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Zirn says that when meeting new male hacker acquaintances, an intense interview-style process often follows. "It’s like they don’t believe you, they have all th
by sudont 16y ago
Zirn says that when meeting new male hacker acquaintances, an intense interview-style process often follows. "It’s like they don’t believe you, they have all these questions, they want to know what Linux distribution you use."
I'm not sure^, this is typical of guys in any field. Men tend to argue more about the mechanics of any given field more than women. There's a definite sub-population of guys being all about "the gear" that doesn't exist in the same technical population of women. It's quite similar to photography, where there are a lot of both men and women practicing, but really only men get nuts over the hardware.
Besides, when I meet new hackers, an easy conversation entry point is on operating systems and opinions of tech to get a feel for the other person.
Maybe it's more of a body language thing that isn't getting conveyed through the article's text.
^edit from I don't agree with this
- jdp23 16y agoWhen you say "I don't agree with this," are you saying that she is not reporting her experiences accurately? Most of the technical women I know say the same thing as she does. Body language and tone are a big part of it. Next time you're at a conference, look at how guys interact with your women friends -- and compare notes afterwards to see what you noticed and what you didn't.
- sudont 16y agoYou're right about that not being clear. I meant that it's traditional for guys to interact in that way, regardless of gender. Their emotional language may be patronizing, but the content is the exact same as if they were meeting a male hacker for the first time. I'm more of a design-world person, so I generally don't see the explicit sexism, since women designers are equally respected.