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Poll: Male or female?

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: Poll: Male or female?

#51

Post by zain »

SwellJoe wrote: post #42
jlees wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, but should YC make a concerted effort to fund startups with women because 'everyone will benefit eventually'? That's hardly fair.

YC may consider diversity in their portfolio a positive trait. They may also consider the PR value of female startup founders (which is worth considering...it is quite high). And, they may consider their reputation as a forward-thinking, out on the edge of progress, sort of investor. Maybe it's a trend, and maybe they want to be ahead of it. I don't think one needs to look at what good could come of it in the future…

What exactly is "forward thinking" about funding startups based on biological traits of the founders instead of their skills, aptitudes, and achievements?

Re: Poll: Male or female?

#52

Post by axod »

pg wrote: post #46
rufius wrote: post #9

Who cares.

I do. People often ask about the number of female founders we fund. It would be interesting to know whether it's low because of something about startups, or just a reflection of the larger pool from which they're drawn.

Out of interest, how many female founders applied in the last round? That seems like far more useful+reliable data than this poll.

>> "People often ask about the number of female founders we fund."

Do they ask how many black people get funding? How many Christians? How many blind people?

Asking such questions seems a bit irrelevant at best, and accusatory at worst to me.

Re: Poll: Male or female?

#53

Post by [deleted] »

pg wrote: post #46
rufius wrote: post #9

Who cares.

I do. People often ask about the number of female founders we fund. It would be interesting to know whether it's low because of something about startups, or just a reflection of the larger pool from which they're drawn.

[deleted]

Re: Poll: Male or female?

#54

Post by pg »

axod wrote: post #52
pg wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do. People often ask about the number of female founders we fund. It would be interesting to know whether it's low because of something about startups, or just a reflection of the larger pool from which they're drawn.

Out of interest, how many female founders applied in the last round? That seems like far more useful+reliable data than this poll. >> "People often ask about the number of female founders we fund." Do they ask how many black people get funding? How many Christians? How many blind people? Asking such questions seems a bit irrelevant at best, and accusatory at worst to me.

I don't know. We don't ask.

Re: Poll: Male or female?

#55

Post by RiderOfGiraffes »

radu_floricica wrote: post #49
RiderOfGiraffes wrote: post #22

Semi-relevant: http://xkcd.com/385/ EDIT: I've actually seen this in action. I spoke up about it, and got complete incomprehension in return. People really, really don't notice that they have these sorts of attitudes, and it stinks. Related: http://dev.linuxchix.losurs.org/?q=node/10 I'm leaving my gender unspecified.

True, though it probably doesn't apply here. Off-topic, I asked the same question on another thread without a response. Other then generic attitude issues, have you ever seen a case of a woman programmer being discriminated against? In my experience, due to their rarity and the environment they tend to be treated very well, both professionally and socially.

This is a mine-field, and personally I think you can't win, you can't break even, and you have to play the game.

In my experience women programmers are treated very well. However, there's a school of thought that being treated well is being treated differently, and that's what some find so off-putting.

I've seen a woman programmer turn up at a meeting and have someone bustle over and say "Gosh, hi, welcome! Nice to see you!" In contrast, everyone else is given a generic "Hi!" and then ignored until they join in. It's that different treatment that can irritate.

Something I've heard is "Why can't I just be treated like everyone else?"

Perhaps treating everyone very well should be the norm. Too much to hope for, methinks.

Re: Poll: Male or female?

#57

Post by Alex3917 »

thesethings wrote: post #38

Female here, just voted. I just wanted to say I love Hacker News. I'm an introvert and a nerd before I am a female, so I am of course drawn to Hacker News because it's a great place to find other over-sensitive folks who take themselves, their questions, and other peoples' questions very seriously. As others point out again and again, the quality of discourse here is just really high. Secondarily, but still present,…

"I do wince and get bummed out whenever I read certain comments here, [...] but even when things make me sad..."

Does reading comments you think are misguided make you sad? I feel like there's an interesting academic study in here somewhere.

edit: If the parent comment was made by a guy, would I still be getting downmodded?

Re: Poll: Male or female?

#58

Post by jlees »

SwellJoe wrote: post #42
jlees wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, but should YC make a concerted effort to fund startups with women because 'everyone will benefit eventually'? That's hardly fair.

YC may consider diversity in their portfolio a positive trait. They may also consider the PR value of female startup founders (which is worth considering...it is quite high). And, they may consider their reputation as a forward-thinking, out on the edge of progress, sort of investor. Maybe it's a trend, and maybe they want to be ahead of it. I don't think one needs to look at what good could come of it in the future…

Well, quite frankly, I'm glad YC look at other criteria. Positive discrimination is a terrible thing. Imagine being a woman funded by an investor making an effort to focus on female-led startups. The world knows you were only funded because of your chromosomes. Self-esteem is a big enough problem as it is!

Re: Poll: Male or female?

#59

Post by edw519 »

thesethings wrote: post #38

Female here, just voted. I just wanted to say I love Hacker News. I'm an introvert and a nerd before I am a female, so I am of course drawn to Hacker News because it's a great place to find other over-sensitive folks who take themselves, their questions, and other peoples' questions very seriously. As others point out again and again, the quality of discourse here is just really high. Secondarily, but still present,…

"I do wince and get bummed out whenever I read certain comments here..."

I used to. I don't anymore.

My (totally illogical) belief system regarding hn comments:

If we agree, then I think, "Great! I'm on the right track."

If not, then I think, "They just don't understand (yet)."

May not really make sense, but I always leave hn feeling better, never worse.

Re: Poll: Male or female?

#60

Post by jlees »

RiderOfGiraffes wrote: post #55
radu_floricica wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, though it probably doesn't apply here. Off-topic, I asked the same question on another thread without a response. Other then generic attitude issues, have you ever seen a case of a woman programmer being discriminated against? In my experience, due to their rarity and the environment they tend to be treated very well, both professionally and socially.

This is a mine-field, and personally I think you can't win, you can't break even, and you have to play the game. In my experience women programmers are treated very well. However, there's a school of thought that being treated well is being treated differently, and that's what some find so off-putting. I've seen a woman programmer turn up at a meeting and have someone bustle over and say "Gosh, hi, welcome! Nice to s…

Exactly. It's little things like the "Hi" above, or like having to bludgeon people with geek talk because - despite your thinkgeek t-shirt and dubious personal hygiene - they still think you're in Marketing.
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