Twitter users called out a SXSW speaker for the sexist title of his panel, forcing him to change it—twice.

Kumar Appaiah/Flickr (CC-BY-SA)

SXSW speaker changes panel title after Twitter calls him out for sexism

How about a panel on feminism instead?

 

Kris Seavers

IRL

Posted on Feb 20, 2018   Updated on May 22, 2021, 12:12 am CDT

After being called out for sexism, a South by Southwest organizer has changed the name of his panel twice in the past month, Mashable reported Tuesday.

The panel, organized by Dylan Figlo, was originally called “Don’t Sweat the Tech: Mom Can Use Blockchain Too.” People on Twitter called out Figlo and other organizers of the annual culture, entertainment, and technology conference for the panel’s name, saying it implied that moms (and women in general) have difficulty understanding technology concepts like the blockchain.

Figlo then changed the name of the panel to “Passing the Mom Test: The Key to Blockchain Experiences.” But again he faced backlash for the implied sexism of the “mom test,” which disregards the number of women—especially moms—whose development roles include blockchain technology.

In response to the criticism, Figlo tweeted that the idea behind the “mom test” title was to “create better products for busy, functional users.” He also defended the title by saying his mom is a beta tester.

By Tuesday, the name of the panel had been quietly changed to “Don’t Sweat the Tech: Trade Explanation for UX.”

On its website, SXSW says, “Programming descriptions are generated by participants and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of SXSW.”

The conference begins in Austin, Texas, on March 9.

H/T Mashable

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*First Published: Feb 20, 2018, 8:43 pm CST