> vicious and mean environment Honest question: is that your experience? I'm not a programmer (currently doing a PhD in crypto), but I was under the impression

> vicious and mean environment Honest question: is that your experience? I'm not a programmer (currently doing a PhD in crypto), but I was under the impression that female programmers encounter lots of "innocently offensive", "maladapted" and "uncaring", but not so much "vicious and mean". (Which is bad enough, but "well-intentioned-but-stupid" is easier to fix than "evil".) I'm pretty sure that you have more experience being a female programmer than I do, though. ;-)