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Drupal founder Dries Buytaert expelled Larry "Crell" Garfield from the Drupal community (archive) for his involvement in the BDSM community. Garfield claims this was done at the demand of Drupal Security team member Klaus "klausi" Purer and unknown others secretly pressuring Drupal leadership to have him removed for his private sex life.
takyon: From Larry's response:
I am involved in two such communities, specifically the BDSM community and the Gorean (Gor) community. The former is by far the larger of the two and more varied, although I spend more of my time and activity in the Gorean community. It's a small community, and sadly much of what is found online about it is utter crap, just as most in the BDSM community find the "50 Shades" representation of BDSM to be harmfully misleading. The Gorean subculture is inspired by a science-fiction book series written from the 1960s onward to today, and predicated on a strong sense of personal honor, integrity, and community. It also practices consensual Master/slave relationships, and has a strong gender bias toward male-Dom/female-sub relationships, but that is not the cornerstone of Gorean culture. There are other groups that are biased the other way, or have no gender bias. There are even groups in Chicago (where I live) that have regular "fem-dom" parties. To each their own.
It's the same Gor that was adapted into two films, one of which appeared on an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday March 27 2017, @06:09PM (1 child)
This is so fucked up. I'm in complete agreement with both you and the woman whose comments were quoted above: so long as business and home life are kept separate, WHO CARES what two consenting adults do in the bedroom?! Now I hope he doesn't actually believe the central hypothesis of the Gor universe, that being that women are naturally subservient to men because hurr hurr evolution, but if they want to roleplay it, so what? Stuff like this sets feminism back, and taints every other justice movement it associates itself with.
I'm told there's a saying, "your kink is not my kink, and that's okay." I'm rather vanilla personally, and am repulsed by much of the BDSM scene--anything harder than ribbons and a blindfold and calling my girlfriend "o-nee-sama" is right out--but I also know that different people are wired differently, and what works for one doesn't work for another. What *any* of this has to do with his work is beyond me.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Monday March 27 2017, @08:00PM
This is so fucked up. I'm in complete agreement with both you and the woman whose comments were quoted above: so long as business and home life are kept separate, WHO CARES what two consenting adults do in the bedroom?!
Quite right. I would be flabbergasted if my employer (or the members of a volunteer group) were to spy upon me and take action in my professional life for something I did privately. This poor bastard Garfield was crucified. I guess the question is, "who benefits the most from his dismissal?"
Now I hope he doesn't actually believe the central hypothesis of the Gor universe, that being that women are naturally subservient to men because hurr hurr evolution, but if they want to roleplay it, so what? Stuff like this sets feminism back, and taints every other justice movement it associates itself with.
Whether he believes it or not, as long as he only indulges in consensual activity and doesn't push his beliefs on anyone else, I see no issue. Despite the fact that I heartily disagree with such views.
I don't think it sets feminism back, as long as all activity is consensual. If a person (a woman or a man, there are submissive types of both genders) has the drive and desire to be submissive to another and acts upon that, it's an expression of their will and their choice. The ability to make such choices for oneself (rather than being dictated to or discriminated against) is a core tenet of feminism (and freedom in general) IMHO.
I'm told there's a saying, "your kink is not my kink, and that's okay." I'm rather vanilla personally, and am repulsed by much of the BDSM scene--anything harder than ribbons and a blindfold and calling my girlfriend "o-nee-sama" is right out--but I also know that different people are wired differently, and what works for one doesn't work for another.
I agree wholeheartedly. Whatever floats your boat/fries your clams/blows your skirt up is fine with me, as long as you don't try to force it on me.
At the same time, I would point out that all relationships have a power dynamic, and those dynamics are rarely equal. Whether it be a romantic relationship (we all know couples where it's obvious who "wears the pants"), familial relationships (parents have significant power over their children, until they don't, and then, often, children then have significant power over their parents), employer/employee relationships inherently have unequal power dynamics as well.
What's more, as with parent/child power dynamics, those dynamics can (and often do) change over time. Even in relationships that have relatively equal power dynamics, that can be fluid depending on which aspects of the relationship is involved.
What *any* of this has to do with his work is beyond me.
You guess is as good as mine, sister. Probably better, since you haven't had four beers. (with apologies to Dave Barry).
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr