[primitivesuave]

I'm not saying all males put on pseudo-masculine efforts, I'm saying it only takes one kid who makes an inappropriate joke like changing "public void" to "pubic void" when we're doing a code review. In such a situation, the boy will suppress a smile while he innocently exclaims he made a typo, while his friends all giggle innocuously. If you don't work with kids, you will not fully understand how the adolescent mind manifests itself in the classroom environment, and how difficult it is to suppress it. In the situation I just described, all we can do is mentally make a note to not call that same student up again. And in this situation and all related ones, we're dealing with a male student. Girls simply don't find stupidity that funny, and as an instructor I get pretty sick and tired of it.

I've spent the last 30 minutes defending myself on HN so I will conclude with this. We are not segregating our classes. We are not trying to shield female students from the realities of the world. We are simply making a business decision to offer an alternative environment for our female students who would otherwise have to deal with awkward situations like the one I just described. The all-girls classes are ridiculously chill and my instructors leap at the opportunity to teach them, because girls in middle and high school are on average more attentive and respectful than their male counterparts. You can tear apart my real-world observation all you want, but that is the simple reality of it and once you open your mind beyond some idealistic vision of what education should be, you'll understand that my reasoning is not just "unconscious sexism".

[dsuth]

Thanks for your posts, primitivesuave. I have to say I was surprised and extremely disappointed with the ridiculously defensive (of mostly strawman arguments) and needlessly accusatory posts in response to yours.

Needless to say this is an issue which constantly generates weird hate from certain aspects of geek culture, but I'm glad you're taking actual steps to improve the situation.

[_bfhp]

It's upsetting that these men, who seem uncomfortable at the prospect of someone describing reality, have bullied you into silence. Thank you for your anecdotes and viewpoint, your experience is valuable and contribution appreciated.

[shangxiao]

You may well be justified in doing what you do, I'm not arguing for or against it, but comments like the ones you make contribute to the whole popular "women are better than men" trend that we are experiencing.

[theorique]

I'm saying it only takes one kid who makes an inappropriate joke like changing "public void" to "pubic void" when we're doing a code review. In such a situation, the boy will suppress a smile while he innocently exclaims he made a typo, while his friends all giggle innocuously

This is an expression of "masculinity", pseudo- or otherwise?

Seems more like a silly juvenile joke that some kids (or adults) of both sexes might enjoy, and some might roll their eyes.

[obstacle1]

I thought this too. There is nothing inherently masculine about pubic hair, or jokes about said hair.

[theorique]

I mean, if you made me guess the sex of the person involved, I would certainly suspect it was a boy. Mischief of this kind tends to be more popular among boys. But a joke like this isn't intrinsically sexist, or anti-girl, or silencing of female voices

(Obviously, it's good if genuine sexism is halted in coed classrooms so that both boys and girls can learn.)

[rimantas]

  > Girls simply don't find stupidity that funny

This is gold. Almost as "girls cannot code".

[_bfhp]

What do you mean by that? OP was describing what they saw in real life.

[rimantas]

That description is exactly what makes me doubt how real his real life is.