tianaco · HackerTrans

قبل 16 سنةdiscuss

But what are the bad things for a high-end escort? They wrote about how she felt like she couldn't communicate about her career. They also wrote that a lot of the safety issues that plague low end prostitutes weren't issues for Allie. The main bad thing that they didn't speak about were health concerns.

tianaco

قبل 16 سنةdiscuss

how reasonable! letting people keep their private lives private. Imagine if that caught on in North America!

tianaco

قبل 16 سنةdiscuss

I took that as a given, kragen.

Perhaps I should have prefaced my remark with: "for those women who are interested in the profession...."

[edit] it's interesting though - amongst homosexual men, there's significantly less stigma against prostitution AND significantly less care about the health risks. There's also more men who are doing it and they make less money than the women.

tianaco

قبل 16 سنةdiscuss

On the point of "Is There Anything Good About Men" - check out July's issue of "The Atlantic" <http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/07/the-end-...;

It's similarly thought provoking, but a bit more balanced, less angry, yet a bit patronizing to men.

tianaco

قبل 16 سنةdiscuss

"So the real puzzle isn’t why someone like Allie becomes a prostitute, but rather why more women don’t choose this career."

Most women don't do this because of the social stigma, and those that don't care about the social stigma don't do it because they don't want to contract STDs--in particular, Genital Herpes which can be transmitted through skin-to-skin contact. I'm surprised that the article didn't examine the health risks of the business.

I'm certain that a high class escort is safer from health risks than someone who works on the street, but how much safer? That is information I'd be interested to learn.

That said, I have several friends--women and homosexual men--that have done and do this type of work. When they talk about it, they always say that they "love it." They do it for awhile and pay off some debt. Then they inevitably age out of it or go onto work that they find more meaningful. This article confirmed the stories they told me.

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

There is definitely an under-served niche here. From my conversations with other busty women, most bras and swimwear are either un-fashionable or ill-fitting, or un-supportive.

I recently decided I would learn to sew my own swimwear and bras since most of what fits me is horribly ugly and overpriced... I'm in my 20's, fit/5'8"/narrow ribcage/large cups. Forget about factoring support into the equation.

After 10 years of spending hours and hours every spring/summer looking for the perfect fitting bikini, I realized that in that same amount of time, I could learn how to make my own swimwear and be set for the rest of my life. "give a man fish he's fed for a day, teach him to fish he's fed for life"

Going through bra and swimwear patterns, I've learned that the construction ranges from simple to very complicated. Unfortunately, nobody in the industry appears to be doing anything that's particularly interesting or ground-breaking. Very little that appears to be designed by and for a large-busted woman. Patterns are classic, even corsetry-inspired. No new construction methods or materials. Too bad because there is a huge market for supportive and attractive bras - "of the future"?

Lululemon has some great sports bras that are very supportive and cute and the price is reasonable. I wish more companies would follow suit.

What I'd really love is supportive bras with moisture-wicking materials covering the underwire. I have no idea why no companies that I know of, other than Lululemon, have capitalized on this. It's so obvious to me!

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

Think outside the box, SwellJoe.

Brainstorming has value of it's own.

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

That's a really nice quote to post! how sweet!

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

Happy Birthday Trevor - it's my birthday too!

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

This confirms my brother's stories. He has a penchant for dating Scandinavian women--thusfar he's dated women from Denmark and Norway and has visited them and their families.

Denmark was, of course, expensive by US standards. But upon returning from Norway, he remarked on the absurdly high cost of living. He made lasagna for his Norwegian girlfriend's family and it ended up costing around $60 US--just for the ingredients and a soft drink. Eating out at a burger-type joint ran nearly $100. It's not affordable unless you're absurdly wealthy.

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

Zarathu, the point is that it IS irrational and illogical--that's why it's a problem. It comes from the subconscious. Which is why so many people took offense when I brought it up... in their conscious mind they're not gender biased, but when they think about it, perhaps my more "feminine" accomplishments wouldn't be as interesting to these male evaluators as more "masculine" accomplishments. It makes perfect logical sense, so I don't understand why I'm being attacked for bringing up the possibility of subconscious gender preferences.

In fact, your comment merely reinforces your gender bias, which I'm guessing many of your peers also hold.

