Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by scpedicini 1877 days ago
I'm not trying to invalidate this woman's experiences, because if they are genuinely true as written down, then that is some seriously toxic misogynistic shit, but some of the quotes from the male interviewees sound like they could be lifted straight out of an episode of mad men and an office in the 1960s.

“Hey, hon, before you go… can you get me some more coffee? And put some sugar in it."

I mean... really?? It's hard for me to even imagine those words coming out of a white-collar software engineer applicant. Did they hoot and wolf whistle as she walked by too?

I can only speak anecdotally but as a software engineer for the last two decades I've never seen anything even remotely like this in any of the software companies that I worked at, while bearing in mind that of course as a male I would likely be less likely to notice.

There is likely some truth in this article but it feels like it might be mixed up with some exaggerations which to me hurt the message as a whole.
4 comments
DoreenMichele 1877 days ago
Most women actually downplay a lot of crap just to try to survive. It's often far worse than what gets reported or the stories that get told.
link
bjourne 1877 days ago
One time me and a female colleague needed to have one of the salespeople sign a form and he blurted out to her: "Maybe you want my digits too, wink, wink!" So yeah, I do believe her.
link
M2Ys4U 1877 days ago
"I'm not trying to invalidate this woman's experiences, but <attempts to invalidate this woman's experiences>"
link
scpedicini 1877 days ago
Sigh... really? This is reddit-level "Yakov Smirnoff" of rebuttals. But I'm going to break it down for you anyway and operate on the shared assumption of good faith since you may have genuinely misconstrued my intent.

I couched my words - stating that I only found one particular piece of content unbelievable - once again now, FOR ME PERSONALLY. Irrespective of whether the "1950s women in the workforce" quote actually transpired, her overall experiences still cast a powerful light on the continuing toxic nature of the work environment for women.

link
rachelbythebay 1877 days ago
It happens, given enough time. Even today.
link