[nl]

It's because there's a lot of talk about something that in the end I highly doubt will be fixed anytime soon.

Well that (it not being fixed anytime soon) is a big problem.

a lot of this discrimination appears generational and likely won't be solved shortly by this method of self-correction.

Actually, the evidence is otherwise. For example, in the linked post:

Traditionally, high tech has been dominated by young Caucasian and Asian males (go back another 20 years, and it was just Caucasian males). Like many other parts of society, entrepreneurship has become more inclusive.

Additionally, the "typical" YCombinator startup is full of young people (who often are male). The "it's the old generation" argument doesn't stack up, and the "wait for them to die" solution is unacceptable.

It's hard to see how either of these groups are easily changed by blog posts, "awareness" of the issue, or even pure coercion.

Actually, it does seem to work. Find me an example of a startup that acted in a sexist way and continued that behaviour after it was highlighted.

The truth is that awareness is one of the things that has been shown to work, and even if there are additional things that can help additional awareness is not a bad thing.

[nullflux]

People are misunderstanding; it's time for an edit.

What I'm trying to get at is that awareness alone is not going to solve this issue, and we are very narrowly focused on this "Be aware!" thing. You're not going to self-correct big things like this; in a lot of cases you might truly correct it but you will just as much bury the sentiment in others who truly believe these types of things.

EDIT: Also, I don't understand how the quote you referenced is evidence otherwise, but perhaps we're miscommunicating. Rewrote my post in hopes of being a little clearer.

[DannoHung]

Awareness will work against casual, environmental sexism. That's the fucking point: It's background radiation so you don't even pay attention to it. Get it? That sort of atmosphere of boys club is actively hostile to non-conformant people.

Be aware of the environmental issues, don't tolerate flare ups even if a person is technically competent, think about how you could be a little more welcoming. Doing that would be a huge first step and will do a lot towards making the generational changes you're talking about reality.

We all, collectively, have the power to make technology an environment welcome to all races, creeds, and biological persuasions. Do as much as you can personally and try to make sure other people are aware of the issue.

[lucian1900]

As a male geek all my life the "boys' club" atmosphere bothers me. I think that's a little funny and a little sad.

I've noticed that pointing out the problem correctly usually works great, because nowadays most people don't do it out of spite, as the article said.

[japhyr]

I don't think many people "truly believe" that women are objects. I think most people who are contributing to the problem are just ignorant of the effects their actions have.

If this is true, then increasing awareness can have a significant impact on culture.

[chrisyeh]

I think this argument hits it on the nose. Almost all of the offenses stem from ignorance, not malice. Almost all of the offenders would change their behavior if they were aware of the impact it had.