I’m sorry, Jessica, but I don’t follow... all I did was express my opinions on the topic, and I tried hard to never be disparaging of anyone’s comments (with the possible exception of beleaguered Romain, but he’s senior to me). What was the issue with my behaviour on that thread?
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And the reason it happens is because people don't notice, and through ignorance and inaction really exclusive spaces that harm are formed. I don't want to contribute to a space even indirectly which is even 1% toxic without calling it out.
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I've had to leave a couple of toxic academic environments. They shared the characteristic that any discussion would devolve into a small group of male professors literally yelling at each other. If you're in that group or can imagine joining it, that can be a lot of fun, I gather
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Once, when I tried to bring up some of the more heinous aspects of their culture, I was literally asked to leave, essentially for not assimilating. Basically 'play by our rules or gtfo'
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Yeah, as you surmised, it *can* be fun if you're comfortable with aggression and willing to muscle your way in. So, I bet the reaction to you was, "we're having fun, back off". But, science needs to be a professional place that is welcoming to all - a culture change is required.
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Yep, their reaction was indeed "you're ruining our fun". But for the record, I wasn't even trying to bring up their combative discussions. I was trying to get them to stop encouraging sexual harassment!
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Oh, JFC, that was just completely inexcusable of them then!!! They should have listened to you either way, but "we're having fun fighting each other" is a far, far more acceptable infringement of professional conduct than, "we're having fun encouraging sexual harassment"!
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Why is it exclusionary communities like these end up being all like this? If you only have "white dudes", you end up doing "locker room talk" apparently.

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As someone who spent many formative years in hockey locker rooms, it's easy to explain: all humans (not just white dudes) enjoy signalling group membership and status. But, for white dudes engaged in a high aggression activity, group status is signalled by being hard, mean, etc.
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Really sorry to hear you had to go through that! Please take this dose of positivity not as a dismissal of the crappiness but wishing you a Nazi free Twitter. They'll did out soon enough I'm surehttps://youtu.be/rwxwq_gBm6o
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
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But, more generally, even if I were a big wig, I’m having trouble seeing the issue with my participation in the thread... regardless of status, what’s wrong with having strong positions and stating them in a respectful manner?