This is off the ace theme, but I figure since many of us (myself included) do not fit into the gender binary that there should be some interest amongst my readers.
So in May DeviantArt changed their design so that users no longer have the option of declaring a gender outside of the binary.
Check out this blog post. It chronicles the complaints of one user and the bigotry and sexism of DevArt staff.
I stopped using DevArt a few years ago, but I was thinking recently about joining again because I need a place to stash my art online for free. Absolutely not happening now, though. I am sending in a complaint, and a friend of mine informed me that she sent in one and apparently they are logging all the complaints in order to make a decision.
Please spread the word!
If I was tempted to use dA anymore, I wouldn't.
ReplyDeleteThe compulsary male/female thing wouldn't be enough for me to boycott, but the fact that someone decided to take the other option off, and the rudeness and presumption to greater knowledge of the staff is awful.
By the way, the link doesn't work for me, which is odd, but for any other readers, you can find it by googling "transfinite da", clicking on the first link and then clicking on from there.
It doesn't work for me either, probably because for dreamwidth you don't need the http://. This one should work.
ReplyDeleteOther than that... pretty much what SM said. The way that the OP in that discussion was treated is frankly appalling and speaks extraordinarily badly for the site.
Thanks for the help! I stepped away from my computer after posting this and hadn't noticed the link error. It's fixed now!
ReplyDeleteI agree that just having a fixed gender binary isn't enough of a reason to boycott a website, since this is common to most things on the internet and in general. However, having removed the other options which were previously available and being so matter-of-fact in their sexist opinions speaks volumes about how DevArt is being run now.