{"id":1013,"date":"2014-07-01T14:47:09","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T14:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/?p=1013"},"modified":"2014-07-01T17:59:23","modified_gmt":"2014-07-01T17:59:23","slug":"def-con-jeff-moss-and-sexism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/?p=1013","title":{"rendered":"Def Con, Jeff Moss, and Sexism"},"content":{"rendered":"

I suppose this could be subtitled \u201cwhy I won\u2019t be going to Def Con again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last August I wrote a letter<\/a> to Jeff Moss<\/a> (who is the founder of Def Con) about the disturbing sexism \u2013 including a conference sponsored strip show \u2013 I personally witnessed on a short jaunt I took to Def Con along with some anecdotes from the Internet from some women who were harassed.\u00a0 He wrote back to me and said he wanted to have a better experience for all, irrespective of their genders, and willing to talk about it. That discourse never materialized; instead he sent his emcee of the event to talk to me (reader\u2019s digest of that conversation \u2013 the emcee is nice guy, but he just started and didn\u2019t want to make waves and change things too quickly; perhaps someday it will, who knows.)<\/p>\n

Not to be dissuaded I asked Jeff to talk again, and once more he blew me off.\u00a0 That\u2019s certainly his prerogative; while we\u2019ve known each other over 20 years (since the very first Def Con) we\u2019ve gone different, almost opposing directions; me running for the gutter and showing up occasionally in dusty history tomes, he running and roosting at the big Cons, working for Homeland Security and ICANN, and in general positioning himself as a Hacker and security expert. His good timing\/luck\/prescience at starting Def Con and Black Hat when he did certainly paid off financially and in a variety of other ways.<\/p>\n

\"lorax\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So why should any of this matter to me? And of course this isn\u2019t an original topic, a variety of others have spoken out on the issue.\u00a0 I\u2019m certainly not trying to position myself as the Lorax for mute security females \u2013 I simply want to add my voice to the chorus.<\/p>\n

Def Con is no longer some halcyon hacker hideout where lone wolves hang out to reconnect once a year.\u00a0 It\u2019s got something well in excess of 10,000 attendees, all paying cash (auditors have to love that!) that feed into a multimillion dollar business; it\u2019s a professional conference, one that folks go to for networking opportunities and to learn about the profession. And as such it\u2019s an extension of the workplace and the security profession, and the behavior and goings on reflect not only the attitudes of the presenters, attendees, and us security folks, but of course Jeff Moss and Def Con itself.\u00a0 And women and young girls who attend are treated like 2nd<\/sup> class citizens \u2013 window dressing to look at (if young and pretty), but not be heard. I can\u2019t simply mutely watch this injustice go by.<\/p>\n

But why should anyone else care? Or even if you do, what can you do to fight such a systemic social problem, with mighty forces and sheer numbers against you? While I\u2019m used to tilting at windmills at a quixotic clip, I understand that most exercise a bit more caution and perhaps common sense.<\/p>\n

But changing Def Con isn\u2019t changing the entire world \u2013 while it might reflect the larger culture and society, it\u2019s also different in that it has a dictator: a leader who could simply wave his scepter and proclaim a variety of changes that would make it a better place.<\/p>\n

How so? Well, more women could be invited to participate and speak; bridges could be built with existing positive social organizations[i] to construct a healthier conference environment, positive policies and guidelines created to foment a better atmosphere for all[ii], scholarships and internships for women and young girls[iii], a mentorship program\u2026 oh, I don\u2019t know, how about just giving a shit about the situation, there are good counter-examples all over.<\/p>\n

Mind you, these aren\u2019t far-fetched or radical notions \u2013 virtually every other organization and conference I personally attend, including ones by the IEEE, CACM, USENIX, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and others all have exactly the sorts of things I suggest above.<\/p>\n

As a business you\u2019d think you\u2019d want to expand the growth by tapping into a market that is a near green-field opportunity, but instead Jeff has chosen to promote a frat environment and get volunteer strippers to help boost the troop\u2019s morale. It\u2019s really unfortunate, and especially damaging because most people attending Def Con are our future leaders: when the young and especially impressionable see their heroes or peers engaged in negative behavior it paves the way for more misbehavior.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not sure why people \u2013 primarily men, of course, but not restricted to us \u2013 condone the overt and appalling sexism present in Def Con; the security field is so bereft of women and minorities already, its difficult to even imagine why you\u2019d either put together or go to such a hostile environment that only further discourages participation.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s fear of losing jobs and opportunities or perhaps just outright chauvinism and sexism. I do wonder if all the companies who sign the expense checks to their conference goers know what they\u2019re backing.<\/p>\n

Everyone has at times complex reasons to do any number of things, but unless you\u2019re one of the oppressed, you\u2019re implicitly (or for some, explicitly) aligning yourself with the sexist and negative culture that thrives at Def Con. When I hear how males talk about the capabilities of girls and women in our field it often makes me feel ill \u2013 let me tell you, boys, you don\u2019t have any lock or god-given gift that provides you with the keys to being a great hacker. The reason that there aren\u2019t more women and girls in our field is staring at you in the mirror, not because of any weaknesses in the fairer (sic) sex.<\/p>\n

So Jeff \u2013 grow up. Join the 20th<\/sup> century, if not the 21st<\/sup>. Make Def Con something that everyone may enjoy and take pride in. It\u2019s something of your legacy, how do you want it to be when you\u2019re gone?\u00a0 I urge you to reconsider your own participation and start effecting positive change in your young boys club. As for everyone else \u2013 thoughts and philosophy matter, but actions at times far more. Be a better human being, and rise above – walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Don\u2019t go to Def Con or fight for change until something actually happens to change the situation.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is just another lost cause. But sometimes those are the only ones really worth fighting for<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[i]the ACM & IEEE have chapters devoted to helping women advance\u2026. It\u2019s not simple, but it\u2019s also not rocket science to improve things; there are many organizations who could help \u2013 it\u2019s not simply letting women join in on the fun, there\u2019s so to be gained by having more talent and diversity in the field.<\/p>\n

[ii] Codes of conduct, anti-harassment policies that are actually enforced, education, etc. http:\/\/ adainitiative.org has a nice set of resources and guidelines about these and other pro-women issues.<\/p>\n

[iii] If you think this is far-fetched, Black Hat opened up a scholarship program this year \u2013 of course, looking in my crystal ball I will bet on the gender of the recipients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I suppose this could be subtitled \u201cwhy I won\u2019t be going to Def Con again.\u201d Last August I wrote a letter to Jeff Moss (who is the founder of Def Con) about the disturbing sexism \u2013 including a conference sponsored strip show \u2013 I personally witnessed on a short jaunt I took to Def Con […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[277,16,19,20,4,226,6],"tags":[278,279,339],"class_list":["post-1013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-feminism","category-people","category-philosophy","category-science","category-security","category-sexism","category-tech","tag-do-the-right-thing","tag-oppression","tag-sexism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1013"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1018,"href":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013\/revisions\/1018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trouble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}