The point is not whether genders differ statistically in how much interest is exhibited toward computer science or how well they do comparatively. It doesn't matter. Assuming that all men are good at computer science and all women but 1 are no piss-poor, should still have no bearing whatsoever on how that 1 last good female computer scientist should be treated at a tech conference or at work. We need to understand that assumptions about people's abilities and tastes are not to our benefit if we have the luxury of getting to know said people well. And indeed, that's what working side-by-side with someone or going to a social event like a conference is supposedly about.
Alexey ________________________________ From: Cédric Beust ♔ <ced...@beust.com> To: javaposse@googlegroups.com Sent: Wed, December 8, 2010 2:45:13 PM Subject: Re: [The Java Posse] Re: "Women Fed Up With Open Source Community Creeps" On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 11:40 AM, Josh Berry <tae...@gmail.com> wrote: On Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 2:13 PM, Casper Bang <casper.b...@gmail.com> wrote: >> blown way out of proportion. What this thread *does* demonstrate to >> me, is how it's gotten to the point that one can not even suggest men >> and women may simply have different core interests (and thus >> strengths), without being labelled a Neanderthal male chauvinistic pig. > > >The problem is the implied topic for this thread. The idea that >something about me intrinsically makes me a better computer >user/programmer than my wife is incredibly suspect to me. Worse, the >idea that I might need to just tell my daughter that "maybe you just >aren't good at computers because you aren't my son" is insulting. > It's hard to claim that there is nothing genetic about it, though. It doesn't have to be offensive. I find "You don't have the mental capability" quite offensive, but what if genetics makes it so that the *interest* in this kind of activity is simply not there? Or maybe just a matter of taste, like food or color preference? Maybe I could be a great lawyer, I just don't have any interest in that profession, and it's probably for genetic and maybe gender related reasons. Why not extend this line of thought to computer science? -- Cédric -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to javapo...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to javaposse+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "The Java Posse" group. To post to this group, send email to javapo...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to javaposse+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/javaposse?hl=en.
