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Meet the wogrammers – women in engineering

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Re: Meet the wogrammers – women in engineering

#31

Post by herpderp87 »

As a 27yr old currently doing a CS degree, it is valuable and inspiring to hear of other successful women in programming/engineering. We have no real role models. People like Marissa Meyer and Sheryl Sandberg are covered in UK media for ridiculous things like not taking enough time off to have a baby. PFFFTT please.

I hate the noise that Shanley and co make about women and sexism, it makes me cringe and feel bad for those on the other end of her tirades. It's nice to know that this site exists, if nothing else to show that we are not all as diabolical as the 'feminazis'.

I do not want the bar lowered because I have boobs, I just want other women to not be scared to work in the industry (mainly because other women are telling them how horrible it is!). I've been lucky enough to work at awesome companies surrounded by dudes who value my work and don't give a shit about anything else (thanks, dudes). Long may it continue.

Yes, I agree the name is shit.

Re: Meet the wogrammers – women in engineering

#32

Post by dylanjermiah »

manux wrote: post #14
honest_joe wrote: post #5

This is getting more and more hilarous FFS. Will we have a special group for afroamerican women programmers ? Special group for mentally ill programmers ? Or what about vegan transgender programmers ? This kind of positive discrimination is really annoying and unfair. Using the right tool and right people should be free of all prejudices FFS

As much as I dislike positive discrimination, I view it as a necessary evil. In the specific case of women in CS/CE, I think it's fair to say that the lack of women is rather troubling, and has roots in prejudice. So yeah, who knows. Maybe recognizing the success of women in this field might help restore some balance and one day make this positive discrimination unecessary. Then we won't need any special terms and al…

> restore some balance and one day make this positive discrimination unecessary. Then we won't need any special terms and all programmers will be called programmers.

How do you define 'balance' in this scenario?

Re: Meet the wogrammers – women in engineering

#34

Post by onion2k »

agounaris wrote: post #15

Thats the most sexist word ever... kidogrammers, asianogrammers and bullshit ... get a life and stop seeing a gender, a race or anything else to your colleague and just expect from him/her being polite and positive. When will we get rid of this nonsense?

When will we get rid of this nonsense?

As soon as people stop using it as an excuse to abuse, berate, degrade and discriminate against people. These words, and the intent behind them, are not the problem - they are a reaction to the problem. Rather than get annoyed with people who invent words like 'wogrammers', why not direct your anger toward the employers who refuse to hire women, or pay them less, or ignore sexual harassment. Those people are the problem.

Re: Meet the wogrammers – women in engineering

#35

Post by Jem »

"wogrammer"? Really? If there's one thing I don't need (as a woman in tech) it's segregation further from your regular joe programmer.

Show me what other women are achieving - FANTASTIC - but quit with the bloody ridiculous nicknames. (Don't even get me started on "mumpreneurs"!)

Re: Meet the wogrammers – women in engineering

#36

Post by tomjen3 »

fennecfoxen wrote: post #17
agounaris wrote: post #15

Thats the most sexist word ever... kidogrammers, asianogrammers and bullshit ... get a life and stop seeing a gender, a race or anything else to your colleague and just expect from him/her being polite and positive. When will we get rid of this nonsense?

Even aside from sexism (and the casually racist Euro-centric term 'wog') that's a very stupid word and they should feel ashamed for inventing it. It's as bad as 'murse'.

Never heard of either. How offensive are they compared to towelhead or nigger?

Re: Meet the wogrammers – women in engineering

#37

Post by convexfunction »

The name is silly, yes, but I do wonder if this kind of thing even accomplishes its stated goals. I've known a few programmers-who-are-women who find the laser-focus on Women Can Program Too to be annoying ("yes, I'm a woman, get over it"), insulting ("no shit, are you implying I couldn't?") or outright counterproductive ("it makes it sound like tech is some sexist hellhole that they have to beg women to even consider").

Like, I'm all for more people of whatever demographic feeling welcome in technology (and any other industry, natch). It's not clear to me whether this kind of PR actually accomplishes that, or does nothing because it's not addressing the more important yet more illegible things ultimately that keep women less interested in going into tech, or actively harms the cause through the sexist implication that it's so special and noteworthy for women to be interested in technology.

Re: Meet the wogrammers – women in engineering

#38

Post by moron4hire »

Having actually read the article, this is the least-patronizing version of anything that I could have imagined, given that name. It's a great effort, but a really bad name.

Usually, you see these things not as an individual effort, but some sort of corporatized outreach program, and then it is just awful. In the process of supposedly trying to celebrate diversity, it just only further serves to paint it as "The Other", the non-default.

But it's basically just an interview series that a few people are putting together, specifically to treat the subject normally, not continue to differentiate.

Re: Meet the wogrammers – women in engineering

#39

Post by pepijndevos »

honest_joe wrote: post #5

This is getting more and more hilarous FFS. Will we have a special group for afroamerican women programmers ? Special group for mentally ill programmers ? Or what about vegan transgender programmers ? This kind of positive discrimination is really annoying and unfair. Using the right tool and right people should be free of all prejudices FFS

Talking about unfair... you know... never mind.

Re: Meet the wogrammers – women in engineering

#40

Post by tomjen3 »

onion2k wrote: post #34
agounaris wrote: post #15

Thats the most sexist word ever... kidogrammers, asianogrammers and bullshit ... get a life and stop seeing a gender, a race or anything else to your colleague and just expect from him/her being polite and positive. When will we get rid of this nonsense?

When will we get rid of this nonsense? As soon as people stop using it as an excuse to abuse, berate, degrade and discriminate against people. These words, and the intent behind them, are not the problem - they are a reaction to the problem. Rather than get annoyed with people who invent words like 'wogrammers', why not direct your anger toward the employers who refuse to hire women, or pay them less, or ignore sexua…

Believe me, I would be pretty angry at such people, but clear cut cases are also pretty ducking rare.
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