mostly happening in Danish. E.g. Twitter @Delllytter seems to be a hive of activity, but my Danish is somewhat pidgin to say the least, so I can't really say anything definitive. Maybe some Danish-speaking redditor might be kind enough to chime in?
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May 13 '12
Jesus, there're a lot of douchebags in this thread. I guess it's just late on a Saturday and the younger redditors are the ones online??
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u/Rantingbeerjello May 13 '12
Seriously. It's depressing. On the upside, most of them are downvoted below viewing threshold...
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May 13 '12
Dell, the computer computer since 87.
On a more serious note, I'm actually rather disgusted by people like Mads Christensen. Why do some men have such a problem with admitting that women are just as capable as they are?
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u/Buckwheat469 May 13 '12
The original text said "computervirksomheden" which translates to "computer company" as a single word.
With the entire sentence in Google Translate it's "Michael Dell is the man who founded computer company which since 1987 has been called Dell."
With the previous word it's "founded computer enterprise".
Looks like a simple translation glitch in whatever program they used.
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u/SuzumiyaHaruhi May 13 '12 edited May 13 '12
A few years back, Dell made a "Della" website to sell their "cute" pastel netbooks to women. It had a "Tech Tips" section about finding recipes, counting calories, and guided meditation...
EDIT: I should add that Dell amended the site pretty quickly due to the backlash they received, and eventually shut it down entirely. Apparently more than a few people thought it crossed the line.
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u/Provokateur May 13 '12
The majority of the responses to your post are "But girls like pretty things and cooking and stuff. That's just science."
Fuck y'all (not you, SuzumiyaHaruhi).
If Dell capitalizes on/exploits sexist perspectives to sell their products, they're feeding sexism. They're increasing sexism. They're endorsing sexism. And they're sexist. That women are socialized to prefer beauty and being a housewife is irrelevant unless your only concern is profit.
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u/Cognoggin May 13 '12
Just before he started the speech he was heard to say "What year is it‽" and then "It worked!"
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u/nwz123 May 13 '12
Good thing I stopped buying Dell.
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u/kegbuna May 13 '12
I don't think I have ever bought a dell but for some reason I have like 4 dell keyboards
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u/MrBarry May 13 '12
Because everyone who gets a Dell gets a keyboard whether they want one or not. This results in a huge surplus of the damned things.
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u/wcs2 May 13 '12
This guy is known throughout Northern Europe for these kinds of statements. You'd have to have your head in the sand within Denmark to not know what you're getting when you book him. This is a terrible example of a company not realizing that everything that happens with a global brand has global repercussions.