A teeny-tiny itsy-bitsy thing (good-natured remarks that feel negative)

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xjm's picture

I need to vent about something. I thought Jared Spool's keynote at DrupalCon Chicago was fantastic. I've been showing it to coworkers, including people who work with other web frameworks and other platforms entirely. This means watching it over and over again.

There's just one thing. Somewhere midway through, he makes a joke something like "You guys know what girls are, right?" When I was there in the room during the keynote, I felt awkward for a second. The guy sitting next to me looked at me. Now every time the video gets to this part, I wince. I know this is the tiniest thing, but it's like a pebble in my shoe. It's no big deal on its own, but every time I step on it again it causes a bit more discomfort. A little reminder that Drupal developers are presumably young, introverted, heterosexual males, and anyone who doesn't fit this type is outside the norm.

Please don't flame me for not having a sense of humor or something. Like I said, I thought Jared's keynote was wonderful, both informative and engaging, and I'm not criticizing him as a presenter the slightest. I want to take this remark in context, as a non-issue, but at the same time I'm just wishing people were more aware of how totally good-natured, harmless remarks can make someone feel through repetition.