[Python-ideas] Retire or reword the "Beautiful is better than ugly" Zen clause

Anders Hovmöller boxed at killingar.net
Thu Sep 13 20:41:49 EDT 2018


> "Ugly" is very obviously a slur. It carries a dark meaning *and* it's still being actively used towards people. Honestly, I can't imagine someone cheering up when they see that word, especially if they're self-conscious about their appearance or were told they were "ugly" at some point of their life.

Many things are slurs for this reason. This thread has suggested “hairy” which will have the exact same problem. “Smell” as in “code smell” has bad connotations for every man who has ever been a teenager and I’m guessing for many women too. At least we use “ugly” for cars or trees, but “hairy” and “smelly” not so much.

I’d like to see some better suggestions for replacements here. The Zen is trying to express what the Python community feels about how code looks and feels, and just removing this point would make the Zen less reflective of the actual values we share.

/ Anders



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