[spocktacular]

The trick is that when people you talk to universally assume you're not technical due to your gender, it is simultaneously:

a) exhausting to have to change every person's perception of you prior to being able to really engage in conversation b) demoralizing when your male peers are treated with more respect automatically based on their gender c) a sad loss of opportunity to engage in the discussion, when no opportune moment arises where you can comfortably communicate that you are qualified to participate

The author cited conversations where men she was with did not have the same experience as her. She essentially had to work harder in order to be seen as an equal participant.