That would be because, as I wrote right off the top, “this isn’t particularly about Mark at all. It was a slip of the tongue, it happens to everyone, and when you make a little mistake you say sorry and everyone moves on. I just wanted to consider the wider issues around the topic”. My post isn’t about any particular comment, it’s about the issue in general, and the fact that the F/OSS community’s response to any _specific_ instance of sexism appears to be far different from its response to any abstract discussion of the topic.

Some people has a hard time to get what it is about. Well, in according to wikipedia it might be:

1. attitudes or behavior based on traditional stereotypes of sexual roles.
2. discrimination or devaluation based on a person’s sex, as in restricted job opportunities; esp., such discrimination directed against women.
3. Discrimination based on gender, especially discrimination against women.
4. Attitudes, conditions, or behaviors that promote stereotyping of social roles based on gender.

The belief that one sex (usually the male) is naturally superior to the other and should dominate most important areas of political, economic, and social life. Sexist discrimination in the United States in the past has denied opportunities to women in many spheres of activity. Many allege that it still does.

The belief that one sex (usually the male) is naturally superior to the other and should dominate most important areas of political, economic, and social life.

It sounds like Mark said something that some people treat as “denied opportunities to women in [FLOSS community]“.

Of course, conversation isn’t about opportunities but about apology.