At The Risk Of Jon Ronsoning

I’m not much for telling other people when or how to be mad. This person said this, that person said that, none of it to me. Not my bag.

But…

There’s something worth saying about the hubbub on the tubes this week.

I don’t think the details of the disagreement are that important, but more the dynamics of what happened after.

There’s speculation that Bielefeld is being disingenuous about her identity. She might be, but I have no of way of knowing this, and it doesn’t matter.

What I do know, is that the pile on is very much about someone who is perceived to be a woman with an audience and a contrarian position, and a whole mess of people who won’t stand for that. The tone and scale of the blowback would have been fundamentally different for someone that people believed had “earned” their audience. And a lot of men have a very hard time believing any woman can ever earn an audience.

Some people have taken the time to point out there are real problems here. [Some](https://twitter.com/marcoarment) have not, and I find myself thinking less of them for it.

It is possible in the coming days and weeks that we’ll learn more and our attention will turn away from sexist backlash, but I hope we all remember this part next time we’re wondering why women writing about tech need to be very cautious about having an opinion or being heard by too many people.

Update: Arment was dealing with a family issue. Criticism of his silence retracted and I hope for the best with what must be a difficult time for them.