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I think this article radically blurs the line between personal and professional space. Is the entire gem repository a professional space or a personal space? To

I think this article radically blurs the line between personal and professional space. Is the entire gem repository a professional space or a personal space? To my mind it's a bit of both. If you believe that self-expression is allowed in software development then I see no reason to constrict the entire space of gem names to those allowed in the author's conception of the professional realm. That's just silly. To further extrapolate from the a small sample of the gem names to an overall problem in the software community is again a problem. I don't think gem names are the reason women are uncomfortable in tech - I don't even necessarily believe that sexism is an endemic problem. I do believe there's a gender bias in technology - the numbers are undeniable. However, I still don't necessarily buy that this is due to sexism. There are plenty of other potential reasons there are fewer women in tech than just sexism - social conditioning, selection bias, people in tech are perceived/portrayed as socially awkward, etc.

quinnchr 13y ago
I completely agree that it's the combination of social conditioning, selection bias, etc that contribute to gender bias. But you can't just throw up your hands and accept the status quo because it's ingrained in our society. The sad thing is women have been talking about this for decades, and no one wants to listen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy#Biological_vs._social_theories http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy#Biological_vs._socia...).
- zenogais 13y ago
  Well aware of the concept of patriarchy and the literature on the topic. No one's throwing their hands up. I just thought the article was terribly reductionist. All we can really say is "the activity of software development mirrors trends in the society it occurs within". Not really something earth shattering or sensational.

quinnchr 13y ago

I completely agree that it's the combination of social conditioning, selection bias, etc that contribute to gender bias. But you can't just throw up your hands and accept the status quo because it's ingrained in our society. The sad thing is women have been talking about this for decades, and no one wants to listen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy#Biological_vs._social_theories http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchy#Biological_vs._socia...).

zenogais 13y ago
Well aware of the concept of patriarchy and the literature on the topic. No one's throwing their hands up. I just thought the article was terribly reductionist. All we can really say is "the activity of software development mirrors trends in the society it occurs within". Not really something earth shattering or sensational.