[orclev]

yawn

I've seen a bunch of these now and frankly I don't see the point. Maybe we should all become Zen Bhuddist monks and subsist off happy thoughts alone lest we accidentally step on an ant and take a life?

I don't know exactly what needs to be done to fix these problems, but I know rants like this do absolutely nothing. You want to see what might make a difference, look at something like this: http://www.hackingplay.com/carnegie-mellon-study-on-gender-a...

[sp332]

You might willingly step on an ant, but it's good not to be in denial about it.

[orclev]

It's not a question of denial. The argument being put forth is that the tech sector is sexist/racist/whatever-ist, and that therefore anyone who works/is connected with, the tech sector is by association then a sexist/racist/whatever-ist. I reject that assertion. By that same logic everyone over in Syria is a mass murderer, after all, they all live in Syria, and other people who live in Syria are killing lots of people, therefore all Syrians are guilty of murder.

On a related note I don't necessarily even agree with the basic premise of the argument. I'm not entirely convinced that the tech sector is sexist/racist/whatever anymore than the rest of society is. Rather I think the lower representation if women in tech is a symptom of the wider cultural problem and not something that can be laid solely at the feet of the tech industry.

[sp332]

I think society is fucked up too. That doesn't mean tech isn't also fucked up. No one is asking you to take sole responsibility for the gender gap etc. Just pay attention to the times when, by doing exactly the same things everyone around you is doing, you are perpetuating the fucked up system.

[orclev]

Honestly I think the main reason we don't see more women in tech is because of the school system and the media portrayal of women. Women don't go into tech or science because those are "guy professions", at least according to movies/tv shows/magazines etc. Hell, some of the negative stereotypes the media pushes about tech/science are enough to even scare off a lot of the men.

What sexism exists that's connected to tech is usually from either marketing (E.G. booth babes), or associated cultures like the gaming culture (driven sadly by a lot of 12-16 year old males), or sports culture (Think Madden 2013 or whatever the current year is). There is the brogramming phenomena, but I think that's largely blown out of proportion, and something that I'd frankly love to see stamped out anyway (and arguably just an extension of sports/gaming culture).

[jack-r-abbit]

Hell... a bunch of people constantly screaming about the infestation of sexist pigs in the tech industry is probably scaring off a lot of people too.