Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why I won’t give talks about being a woman in tech

soledadpenades.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

371–375 of 375 posts

Re: Why I won’t give talks about being a woman in tech

#371

Post by kajecounterhack »

PeterisP wrote: post #298
kajecounterhack wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wouldn't be a problem if inequality wasn't influenced strongly by negative factors for women. The tech industry is rife with evidence of hostility toward women; IT Barbie and gendered toy marketing are other examples of how women are not on equal footing with regards to entering this industry. And there is also the problem of women being paid less to do the same job. To paint a picture that says the current landsc…

There definitely are many problems and things that could be improved, however, the point is that even if all of those problems would be fixed, there would be a gender disparity in choice of occupations. The GP statement "If there is no gender parity, there is a problem" is strictly false, even in an ideal world managed by fairies where all these problems are totally fixed, we would not observe gender parity - it woul…

  even if all of those problems would be fixed, there would
  be a gender disparity in choice of occupations.
  ...
  it would for most professions be much closer to 50/50 than
  nowadays, that's true, but it would not be at 50/50.
1. I'm pretty sure reasonable people consider something "close enough" (like 46/54) to be gender parity. I understand that you read the statement as being strictly 50/50 but prose != computer program; maybe read what the GP was trying to say when reading.

2. On what basis are you assuming there would be a gender disparity, all other things being equal? (There isn't.) Can all other things be equal? Probably not perfectly, which is why most would consider "close enough" parity to be a win, but we're certainly not close now.

Re: Why I won’t give talks about being a woman in tech

#372

Post by slededit »

Grishnakh wrote: post #355
slededit wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you really want to fix the problem with women in tech, you need to take all female children away from their parents and raise them in state-run facilities where they're taught that they actually can do math and play with toys that aren't dolls and pursue careers in these fields. Somehow, I doubt this suggestion will be seriously considered.... Been tried throughout history. It almost never works and is as horrif…

Yeah, I hope it was obvious that I wasn't seriously advocating that. I'm just pointing out how this stuff is embedded into our society, and it's hard to root out without taking extreme measures (which will likely have even worse unintended effects). Also, it doesn't help that most of our kids seem to be raised by people who are either uneducated and poor (and thus don't pass on to girls the idea that they can get an…

I've seen more people than I thought possible advocating against democracy, for coups, for segregation, and other crazy things I thought humanity had moved passed. I no longer know what's serious and what isn't anymore.

Re: Why I won’t give talks about being a woman in tech

#373

Post by runeks »

rhizome wrote: post #364
runeks wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "fundamental attribution error" is a symptom of the very issue it itself is trying to solve: too much thinking. Thinking about why we think too much won't get us closer to a solution. The fundamental problem is believing every thought that pops into your mind. We do that when we're not conscious of thought. Whether a compulsive thought concerns "internal characteristics of a person" or "external factors of a situ…

No. The FAE essentially says that choice is stronger than luck. You can't choose your way to becoming the King or Queen of England and you can't choose your way out of being a black person in the US (e.g.'s all). Every point in your comment depended on choice, without considering that intractable circumstances that everybody lives within, for good or bad.

If you can't stop thinking about the intractable circumstances of your life, the problem is with your inability to stop thinking, not with the supposedly intractable circumstances of your life.

Life is inherently intractable. If you can't stop thinking about this fact, you indeed do have a problem.

Re: Why I won’t give talks about being a woman in tech

#375

Post by redthrowaway »

kajecounterhack wrote: post #371
PeterisP wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There definitely are many problems and things that could be improved, however, the point is that even if all of those problems would be fixed, there would be a gender disparity in choice of occupations. The GP statement "If there is no gender parity, there is a problem" is strictly false, even in an ideal world managed by fairies where all these problems are totally fixed, we would not observe gender parity - it woul…

even if all of those problems would be fixed, there would be a gender disparity in choice of occupations. ... it would for most professions be much closer to 50/50 than nowadays, that's true, but it would not be at 50/50. 1. I'm pretty sure reasonable people consider something "close enough" (like 46/54) to be gender parity. I understand that you read the statement as being strictly 50/50 but prose != computer progra…

re: 2, and please forgive the slight necroposting.

That men and women might be biologically predisposed to find certain pursuits more attractive than others should not be controversial.

But even if we cast biology aside, and assume (against all evidence) that differences in preferences are due solely to socialization, is that bad? Is it bad that women feel more drawn to caregiving careers and men to analytical ones? Even if, which I do not for a moment believe, these differences in behaviour and preference were due solely to socialization, so what? As long as people are happy and fulfilled, why would that socialization be a wrong that needs righting?

Post reply on HN