Fursection? Bronysercution? I'm not sure what to call this

[Cain]

-

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I normally don't care for the whole "MLP as social phenomenon" thing, except gently mocking those who do care.

But this may have to change:

The guy—though Gawker has done a story on him, he remains anonymous—is a dad in his late 30s. He calls himself "a fairly big fan." He made the picture of one of the show's characters the background image on his desktop. He talked to the boss's 9-year-old daughter about the show. His co-workers, and the boss, got freaked out. According to the guy, the boss told him that "it's weird and it makes people uncomfortable that I have a 'tv show for little girls as a background.'"

Now he's been fired.

As Nathan Newman pointed out to me, every time a story like this comes out, there's a frenzy of commentary, where people wonder whether or not this kind of thing is illegal, why doesn't the employee sue, and so on. Most people seem to think that First Amendment-ish freedoms—the freedom of not merely speech but of expression, of personal style, etc.—apply in the workplace. They don't. And while there are a host of protections for protected categories of workers, those constitute a limited number of cases.* The vast majority of cases of workplace coercion are simply not covered by federal or state law (though see this article by Eugene Volokh for a counterpoint; his focus, however, is on exclusively political speech). Unless you have a union, which ensures that you can only be fired for just cause, you're often screwed.

Here's the bottom line: in most American workplaces, the boss can fire any brony who loves My Little Pony. It's totally legal. And that's the problem.

Bronyism: SRS fucking BIZNESS.  According to at least one employer, anyway.

Oh FFS.

How difficult is it for people to understand that their workplace is separate from their personal life, and they should keep it professional at work?

[Salty]

I'm looking forward to Subculture Enrichment Training of the future. Pony Sensitivjty Seminars. Is your co worker a Brony? Look for these telling signs. Remember , they're people too.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

My ex thought it was totally unfair that the USGS fired him for looking at NSFW images. Turns out he was browsing music websites on work time and that naked Yoko Ono album cover popped up. UNFAIR. He'd been warned twice. And yet, it never occurred to him that maybe he just shouldn't browse music websites on the work computer.

LIFE IS SO UNFAIR!

[Q. G. Pennyworth]

I don't know about the "keep it professional at work" line. Some workplaces encourage folks to personalize their space and bring that energy into the office, without knowing what other people's desktops look like it seems a little premature to shit on the guy.

[Cramulus]

I pray daily that my employers never discover this prolapsed ouroboros of a forum

[President Television]

I pray daily that my employers never discover this prolapsed ouroboros of a forum

Newsfeed?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I don't know about the "keep it professional at work" line. Some workplaces encourage folks to personalize their space and bring that energy into the office, without knowing what other people's desktops look like it seems a little premature to shit on the guy.

I'm not shitting on the guy. I just have a little bit of social comprehension and common sense, and I wouldn't openly flout cultural norms at work unless I knew for sure it was welcome. I wouldn't, for example, bring ICP gear to work and make a picture of Violent J my desktop. Given the admittedly undeserved association bronydom has with clop pervs, that guy is either lamentably sheltered so as to be unaware of the association (unlikely, since he's involved in online fandoms), horrendously socially clumsy, or was trying to push the social envelope. If it's the first case, what a horrible way to learn. If it's the second, odds are that wasn't the only thing making his coworkers uncomfortable. And if it's the third, keep fighting the good fight man, someday there will be social equality for bronies... or else they will fade out and disappear like most fandoms eventually do.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I wouldn't put Eris on my desktop, either. In fact, I have quite a few interests I would steer clear of personalizing my workspace with.

[Bruno]

The only reason I can think of not to follow his boss home and burn his house down is the strong possibility that he would get caught, as opposed to, say, moral reasons or something.

[The Johnny]

The only reason I can think of not to follow his boss home and burn his house down is the strong possibility that he would get caught, as opposed to, say, moral reasons or something.

[Bruno]

 

It depends on mitigating factors, of course. I doubt this is the whole story.

If the rules were that he was allowed to change his desktop background, and he did, and got fired because people simply didn't like it, then fuck those people. It's like the boss saying "Hay erryboddy! Don't forget tomorrow is Jersey day. Be sure to wear you favorite sport teams' jersey tomorrow!" They he fires everybody who wears a Denver Broncos jersey because he hates the Denver Broncos. BECAUSE HE CAN.

At that point, any retaliation can be justified by Because I/we can. If you think you can get away with it, then go for it.


On the other hand, if he just flat refused to take it down, and got all huffy about it after being asked several times, then LOL.

[Salty]

I wouldn't put Eris on my desktop, either. In fact, I have quite a few interests I would steer clear of personalizing my workspace with.

When i walked out on the only job I didn't give notice to I took the Golden Apple I had in my cubicle on the monitor, it was the only thing I left. Everything else got rolled up into the faux bear rug that hanged outside my cubicle among the fake tree and plastic squirrel.

I think it comes down, by and large, to the place you're at. That said, MLP love these dudes have is weird and creepy. I love weird and creepy, but not everyone else at work should have to deal with it.

Keep your MLP love behind closed doors and away from my children, I say.

Alty,
half joking.

[Pæs]

Lol, American employment law. In NZ, good luck firing me unless I fail MULTIPLE "you aren't doing your job at all" tests or get all naked at my desk or something. And if I get naked at my desk and you just yell "YOU'RE FIRED", welp, that's not proper protocol so I may be entitled to compensation.

[Ben Shapiro]

I normally don't care for the whole "MLP as social phenomenon" thing, except gently mocking those who do care.



But this may have to change:

The guy—though Gawker has done a story on him, he remains anonymous—is a dad in his late 30s. He calls himself "a fairly big fan." He made the picture of one of the show's characters the background image on his desktop. He talked to the boss's 9-year-old daughter about the show. His co-workers, and the boss, got freaked out. According to the guy, the boss told him that "it's weird and it makes people uncomfortable that I have a 'tv show for little girls as a background.'"

Now he's been fired.

As Nathan Newman pointed out to me, every time a story like this comes out, there's a frenzy of commentary, where people wonder whether or not this kind of thing is illegal, why doesn't the employee sue, and so on. Most people seem to think that First Amendment-ish freedoms—the freedom of not merely speech but of expression, of personal style, etc.—apply in the workplace. They don't. And while there are a host of protections for protected categories of workers, those constitute a limited number of cases.* The vast majority of cases of workplace coercion are simply not covered by federal or state law (though see this article by Eugene Volokh for a counterpoint; his focus, however, is on exclusively political speech). Unless you have a union, which ensures that you can only be fired for just cause, you're often screwed.

Here's the bottom line: in most American workplaces, the boss can fire any brony who loves My Little Pony. It's totally legal. And that's the problem.

Bronyism: SRS fucking BIZNESS.  According to at least one employer, anyway.

Oh FFS.

How difficult is it for people to understand that their workplace is separate from their personal life, and they should keep it professional at work?

Freedumb?