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As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

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Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

#161

Post by jessaustin »

dunkelheit wrote: post #150
tptacek wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoah. I'm not saying that people who write code for fun all do this. I write code for fun and so does my wife. I'm saying that people who claim that writing code for fun makes them superior developers do this.

Good. Because the way I interpreted your comment is that you are opposed to the whole notion. > people who claim that writing code for fun makes them superior developers do this What is "this" in this sentence? If "this" = "excited to feel superior" (from your previous comment), then the sentence reads almost like a tautology. If you simply mean that bragging and feeling smug about writing code for fun is kinda pathe…

It's fine to brag and feel smug about disliking TFA and the misogynistic "memo" for which it apparently has some sympathy...

Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

#162

Post by iLemming »

Watching this "drama" it feels to me like some kid in kindergarten said something like: "boys have penises and girls have vaginas, boys prefer toy soldiers and girls like playing with dolls". What's the damn deal about that, I still don't get it? There are many other things to be angry at. Why in the world people stuck arguing about this shit?

Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

#163

Post by reitanqild »

sctb wrote: post #152
noncoml wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a difference between flagging and not upvoting. If it is upvoted enough to reach first page then it means there are HN readers who are interested.

Users flag stories they think shouldn't be on Hacker News. It may be because there's a zillion stories and opinions already and a particular one doesn't contain significant new information, or because a particular discussion is mostly uncivil, divisive, and damaging to the community. We've turned the flags off on this one and ask that users please take care to post civilly and substantively.

Thanks!

I've learned a lot from HN, even changed my views on at least one big issues (legalizatiin of certain drugs) thanks to what I read here.

That happened because 1. reasonable discussion where allowed and 2. I read both sides and decided the other side where right.

It wouldn't have happened if every discussion about it had been flagged off the site.

Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

#164

Post by true_religion »

_jgvg wrote: post #60
sigstoat wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my father taught programming and CS-lite courses at a community college for decades. whatever culture the students have, it sure as hell isn't the valley one, or anything like i saw in university.

I'm not talking about valley culture, but, for example, liking star wars, XKCD, Tolkien, video games, etc. Do the students in those community colleges share that as well?

At my old university, we were the kind of programmers that HN and the Valley in general loves to hate: bro-grammers.

Half the students were in a fraternity or sorority, and the engineering college as a whole had its own co-ed service fraternity.

Most common topics of discussion: beer, that last episode of Miami Vice, and trading tips on how to beg professors for server time so we can complete our final projects and graduate.

Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

#165

Post by ptr_void »

ucaetano wrote: post #35
zby wrote: post #19

Similar to the diagnosis by Jordan Peterson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eieVE-xFXuo Personally I think it is oversimplification - the thing is that - yes there is a root cause in biology - but than that root cause is multiplied by social circumstances. If there are few women in tech - then it is costly for employers to adjust to them (stuff like adding women sizes t-shirts) - plus it is also cheaper intellectual…

> yes there is a root cause in biology No. Proof: http://www.randalolson.com/wp-content/uploads/percent-bachel... If there was a root cause in biology, in 1980 there wouldn't be the same % of women in CS as in business, or almost the same as social sciences. Or almost the same as there are women in math/stats today. Something happened in the early 80's. I have a hypothesis for that, tied to the rise of video-games, s…

Staring at the chart, 1980 doesn't seem that significant. It shows from 1970s to 1980s, almost every major has seen an increase in women graduates.

I don't know much about this subject, best I can do is pass around a link(video) I saw that was semi-convincing to me that - there might be some general biological tendencies(https://youtu.be/p5LRdW8xw70). Biological tendencies are not useful for individual cases, so as long as everyone is given moderately equal chance at getting a job they qualify for and can do the work in peace, everything is well and good.

Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

#166

Post by true_religion »

Archio wrote: post #115
dsfjksdf wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Law and medicine are high status jobs, with a lot of people interactions. Yes, programmers have meetings. Not the same level of interaction as medicine, by a long stretch. There are many TV shows glorifying medicine and law. How many TV shows glorify the job of a programmer? How would you make a TV show glorifying the job of a programmer?

So why do young men study CS in college if programmers aren't glorified? Not to mention that being a "nerd" and "computer whiz" has never been a culturally attractive label, no matter what people might say today.

Men in America, but not in the world in general, are more money conscious than status conscious. They're more likely to salve the idea of not having a respectable job with thinking about how much money they are making.

Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

#167

Post by true_religion »

sudosteph wrote: post #158
neo4sure wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes but the point is she was ok with it. Which is not what a large population of females feel like...

Oh please, do tell me how you are so in tune with how a "large population of females"(weird wording btw?) feel. I've been in that position and I felt the same as the author in this particular regard. Obviously sexist clients made me angry to deal with in the moment, but they're the same as any other type of asshole when you come right down to it. And sleep time is too precious to waste thinking about assholes. I stil…

I'm not the op.

I was waitstaff once. I quit on day 2. I am sure if you surveyed most waitresses, they'd say they don't lose any sleep over the kind of sexual harassment faced from customers but that's survivors bias in my opinion.

Anyone who did lose sleep, like I did, quit like I did unless of course they had no choice but to go on because they needed the income.

Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

#168

Post by bartof303 »

robertlagrant wrote: post #88
tptacek wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sucks if you're a new parent who codes, doesn't it?

I'm a new parent who codes, and it is difficult, but not impossible. I would note that you keep attempting to analyse (or rather, guess) the emotions of people you disagree with, and it might be better to stay logical and systematic in order to communicate effectively.

I didn't notice that in any of tptacek comments. It might be better if you resist projecting?

Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

#169

Post by jd75 »

brandonmenc wrote: post #131
Mz wrote: post #34

I was in the throes of a brief, doomed romance. I had attended a concert that Saturday night. I answered the question with an account of both. The guys stared blankly. Then silence. Then one of them said: “I built a fiber-channel network in my basement,” and our co-workers fell all over themselves asking him to describe every step in loving detail. At that moment I realized that fundamentally, these are not my people…

> I was never going to like it enough to blow a weekend doing more of it for free. This is how you get good at it. If you don't like it as a hobby, maybe it's not a good job fit for you.

Or any woman, apparently, since the author never met one who has a pile of electronic components stored away for some day.

Re: As a Woman in Tech, I Realized: These Are Not My People

#170

Post by chrisco255 »

sigstoat wrote: post #57
chrisco255 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our field rapidly evolves. If I don't spend at least 10-20 hours a week improving my skills and experience new tech, I can find myself obsolete in 5 years time.

spend that 10-20 hours to move into something besides web/mobile.

I'd prefer to spend it learning AI or Ethereum...those are both rabbit holes in and of themselves. How many hours to become experts in either? 1000-2000?
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