>     When performing surveys it is one of the number 1 reasons women
>     don't attend tech conferences... So diversity is affected

>     So booth babes are not about allowing women to be women it's about
>     objectification which is wrong for men women and children oh and by
>     the way those who are born with multi genders or a-sexual and
>     animals etc we need to allow people to be themselves but we also
>     need to allow minorities to feel comfortable if we are ever to
>     change the rule of White Anglo men...

>     So if you want sex you go to a sex shop that's all cool I'm fine
>     with that I would like to see unions set up for prostitues
>     personally however if I attend a tech conference I'm there for other
>     reasons just like when I go to an underground party or when I attend
>     a trans gender meet-up etc etc see my point here is horses for
>     courses in regards to the booth babes

>     Anyway these are just some points no way are they saying change your
>     mind but just hey this is what the people who attend your
>     conferences say and I personally would never attend a conference
>     with a booth babe I have had enough problems being a technical women
>     in IT let alone to be in a room where my gender is subjectified. So
>     you can have your booth babes but a high number of women won't be at
>     your conferences and you will sending a message to young girls sorry
>     in IT your still seen as a joke!

>     Anyways just some thoughts? 

>     On 30 Jan 2014, at 1:38 pm, Robert Jakob <rsjakob@???> wrote:

>>     That being said, there is a point to be made.  I think "booth
>>     babes" are rather harmless.  That kind of superficial lust can
>>     snowball into worse things like prostitution, sexual slaver, child
>>     marriages, etc...  It's like the symptom of a deeper sickness.
>>      However, when you start down that path of dictating how a person
>>     should live, or act, or dress, or what kind of personality they
>>     should have, it becomes a slippery slope.  It becomes a new
>>     disease.  The whole reason we are all anti-establishment in the
>>     first place.  If you infringe on another's right to be free and
>>     express themselves in any way that makes them happy, you become
>>     the oppressor.  

>>     So I do agree with both sides of the argument.  I abhor the
>>     objectification of human beings, and the superficial, and the
>>     materialistic, but I also believe free-will is the most
>>     fundamental human right.  

>>     On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 8:18 PM, Anthony D'Onofrio
>>     <iamtexture@???> wrote:

>>         Yes, obviously what I wrote was equivalent to calling Amir a
>>         whore and getting
>>         a group of people to ignorantly nod their heads in agreement. 

>>         Anyway... 

>>         Based on the overwhelming ridiculous response by everyone here
>>         today - this 
>>         group is obviously not what I thought it was. Good luck with
>>         your lynchings.

>>         On Jan 29, 2014, at 6:09 PM, Robert Jakob wrote:

>>>         And condemning someone for their opinions is just as
>>>         judgmental and hypocritical.

>>>         On Jan 29, 2014 7:50 PM, "Anthony D'Onofrio"
>>>         <iamtexture@???> wrote:

>>>             You didn't attack "culture". You attacked people. You
>>>             didn't call culture a
>>>             whore, you called actual people whores. People you don't
>>>             know and who
>>>             you have generalized about. You are spoken about as a
>>>             genius and a
>>>             visionary. Forgive me if I hold you to a standard you are
>>>             not prepared to meet.

>>>             If you hate your own nature then feel free to hate it.
>>>             But we are all human
>>>             and subject to the follies that come with that.  Our
>>>             individual circumstances
>>>             are rolls of the dice. Calling someone a whore because
>>>             she does not fit into
>>>             the cultural stereotype you wish to prevail seems
>>>             unnecessary.

>>>             So what if you can get a few people to agree with you or
>>>             a few women to back
>>>             you because they feel the same way? A mob may be right
>>>             insomuch as it may
>>>             destroy all opposition, but that does not imply actual
>>>             truth. Are beautiful women
>>>             who aren't really very intelligent and end up in a
>>>             circumstance where they are
>>>             compelled to be a "booth babe" really to be hated so
>>>             deeply? They can hardly
>>>             be one of the primary threats to global peace and human
>>>             unity.

>>>             To me it seems apparent that the real enemy is fear and
>>>             the actions that we
>>>             commit out of fear - murder, violence, war, and lynching
>>>             - verbal or physical.
>>>             If we're going to claim some moral superiority then we
>>>             should be prepared to
>>>             live up to it.  "I'm smart and you're dumb, so fuck you!"
>>>             isn't really a great
>>>             argument.

>>>             If I am born smart does that make me virtuous? No.
>>>             If I am born with less intelligence does that ensure my
>>>             worthlessness? No.

>>>             Some people are born beautiful, some aren't. Some are
>>>             born intelligent, some
>>>             aren't. Some are neither beautiful nor intelligent, and
>>>             some are beautiful and
>>>             intelligent. What does it matter? These are all rolls of
>>>             the dice. Can we in good
>>>             conscience hate based on race or gender? I think not. So
>>>             why based on other
>>>             arbitrary metrics do we consider it okay? Do you really
>>>             feel like you have
>>>             liberated yourself from the chains of your history? Have
>>>             you overcome yourself,
>>>             your relationship to your family, your ethnicity, and
>>>             your intelligence to find
>>>             yourself resting in a place of peace and lucidity so that
>>>             you may move only with
>>>             conscious volition? It seems the answer to that question
>>>             is obvious.

>>>             If you can't - with all your brains and superiority. Then
>>>             what chance do these
>>>             people you look down upon have? With genius comes power
>>>             and with power
>>>             responsibility. You may see t