[scarmig]

So, there are some claims here that should be made explicit...

1) Some people get benefits undeservedly.

2) People will often rationalize after the fact to say that they deserved to get those benefits.

3) Women are people, so sometimes women will get benefits undeservedly but lie to themselves after the fact by thinking that they deserved it.

All certainly true. But I'd like to offer another claim:

4) Men are people, so sometimes men will get benefits undeservedly but lie to themselves after the fact by thinking they deserved it.

Is 4) unlikely, particularly relative to 3)?

How likely do you think it is that you might be deceiving yourself in the same way, about the relative benefits of being a man versus being a woman in tech?

[dradtke]

If I've ever gotten undeserved benefits for being a white male, then nobody's ever told me about it. I won't deny that they exist, but from my experience it's more a case of cultural acceptance than outright discrimination. I love programming, and damn it, I'm good at it. Is my benefit simply the lack of feeling bad about my choice of career path, that I don't belong?

The problem is that (as far as I know) nobody's explicitly told "congratulations, you have gained additional benefits due to your gender and/or race!" It's easy to pinpoint moments of discrimination when you're the victim, but it's not so clear-cut when it ends up in your favor.