"Men stand up for women" on Radio 4, whilst the BBC refuses to allow tech women on the programme to represent themselves
No Willy No Woman's Hour
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No Willy No Woman's Hour
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Re: No Willy No Woman's Hour
#2It took me a while to parse everything, having no exposure to British radio and the like, but now I must understand how a lot of non-Americans feel on sites that lean towards USA-centric discussion.
Relating to the content, there's a strong analogue with a lot of the congressional testimony regarding women's reproductive health in the USA. The panel testifying in congress was made up entirely of men, which wasn't a fact lost by many involved in the discussion.
In some cases, I'd find it appropriate. You would want the foremost reproductive rights/health spokesman defending you in congress, but when there's a full panel in congress, not including a single female on the panel is a curious omission.
In the author's case, it seems incredibly odd to talk about women in tech, without actually including a woman in tech. And what seemed even more bizarre to me, was that it was a conscious decision on a program entitled "Woman's Hour"
Re: No Willy No Woman's Hour
#3BBC Radio 4 - Friday, 25th January 2013. Relevant scheduled content [1]:
Male Geeks Rise Up for Women
At present, only 30% of computing jobs are filled by women and when it comes to the number of female speakers at computer conferences, the figure is much, much smaller. In an attempt to address this problem, men are now signing an online pledge to boycott conferences where there are no women on the panel. But just how effective can this tactic be? Should men be doing more to get women and girls into computing? And does the problem really lie with conference organisers or in the fact that just not enough girls are taking computer studies at school? Jenni talks to Aral Balkan, a web designer, who has signed the pledge, to 13 year old Amy who loves computer programming and to Dr Tom Crick, Chair of Computing at School in Wales.
So, the only woman on that panel, including discussing "affirmative" action like boycotting technical conferences, is a 13 year old girl...
My initial skepticism of an article that seemed to be hastily written in anger and with no trivial amount of bridge burning has been replaced with incredulity!
Re: No Willy No Woman's Hour
#4Background for those not in the UK.
BBC Radio 4 - National speech radio channel with news current affairs, comedy and drama. Distinctly middle class. News is serious high quality and it is a serious debate platform for politics.
Women's Hour - Week day mid morning daily 45 minute (if you don't count book of the week) with a weekend highlight version. It is focussed on a wide range of issues of concern to women. This includes serious issues like domestic violence, practical issues, childcare and public policy, and lighter stories and some equality promoting issues such as women in tech.
Women's Hour podcast: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/whnews
I think Radio4 is globally available online and has some very good content http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/ Let me know if you can't access this from abroad and I will correct this.
Update: And in case anyone is wondering there is a Men's Hour too although it is on a different station (and unlike Women's Hour I have never listened to it). I think it is only weekly though. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t32zg
Re: No Willy No Woman's Hour
#5I guess most of the time the program features women, but now the editor wanted men for this. Sometimes media want to interview women, sometimes men, sometimes both.
I co-founded a program/organization to help women to get in to tech (which then spread globally). Wired UK did an interview, but the editor only wanted women for interview and the photos, so I was excluded as a man.
I was happy enough that they were interested about the subject which more important. I didn't need to get offended or call anyone anything.
Re: No Willy No Woman's Hour
#6Woman's Hour is one of the better bits of daytime Radio 4. It's far better than the godawful You & Yours.
Both Woman's Hour and Feedback will welcome emails about this.
There's currently discussion about the amount of male speakers on radio 4 programmes. I think iPM had something about it this week.
Re: No Willy No Woman's Hour
#7Background for those not in the UK. BBC Radio 4 - National speech radio channel with news current affairs, comedy and drama. Distinctly middle class. News is serious high quality and it is a serious debate platform for politics. Women's Hour - Week day mid morning daily 45 minute (if you don't count book of the week) with a weekend highlight version. It is focussed on a wide range of issues of concern to women. This…
Further to that - if the title "woman's hour" seems outmoded that's because it dates back to 1946. Since then it has evolved into a more modern forum for feminist/female issues, although it is still faintly ludicrous - like everything on radio 4. That's the reason for the "an indulgent smile, a nod to our ability to see humour in everything" bit in the first paragraph.
Re: No Willy No Woman's Hour
#8Background for those not in the UK. BBC Radio 4 - National speech radio channel with news current affairs, comedy and drama. Distinctly middle class. News is serious high quality and it is a serious debate platform for politics. Women's Hour - Week day mid morning daily 45 minute (if you don't count book of the week) with a weekend highlight version. It is focussed on a wide range of issues of concern to women. This…
Seems the last 5 episodes have been all featuring women and some men.
Re: No Willy No Woman's Hour
#9BBC Radio 4 - Friday, 25th January 2013. Relevant scheduled content [1]: Male Geeks Rise Up for Women At present, only 30% of computing jobs are filled by women and when it comes to the number of female speakers at computer conferences, the figure is much, much smaller. In an attempt to address this problem, men are now signing an online pledge to boycott conferences where there are no women on the panel. But just ho…
You don't need to be a woman to have an opinion on affirmative action. I don't see what the problem is with running a piece that is specifically about a male perspective and having mostly male guests. Especially considering that this is a show that caters to women's issues and female guests are (I assume) the norm.
They probably decided to run a piece about equality in the tech sector and, on discovering that there are men with strong opinions about the problem, chose to take the opportunity to take a male angle. An opportunity that problem doesn't come up all that often for them given that most men are fairly apathetic about sexism.
Re: No Willy No Woman's Hour
#10BBC Radio 4 - Friday, 25th January 2013. Relevant scheduled content [1]: Male Geeks Rise Up for Women At present, only 30% of computing jobs are filled by women and when it comes to the number of female speakers at computer conferences, the figure is much, much smaller. In an attempt to address this problem, men are now signing an online pledge to boycott conferences where there are no women on the panel. But just ho…
This is clearly a contentious issue, but when I spoke to the Women's Hour producer this morning, they said they specifically wanted a male perspective on this issue. I did not know that anyone had been bumped or that I was the x choice guest...!
Therefore, I am keeping an open mind going into the show tomorrow, but I am very much looking forward to talking about how Computing At School (CAS) is trying to change the perception of computer science and tech careers in the UK.
@DrTomCrick