4 ms·

Okay, Feminism, It’s Time We Had a Talk About Empathy

34 points by Perceval 13y ago

VLM 13y ago
"Right now, the dominant narrative about women in tech is overwhelmingly woven of antipatterns." That was interesting, liked that. Not liking the anti-pattern part, but liked the insight. Or at least I'm dense enough to find it insightful. She's a good writer, worth following. I'd follow her blog in my RSS reader if I could figure out how. I'm not going to play data silo games on medium, so oh well, too bad.
- sp332 13y ago
  You can use https://medium.com/feed/philosophy-logic/ https://medium.com/feed/philosophy-logic/ for the philosophy-logic collection, or https://medium.com/feed/@maradydd https://medium.com/feed/@maradydd for the author, who only seems to have one post.
deadghost 13y ago
Are women actually being driven out of the tech community or are all these articles I read about discrimination against women in tech just a vocal minority? I also don't get the feminist push for more female programmers, scientists, etc. You mean you WANT your kind to sit in isolation for long periods of time, day in and day out, for years at a time? To me, it's something you fall into like drug and alcohol abuse, but more positive. Online, no one knows you're a dog.
- burntsushi 13y ago
  Umm, did you read the OP? Also, programming is like drug and alcohol abuse? What?
- sp332 13y ago
  Programming isn't necessarily isolated. This article is all about finding the tech community to be more welcoming than "normal" communities. Edit: Discrimination in tech seems to be done by a minority, but those few run into a lot of women at conferences etc. Much more discrimination is done outside the tech community, by people who don't tell girls that they can pursue tech.
- sethish 13y ago
  Yes, in my assessment, and in the assessment of female developers I have spoken with, women are being driven out of the tech community. Why do you think that it is a vocal minority?
  - briantrice 13y ago
    I agree. I think the original perception is rooted in a context-free understanding of the present. That is, they lack mature awareness of the period during which women were driven out, only perceiving the status quo after that period.
  - benched 13y ago
    What is 'the' tech community? I've been a programmer for 25 years, and I'm honestly unfamiliar with it. Does Microsoft count as a tech community? If you go there, you will find tons of women developers doing great work, and it doesn't seem they're being pushed out of anything. Pushed into bigger houses, more like! Anyway, shame on this putative community you speak of.
- laura2013 13y ago
  lol, that's like saying "i dont get why gays wanna marry, marriage is awful and taxes are crazy", or "blacks shouldn't want to vote, our government is crooked"
andrewflnr 13y ago
I almost skipped this based on the title, thinking it would be another shortisghted diatribe. I'm glad I didn't. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who sees that the way out of these discrimination scenarios is looking to the future, at what we can do differently, not just at what wrongs have been or are being committed. Those are important to recognize, but there's very little we can do about them. I was shocked at her account of being accused of being complicit in her own oppression by recounting her own positive experiences. Who does that help? Edit: what I'm trying to say is that this person seems to get it, and as a nice benefit phrased it in a way that balances sympathy with the need to change, which is probably more than can be said for my comment.
- Perceval 13y ago
  I would have titled it with something more descriptive and less inflammatory, but IIRC that's against HN's rules.

34 points by Perceval 13y ago

VLM 13y ago

"Right now, the dominant narrative about women in tech is overwhelmingly woven of antipatterns." That was interesting, liked that. Not liking the anti-pattern part, but liked the insight. Or at least I'm dense enough to find it insightful. She's a good writer, worth following. I'd follow her blog in my RSS reader if I could figure out how. I'm not going to play data silo games on medium, so oh well, too bad.

sp332 13y ago
You can use https://medium.com/feed/philosophy-logic/ https://medium.com/feed/philosophy-logic/ for the philosophy-logic collection, or https://medium.com/feed/@maradydd https://medium.com/feed/@maradydd for the author, who only seems to have one post.

deadghost 13y ago

Are women actually being driven out of the tech community or are all these articles I read about discrimination against women in tech just a vocal minority? I also don't get the feminist push for more female programmers, scientists, etc. You mean you WANT your kind to sit in isolation for long periods of time, day in and day out, for years at a time? To me, it's something you fall into like drug and alcohol abuse, but more positive. Online, no one knows you're a dog.

burntsushi 13y ago
Umm, did you read the OP? Also, programming is like drug and alcohol abuse? What?
sp332 13y ago
Programming isn't necessarily isolated. This article is all about finding the tech community to be more welcoming than "normal" communities. Edit: Discrimination in tech seems to be done by a minority, but those few run into a lot of women at conferences etc. Much more discrimination is done outside the tech community, by people who don't tell girls that they can pursue tech.
sethish 13y ago
Yes, in my assessment, and in the assessment of female developers I have spoken with, women are being driven out of the tech community. Why do you think that it is a vocal minority?
- briantrice 13y ago
  I agree. I think the original perception is rooted in a context-free understanding of the present. That is, they lack mature awareness of the period during which women were driven out, only perceiving the status quo after that period.
- benched 13y ago
  What is 'the' tech community? I've been a programmer for 25 years, and I'm honestly unfamiliar with it. Does Microsoft count as a tech community? If you go there, you will find tons of women developers doing great work, and it doesn't seem they're being pushed out of anything. Pushed into bigger houses, more like! Anyway, shame on this putative community you speak of.
laura2013 13y ago
lol, that's like saying "i dont get why gays wanna marry, marriage is awful and taxes are crazy", or "blacks shouldn't want to vote, our government is crooked"

andrewflnr 13y ago

I almost skipped this based on the title, thinking it would be another shortisghted diatribe. I'm glad I didn't. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who sees that the way out of these discrimination scenarios is looking to the future, at what we can do differently, not just at what wrongs have been or are being committed. Those are important to recognize, but there's very little we can do about them. I was shocked at her account of being accused of being complicit in her own oppression by recounting her own positive experiences. Who does that help? Edit: what I'm trying to say is that this person seems to get it, and as a nice benefit phrased it in a way that balances sympathy with the need to change, which is probably more than can be said for my comment.

Perceval 13y ago
I would have titled it with something more descriptive and less inflammatory, but IIRC that's against HN's rules.