[commanda]

"I hope that skill will always be held in higher esteem than your gender - if you had no skill, you would not be part of the discussion, and your gender is simply a modifier."

This is the point that really rang true for me. I guess I will never know if people praise my ability because they're surprised that a woman's code can be so good, or if my code is truly good. I would love to be confident in the fact that I'm highly regarded and asked to speak at conferences because of my skill and not because I can be the token woman.