Kal

I've been lurking here for months - there are some serious experts that blog here, along with a few absolute newbies. I figured my experience level didn't matter. I could have blogged elsewhere too....But...

I'll admit that part of the reason I chose to write my blog here is due to the recent amount of posts I've seen over Sexual Harrassment and what it means to be a Member of a Community that has standards. The more voices in a community speak out, the more the community *is* those voices.

I won't post anything else about it - this isn't 'my community' in that I don't attend conferences, I don't go to meet ups or anything like this, I have a Perl Monks account but never log (every question I need to ask has already been asked!) I guess I'm making it my community by actively voicing my concern and opinion, and it would be nice to talk about perl problems with people who actually know perl!

One thing good about this community: I haven't seen anyone who says "groping a stranger at a conference is acceptable behavior." I have seen some dissension over whether comparing Moose to augmented breasts is considered sexual harassment, but even that has been a minor backlash - most people completely understand the lines being drawn. Those that don't sound relatively immature.

I think its pretty easy - there are Communities of Like Minded People. There are Communities of People with Similar Interests. The Perl Community is a group of people with similar interests, not necessarily Like Minded.

Reddit, for example, is a community of Like Minded People. I have a friend who is a redditor - I refuse to touch that site simply because I am a bit too easily offended by thoughtless discriminatory humor. But I'm not going on there telling people they shouldn't post their junk - that's their community, a random place for random people who aren't easily offended and don't want to think beyond the next bit of humor or 'wow' feeling.

Perl events, perl websites, perl blogs, are about *this* community, and I think this sort of outcry of support for a safe-from-negative-social-stigmas environment is Right and Good.

So I'm adding my voice to the many others who want a community where we can read about perl, discuss perl, get help with perl, and write silly perl poetry and make code jokes without having to worry about the harassing behavior. Or the months of blog posts and discussions that inevitably follow these incidents.

In words that are simply for the Brogrammers to understand:

Flaming me over which is better, '$x unless $y' vs 'if $y $x', thats acceptable.

Making a joke about my preference that involves genitalia or topics that would make a typical grandmother blush, not acceptable.