Coding Like a Girl

If your slides for a presentation are not similar to other slides and presentations, they're non-uniform. That's distracting.

This is a common issue that gets run into a lot whenever dealing with non-discrimination issues. On the one hand, you want to argue that everyone is the same and should be treated equally. But on the other hand, you also have things which are considered instrinsic aspects of the group and it is seen as discriminatory to have the expectation that those things will be abandoned. Look at the opposition to colonialism, for instance. It was recognized that colonialism, just kicking in the door and demanding that everyone change the way they live to be like the 'superior' British was a bad idea. If, as is often the case, we are concentrating on what "seems" fair or "seems" discriminatory, we can end up in endless arguments over what aspects of a culture should be preserved or which should be "allowed" to change. The primary problem here is the criteria being used. It's too subjective.

Instead of arguing that it "seems discriminatory" to expect something like slides not be awash in pink, an argument which simply can not be decided one way or another, we have to turn to objective measures. Where we don't have objective measures, we should remain silent. One could argue productively that bright colors like pink are counterproductive in technical presentations. That's something that can be decided. And once you've reached the conclusion that pink shouldn't be used in slides for objective reasons, if someone continues to argue that it must be accepted because it 'seems discriminatory' to not be, you have to leave the discussion. The person holding that position is ignoring objectivity and relying on subjectivity. They are either trying to exert control over people for personal emotional reasons or simply don't know the difference between subjectivity and objectivity. Or, probably more common today, they oppose objectivity intentionally and see reliance on objectivity to be a character flaw they don't wish to have. Such people can not be helped.

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