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Rise of the Brogrammer

cnn.com

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Re: Rise of the Brogrammer

#21

Post by prophetjohn »

jmsduran wrote: post #18

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always thought the "brogrammer" stereotype stemmed from a rise of people within the tech industry that broke the classical notion of a software geek. Individuals whom were excellent software engineers, yet whose life did not revolve around a glowing computer screen; and had other hobbies like surfing, biking, etc. Anyway, the article on CNN is quite funny, but I'm slightly saddened i…

I suppose that if all it takes to be a brogrammer is to have hobbies that don't revolve around a computer, then I'm pegged. Which is weird since I spent almost my entire weekend playing video games. So maybe I'm a nerd after all.

Re: Rise of the Brogrammer

#22

Post by danso »

orthecreedence wrote: post #16

I'm getting kind of sick of this media brogrammer fest. Some guys are sexist. Some aren't. Some program. Some don't. Can we please just focus on the main issue? Sexism in the workplace. Really, what does this have to do with programming at all ? There's no "rise" of anything, except idiots who get big heads because they got 2M in funding...and that's nothing new. The more attention we give them, the bigger their head…

This may also be media-hype related, but there's the perception that programming, because of the lucrative startup field, is attracting more "bro-ish" type gentlemen than before. It's "cool" to code, just as it's cool to go into investment banking and own a yacht.

Yes, it is the age-old issue of sexism in the workplace, but when I was in computer engineering school, there wasn't much overt sexism...because there was just little awareness of it given the rarity of female programmers/engineers among my fellow students.

Re: Rise of the Brogrammer

#23

Post by barryfandango »

The whole "They used to be nerds and social misfits, but not anymore!" is really old. It seems memories are short in the media.

"Geek is the new Chic" - USA Today, October 2003 http://www.usatoday.com/life/2003-10-22-geek-chic_x.htm

"The new Worker Elite" - Ad Age, November 1997 http://www.qualitydigest.com/nov97/html/qualtech.html

Re: Rise of the Brogrammer

#24

Post by diminish »

theorique wrote: post #10

Most of the hype about this is that it plays against type - "you thought programmers were shy neckbearded nerds? Ha! In reality they are hard drinking, hard caffeinating, woman disrespecting fratboys!" Both are stereotypes (with some basis in reality here and there). But of course it makes a good story for the mainstream media.

coming soon stereotypes; programmers leading in american high school prom movies, becoming the prom king and getting the prom queen.

Re: Rise of the Brogrammer

#25

Post by joshaidan »

I find this to be one of the silliest quotes in the article:

"Forget what you think you know about the benignly geeky computer programmer who lives for the thrill of finding a single misplaced semicolon in thousands of lines of code."

For as long as I've been programming, the art has been about more than syntax. Although, while teaching new programmers, I find one of the biggest barriers learning to program is getting stuck on syntax, and trying to memorize every little syntactical detail. Better to focus on how to create an algorithm.

Perhaps that's why the writer of this article went into journalism rather than programming.

Re: Rise of the Brogrammer

#26

Post by wpietri »

Tharkun wrote: post #19
orthecreedence wrote: post #16

I'm getting kind of sick of this media brogrammer fest. Some guys are sexist. Some aren't. Some program. Some don't. Can we please just focus on the main issue? Sexism in the workplace. Really, what does this have to do with programming at all ? There's no "rise" of anything, except idiots who get big heads because they got 2M in funding...and that's nothing new. The more attention we give them, the bigger their head…

Ever since people started yapping about this "brogrammer"-crap I've been paying more attention to my fellow programmer's behaviour. Most of them are male, some of them are female, and one of them is a bit of both. One of them is black. One of them is in a wheelchair. And another one is deaf. The one thing they all have in common, is that they're geeks. I haven't noticed any of this alleged sexism, racism or frat boy…

I don't care if my industry is more or less sexist or racist than average. I care if it's sexist or racist at all.

Also, whether or not you notice mistreatment of others is not the best metric. Try asking people in those groups.

If you'd like to see an interesting analysis of the relative scarcity of female computer scientists, this is a classic: http://people.mills.edu/spertus/Gender/why.html

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