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Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not society that's excluding anyone, it's one particular mentoring group . I have no problem with all-male groups like the Freemasons, Boy Scouts, or fraternities.
The boy scouts allow women it's just rare that one wants to join and there are lots of co-ed fraternities.
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> Diversity is good because when members have different experiences, and thus point of views. Wrong. Diversity that brings in useful points of view is good. Diversity that brings in other points of view is bad. > "Point of view is worth 80 IQ points" My cat has a different point of view but I'm pretty sure that she doesn't have anything useful to say about Google App Engine.
If I thought you meant to equate women's point of view with your cat's in any way I would be highly amused--at what you reveal about your own perspectives.
Cute insinuation.
Do you really want to argue that every person can add something useful to any discussion of Google App Engine? Or is it just every woman?
If not, then the "diversity" argument fails, at least wrt Google App Engine.
While the right points of view add 80 IQ points, some points of view don't add any IQ points, and some even subtract. Gender, orientation, and ethnicity are sometimes good predictors for "useful point of view" but not always.
The advantage of using my cat is that she isn't offended when I point out that she doesn't have a useful perspective on something.
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We need more women in startups (seriously, have you been to the meat market parties after tech events?!) ... Moreover, it'll give lonely male hackers more choice Although you probably didn't mean it, this attitude is most definitely Part Of The Problem. It's a pain because you're right - in an ideal, evenly-divided environment, there would be a lot of within-group dating, and everyone would be fine with that. The pro…
Just to add, the guys have it far worse in this situation.
-Clonk.-
Yes, the guys have it worse if you view it primarily as a dating situation. But viewing it primarily as a dating situation is a large part of what makes it so uncomfortable for the women in the first place.
Consider this very crude quantitative model: There is a group of 10 (straight) male hackers who spend workdays together. They would prefer to spend 95% of their day working, and 5% flirting. So they spend 5% of their time frustrated, and 95% satisfied.
A female hacker joins the group. She's no celibate saint - she, too, would like to spend 5% of her time flirting and 95% working. But, because she's the only woman around, 50% of her time is occupied by her coworkers trying to flirt with her. So, despite a much better position in the dating situation, she spends 45% of her time being frustrated by the constant romantic attention when she'd far rather be working.
Do you see how we could end up with a situation in which "normal" behaviour, or "just treating someone like you would anyone else", can make someone feel very uncomfortable indeed?
It's certainly much more serious than the minor inconvenience of being unable to meet potential romantic partners at work.
Is it ever okay to suggest that a demographic balance is just fine? There is a lack of european-descent long-distance runners in the top tiers. Not too many woman play football. Very few men do much knitting. Do we need outreach and mentoring to change make sure that all groups are a mirror of the world's demographic makeup? Women and men are different, and perhaps the reason that software startups are male-dominated…
Surely this could have been worded to come accross as slightly less offensive: "Y Combinator Mentoring from prominent businesswomen".
Considered asking yourself why something being for women is offensive?
Surely this could have been worded to come accross as slightly less offensive: "Y Combinator Mentoring from prominent businesswomen".
And less accurate, yes. Considered asking yourself why something being for women is offensive?
It's pointless anyway... Why aren't there more white basketball players? Racism? Probably more likely the same reason there aren't more women founders.
You have to admit a special school only for white basketball players would be pretty offensive. no?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And less accurate, yes. Considered asking yourself why something being for women is offensive?
Sure, for the same reason if something is for whites only it's offensive, or for men only. It's pointless anyway... Why aren't there more white basketball players? Racism? Probably more likely the same reason there aren't more women founders. You have to admit a special school only for white basketball players would be pretty offensive. no?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The boy scouts allow women it's just rare that one wants to join and there are lots of co-ed fraternities.
Oh yeah? tell that twelve year old me, who was not allowed to become a Boy Scout. Both of my brothers were Eagle Scouts.
I apologise in advance as this is probably quite a controversial rant, but this sort of thing has always really frustrated me. I guess it comes down to this: I don't see how sex matters when you're a business person, when you're programming, when you're building things. The sex of the person rightfully shouldn't come into it - it's their skills that matter. The interpreter, afterall, doesn't spit out a different resu…
Might I suggest that you consider taking part in a class dominated by women? Perhaps something discussing the proto-feminist leanings of Woolf? I'm not kidding. I think you'll find that you're lonely. That you gravitate towards talking to other men in the group. That you feel like your voice isn't heard. That you sense resentment towards you. That your opinion isn't valid. Now imagine going through that every day in…
Except for the US college system is dominated by women. There are roughly 6.4 million men and 8.7 million women currently enrolled in college. By 2016 the gap will jump to 7 million men and 10.3 million women. And since the top colleges can get away with accepting more men to even out the gender ratios, that means the median college classroom is entirely dominated by women except for a few niche departments like computer science and physics.