"man up" ? Are you saying a man wouldn't get upset about gender discrimination? A bunch of men got VERY upset from the mere mention of gender discrimination--tried to put me down for suggesting it and told me to quiet down about it. Imagine if you were ACTUALLY discriminated against! What would you do?

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

kryo, that was a really nasty, disparaging, and insensitive thing to write.

You can figure out that I'm a woman within 30 seconds of reading my application because of the organizations I've been involved with, what I studied, my accomplishments... oh, and of course the video.

Second, it's less about being "docked" because I'm a woman, but more about evaluators not relating to my accomplishments because what they value doesn't line up with what I've accomplished.

You can scoff at the "'they don't relate to me' crap", as you so eloquently put it. Or you can look at it for what it is: a problem in the tech world which results in a higher barrier to entry for women than it does for men.

It's easier to ignore this as if it doesn't exist and feign umbrage to me stating my fears, than it is to actually examine what goes on in an open-minded and sensitive way.

To relate to me you don't need a "a pair of breasts and a rush of estrogen" (how vulgar?!) but you do need a modicum of open-mindedness and sensitivity. Such characteristics you sorely lack.

I'm not trying to perpetuate the gender gap, but to acknowledge that it does exist in tech. Via discussion and awareness, maybe one day it will cease to exist.

That's what I really want. Men AND women evaluating me who see my potential as a businessperson even though I don't fit the mold of a traditional Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur.

Unlike most women in technology that I've met who have encountered bias and discrimination due to their gender, I'm NOT afraid to talk about it. I'm happy I brought this up and am not at all sorry that it offended you.

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

I've heard pg make some pretty strong statements. I'm sure they turn people off but I'm not sure he cares about the opinions of those people.

I think it's pretty gratuitous for you to give me a lesson on selling to investors and customers here. Yes my comments may have been polarizing. I don't think you understand the opportunity cost of always saying what you think people want to hear.

I've gotten a lot of opportunities by speaking my mind to and rubbing influential people the wrong way initially. They give me attention they normally would not give, and in debating with me give me more respect in the end than had I just championed the status quo. This isn't something I seek out, but I find that standing my ground almost always serves me well.

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

I don't expect points for being female, but it is something that sets me apart in this scenario.

I don't think you, a YC alum, would necessarily dock me for being a woman. I do think that you might not find some of my accomplishments as interesting as you would someone more like you. Is that unfair? Only if I knew YC alums were reading my application after I submitted it. Because I would have tailored it to you in the first place, the YC alum. It would take too long to re-tailor it at this point!

That's ALL I meant with this thread.

I apologize for any misunderstanding or offense taken.

With all due respect, you don't know how you would deal with being a minority until you've been one.

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

The thing is, I'm ridiculously outgoing.

I even have my own event production company in New York City. I'm excellent at speaking with people.

I still need work on pitching, but I have no problem talking to everyone... since that's crucial in my other line of work.

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

B. I'm not a coder. I feel that most of my accomplishments will not read as well to a coder as they won't identify with them.

That's it. (I have technical co-founders)

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

My mistake. I spoke to a few YC alums and they told me that RTM wasn't really involved. Thank you for clarifying.

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

It's not about them looking at my breasts. More often they look away from me as if I don't exist at all.

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

No, this thread was a reaction to the announcement that was just revealed. I feel entitled to state my opinion after I spent so much time tailoring my application to a specific rubric. I'm sure you understand.

The fact that my concern is controversial, but perhaps resonates with people, is why it got so much attention.

HN exists as a forum for discussion and I raised a discussion that is germane to this announcement. A lot of other entrepreneurs have raised similar concerns in different ways... which is why this thread is so popular.

I got under people's skin. But for you to call it "whiney" is really out of line.

My concerns about this announcement as just as valid as other's people's as evidenced by the amount of upvotes.

tianaco

قبل 17 سنةdiscuss

No, we had 2 submissions - One headed by my partner with 4 founders, another headed by me with 2 founders. The other founders are all men.

I am the first face on our application video. We did that to set us apart from the rest of the videos.

I'm done with my applications, and confident that we made good applications for the people that we initially thought were going to review them... but not for unknown founders whose personal biases we are unaware of, but I can only assume based on my personal experiences with men in tech.

Re: "chip on my shoulder" would you be offended if your peers wouldn't look you in the face? how about if they re-asked your business partners the same questions they asked you, only to get the same response?