4 ms·

I don't get the not wanting to attend a luncheon like this. Men have had their boys clubs for a long time. Why can't women have their girls clubs? If she had

by PakG1 14y ago

I don't get the not wanting to attend a luncheon like this. Men have had their boys clubs for a long time. Why can't women have their girls clubs? If she had a bad experience clothing teddy bears, sipping cocoa, and talking about boys, that's not the fault of these types of events. That's the fault of the event organizer. You don't swear to never receive cash from someone again because you once got burned by receiving counterfeit money. When I was in high school, I was part of the science club. Ironically (I guess because I'm a guy?), one of the events I helped to organize every year was the Ms. Infinity Conference, a conference where young girls were invited to learn about opportunities in science, hear from women in science, learn about what was interesting about science, etc. I can assure you there was an agenda that kept the attendees focused on the subject at hand. It was respectful and hopefully helpful and inspirational.

108 14y ago
Yeah, she has a formed a notion about the event even before attending it. Based on what - one negative high school experience?
stmchn 14y ago
While I agree it would be silly or her to refuse to go just based on some club she was in in high school, I'd be willing to bet she's been exposed to more women in tech groups throughout her career as well. This is just speaking from personal experience but a lot of these groups are the "clothing teddy bears and sipping cocoa" variety. It's a little bizarre actually how patronizing some of these events are and it's all self-imposed. It's just too easy to fall into a circlejerk of meaningless talks and discussions about sexism and empty compliments, awards and recognition. I know that's kind of a generalization and not all organizations are like this but I doubt I'd ever go to a women in tech luncheon again either.
- PakG1 14y ago
  Self-imposed is an interesting phrase. Interesting anecdote: http://www.businessinsider.com/sheryl-sandberg-sitting-at-the-table-2013-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/sheryl-sandberg-sitting-at-th...
jerrya 14y ago
Men had conferences that were men only that celebrated men in technology and presumably discussed how to raise male participation in technology and women were kept out and women were discussed as causing a huge problem to men?
- PakG1 14y ago
  In my first paragraph, I am talking about her dislike that a supposedly tech-focused group was more focused on girly things like dressing up teddy bears, drinking cocoa, and talking about boys. Just because a discussion group is supposed to be focused on tech, it doesn't mean that it's not allowed to veer off into other fun topics. As for the issue of the tech-focused group not focusing on tech, I deal with that in my second paragraph.

by PakG1 14y ago

108 14y ago

Yeah, she has a formed a notion about the event even before attending it. Based on what - one negative high school experience?

stmchn 14y ago

While I agree it would be silly or her to refuse to go just based on some club she was in in high school, I'd be willing to bet she's been exposed to more women in tech groups throughout her career as well. This is just speaking from personal experience but a lot of these groups are the "clothing teddy bears and sipping cocoa" variety. It's a little bizarre actually how patronizing some of these events are and it's all self-imposed. It's just too easy to fall into a circlejerk of meaningless talks and discussions about sexism and empty compliments, awards and recognition. I know that's kind of a generalization and not all organizations are like this but I doubt I'd ever go to a women in tech luncheon again either.

PakG1 14y ago
Self-imposed is an interesting phrase. Interesting anecdote: http://www.businessinsider.com/sheryl-sandberg-sitting-at-the-table-2013-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/sheryl-sandberg-sitting-at-th...

jerrya 14y ago

Men had conferences that were men only that celebrated men in technology and presumably discussed how to raise male participation in technology and women were kept out and women were discussed as causing a huge problem to men?

PakG1 14y ago
In my first paragraph, I am talking about her dislike that a supposedly tech-focused group was more focused on girly things like dressing up teddy bears, drinking cocoa, and talking about boys. Just because a discussion group is supposed to be focused on tech, it doesn't mean that it's not allowed to veer off into other fun topics. As for the issue of the tech-focused group not focusing on tech, I deal with that in my second paragraph.