I was in the elevator on my way down to the welcome reception, and it was packed. And quiet.

Until we landed on the convention center floor. And before the doors opened, some dude said, "I MADE IT THE WHOLE WAY WITHOUT AN ELEVATOR JOKE!"

• crickets*

Oxfords.

WTF is an elevator joke?

Oxfords, ita.

Well, you're no use.

eta: Oxfords!

I mean, I understand what an elevator joke would be, but not why they would be near-compulsory.

WTF is an elevator joke?

How many elevators does it take to change a light bulb? Two, one to change the light bulb and one to play soft muzak.

Urm... okay, not a very good one.

There was a huge meltdown before TAM.

Picture it like Buffy fandom, and Dawkins is Joss Whedon, and Rebecca Watson is me. Those are your two players. Got it? So here's the story:

Rebecca Watson was on a panel in Dublin, talking about their skeptic fandom stuff, and then went out to party with some other fans. At 4am, she said, "I'm exhausted, I have to go to sleep," and left the bar.

A man followed her into the elevator and said, "I think you're really interesting. Do you want to go back to my room for coffee?"

Watson declined.

Later, when doing a podcast, Rebecca mentioned that Elevator Guy went about things the wrong way, that it isn't cool to ask a woman alone in an elevator to go back to your room at 4am, it's just sort of creepy.

Just like that. It was sort of off-the-cuff, since she often gives talks on male privilege and inappropriate behavior toward the few women who attend these events.

Of course, the dudes in the skeptic fandom went completely ballistic about how silly women are, and the women went ballistic about how fucking clueless men are.

PZ Myers, who often falls on the side of the angels in matters such as these, wrote about it on his blog.

Dudes again went ballistic on the sheer stupidity of women and such. (women did this as well)

One of the dudes was Dawkins, who posted a diatribe on how privileged Watson is to be afraid of men in elevators when her sisters in Africa are getting their clitorises cut off.

The logic fail in Dawkins argument was pointed out to him several times, but he dug in.

Phil Plait (kind of the Tim Minear of the fandom) took it all over to his blog and ipped Dawkins a new one.

Everyone who has posted about it gets flooded with MRAs who are butthurt that women can vote.

This all happened just a few days ago.

You need an ax to cut the tension.

OH JEEZ.

There is and has been a really hostile environment towards women at these events. A couple of years ago, there was an event somewheres, and a panel about what they can do to get more women to attend. The panel was five dudes.

Someone asked, "have you considered inviting them to your diversity panel so you can ask them yourself?"

SERIOUSLY. It's a very white male privilege and VERY ANGRY when you call it out sort of thing.

I've been listening to Chuck D for days. Public Enemy makes me behave differently, I think.

Wow. I just. I don't even.