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"Such kind of people give Women in Code a really, really bad name, because sweetie, it takes tonnes of hardwork, cutting through competition, persistent dealing
by jjevanoorschot 9y ago
"Such kind of people give Women in Code a really, really bad name, because sweetie, it takes tonnes of hardwork, cutting through competition, persistent dealing with sexism and lot of patience to make place for yourself in this male-dominant coveted industry."
It's quite ironic that in a sentence about sexism and a male-dominated industry, the author addresses the developer by 'sweetie'.
- psergeant 9y agoDo you believe sweetie is a gendered word?
- SmellyGeekBoy 9y agoIt seems to be one of those loaded words that's often used by a certain type of man to put women "in their place".
- mosselman 9y agoSo could be the word 'Geek', only to put smart people in their place, that didn't stop you from using it as a badge of honor in your nickname. So maybe you shouldn't blanket-accuse everyone of being a misogynist based on some hypothetical male character that you made up to fit some preconceived narrative of sexism, because that is in fact the true sexism here. There are plenty of people who use the word 'sweetie' endearingly, there is nothing wrong with that.
- rep_movsd 9y agoYou just cant handle the fact that a genuine really professional girl who is a coder cant be snarky when calling out a pleb of a teenaged liar? If anything its very civil language towards a spoilt brat whose parents should be ashamed to have raised a liar.
- kiriakasis 9y agoi believe today "sweetie" is mostly used by women
- dvfjsdhgfv 9y agoI don't know any man who would use this word except towards his daughter (when she's quite small). It's unthinkable any man would use this word in such a way - in a public post, patronizing towards a young girl. It would be an PR suicide, and the result would be contrary to his expectations.
- whatshisface 9y agoI've also seen it used in Tumblr posts which were written with absolutely no harmful intent. It's imaginable that the author of that page had used the word in a not-mean way before in their lives, and especially likely that dripping sarcasm doesn't come through in text. As for the actual article, I guess it goes to show that this "kid genius" media stuff is always self-interested on the part of the institutions and rarely if ever benefits any kids.
- wil421 9y agoI hear sweetie or sweetheart a lot more from older women talking to younger adults/teenagers or kids. Maybe it’s the South.
- seabird 9y agoWhat you seem to think it is and what it actually is are two different things. "Sweetie" is a traditionally Deep South term of endearment or mock-endearment applicable to both genders and used almost exclusively by women. I can't remember the last time (if ever) I have seen it used by a man other than in imitation of women from the Deep South.
- thomasfoster96 9y agoGiven the author appears to be female, I suspect the irony is entirely on purpose.
- scottishfiction 9y agoI'm not sure it is. I suspect it's intended as a genuine term of endearment and the author is oblivious to the negative connotation. Still unfortunate.
- thomasfoster96 9y agoI find it odd that someone who was writing a paragraph about sexism in tech (or any industry) wouldn’t be aware of the negative connotation - but your explanation could be right.
- scottishfiction 9y agoI find it odd too.
- antonvs 9y agoIt's pretty clearly being used condescendingly in this case. However, the author may genuinely not have noticed the sexist connotation until it was pointed out.
- dspillett 9y agoSpecifically, I think she is using it in much the same manner as in Chris Rock used the "n" word in his "Black People vs. Niggaz" stand-up skit. Either that or she is being deliberately patronising towards perceived innocence, also for comedic effect.
- staticelf 9y agoIsn't 'sweetie' something you just call young girls?
- acover 9y agoIs he wearing smelly as a badge of honor :p
- Waterluvian 9y agoIn my experience, "sweetie" is a word older women use condescendingly towards younger men or women.
- watwut 9y agoSexism is not limited to men on the side of who does it (nor on women on the side that is the target).
- cosmiccartel 9y agoThe point is that, in the South, sweetie isn't a gendered term. I'm a man and get called sweetie every day in a non-demeaning sense. When used pejoratively, it's essentially "bless your heart" condensed into a noun. Interestingly, at least in my area, it's generally only used by women and effeminate gay men. As a result, actually using the term does imply effeminacy, so a straight man using it to insult a woman may be unknowingly implying something about himself which he'd find embarrassing.
- protomyth 9y agoIt fits in the same category as “aren’t you special”. It is pretty good way to find out you are not acting properly in an elder’s eyes.
- astura 9y agoMy experience is different, the only people I've ever heard use "Sweetie," besides towards children, is older men being condescending towards younger women, making sure they know their place, and older men who use it towards younger women as a term of endearment unaware that it's usually used in a condescending manner. I've literally never heard an woman say it outside of speaking to children, however, I think it might be acceptable to use in the American South, at least stereotypically, I've only spent a few days in the South myself. That being said, I believe this particular use was intended to be ironic/sarcastic. Though it ends up being just a distraction.
- yetanother1980 9y ago
- snarfy 9y agoI was reading right along happily through the article, then I hit 'sweetie'. That came out of nowhere. I'm sure the author had a point they were trying to make, but it was completely lost on me with the condescending turn to 'sweetie'.
- radoslawc 9y agoCompletely lost? Stealing someone's work and pretending to be 16 years old programming prodigy is lesser issue than calling someone sweetie?
- kiriakasis 9y agoit might have been knowingly condescending, which would be reasonable since we are talking about plagiarism
- simias 9y agoI see where you're coming from but I think the point still stands. Making a fraud the poster child for a cause is worse than having no poster child at all. In general I'm always very wary of "teenage prodigies" stories, they're very marketable but I think they're bad for everybody involved: on one hand the "prodigy" is on exhibit like some kind of circus freak and at this age is probably ill-prepared to deal with the attention, on the other the people he's supposed to inspire (kids his own age) just see a bar that's impossible to reach. You can't expect your average 16yo to write a high quality crypto tracker app regardless of gender. It's not inspiring, it's discouraging.
- HenryBemis 9y agoLying is lying irrespective of gender. No way a 16yo kid can design start-to-end an app, learn how to code, learn how to build the UI, etc. Unless by "mentor" (as seen on the dialogue-screesnhot) means "X and Y designed this and that for me so all I did was put my name in the front page).
- hood_syntax 9y agoThey could, they just probably wouldn't be 16 by the time they finished learning how to do it.
- zachlatta 9y agoDon't underestimate young people. We have hundreds of people doing this in https://hackclub.com https://hackclub.com, many of whom are 16 or younger.
- onion2k 9y agoA decade is more than enough time to become extremely competent. I've know 16 year olds who started learning to code when they were 6. Plenty of developers teach their kids from very young ages. Of course a 16 year old could write a great app.
- vertex-four 9y agoA 16yo kid who's had multiple years of learning how to program, and a good work ethic, could very well do that - I had published applications at around that age that had users. I don't think a young age is in itself a reason to be suspicious of plagiarism.
- Kiro 9y agoThe author is a woman though. Is a woman calling a girl "sweetie" sexism?
- ender89 9y agoThis isn't a hit piece by some bro-grammer who doesn't want to share space with a 16 year old girl, this is a woman who had to carve out space for herself in a male dominated industry. She's looking at the software equivalent of that kid who took a clock slightly apart and put it in a cardboard box and became an engineering prodigy because some idiot thought it looked like a cartoon bomb timer and saying that we need to back up and look at actual female programming icons, like Margaret Hamilton (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hamilton_(scientist) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Hamilton_(scientist)).
- nileshtrivedi 9y agoThe author is a woman.
- heedlessly2 9y agothat's exactly what the person you're responding is saying