- Joined
- Jun 4, 2012
- Reaction score
- 579
At a recent hacker conference by the name of "Security B-Sides", sex educator Violet Blue was scheduled to give a talk titled "sex +/- drugs: known vulns and exploits". Here's the description of the presentation:
Before the talk could be given, one of the organizers was approached by a member of the Ada Initiative (motto: "supporting women in open technology and culture") about the nature of the talk. The presentation was then canceled.
According to Violet Blue, the presentation was on an issue that would affect the target audience, and the purpose of the talk was to educate and to engage in harm reduction.
According to the Ada Initiative: "Simply put, even the world’s most pro-woman, sex-positive, pro-consent talk about sex is likely to have negative effects on women at a technical conference."
Looking at the con schedule, the con itself seems to be somewhat average. Violet Blue's talk is a little unusual for the schedule at the con, but wouldn't be out of place at other hacker cons. (To put it in perspective, Security B-SidesSF also had a presentation on lock picking at the same con. Which is far from abnormal from these type of conferences (lockpicking contests are common).)
I'm having a hard time siding with the Ada Initiative on this. They seem to be trying to shut down a legitimate discussion.
What drugs do to sexual performance, physiological reaction and pleasure is rarely discussed in - or out of - clinical or academic settings. Yet most people have sex under the influence of something (or many somethings) at some point in their lives.
In this underground talk, Violet Blue shares what sex-positive doctors, nurses, MFT's, clinic workers and crisis counselors have learned and compiled about the interactions of drugs and sex from over three decades of unofficial curriculum for use in peer-to-peer (and emergency) counseling. Whether you're curious about the effects of caffeine or street drugs on sex, or are the kind of person that keeps your fuzzy handcuffs next to a copy of The Pocket Pharmacopeia, this overview will help you engineer your sex life in our chemical soaked world. Or, it'll at least give you great party conversation fodder.
Before the talk could be given, one of the organizers was approached by a member of the Ada Initiative (motto: "supporting women in open technology and culture") about the nature of the talk. The presentation was then canceled.
According to Violet Blue, the presentation was on an issue that would affect the target audience, and the purpose of the talk was to educate and to engage in harm reduction.
According to the Ada Initiative: "Simply put, even the world’s most pro-woman, sex-positive, pro-consent talk about sex is likely to have negative effects on women at a technical conference."
Looking at the con schedule, the con itself seems to be somewhat average. Violet Blue's talk is a little unusual for the schedule at the con, but wouldn't be out of place at other hacker cons. (To put it in perspective, Security B-SidesSF also had a presentation on lock picking at the same con. Which is far from abnormal from these type of conferences (lockpicking contests are common).)
I'm having a hard time siding with the Ada Initiative on this. They seem to be trying to shut down a legitimate discussion.