3 ms·

I think it's great that there are more female role models, which will undoubtedly have a knock on effect in the industry. The one thing that really puzzles me

I think it's great that there are more female role models, which will undoubtedly have a knock on effect in the industry. The one thing that really puzzles me in this article is the following quote: “I’m not an aggressive person, and often, girls aren’t trained to be aggressive in the same way that boys are.” I am hoping this has been taken out of context because otherwise it's really a sweeping generalization without substantiation. This worries me. I think it's great to make women aware of trends in the tech industry and society, but statements like this will put people off from listening. I'd be interested in data that backs up the fact that boys are trained to be aggressive. My anecdotal evidence to the contrary includes myself and my male friends. I don't have any reason to believe that we have been trained to be aggressive, but that might be because we fall outside the "often" bracket.

icebraining 13y ago
I think it's rather obvious, from the fact that boys are much more encouraged to play competitive team sports like Soccer and American Football, where aggressiveness is an important skill. (It should be noted that she said aggressiveness, not violence)
- kartikkumar 13y ago
  Data please? I guess the crux of the issue lies in what aggressiveness is defined as. I just found it a particularly jarring statement to just state without any substantiation. I would never in a million years categorize myself as aggressive and I'm pretty sure that the majority of my male friends wouldn't either. On the basis of that small sample set, I feel the quote requires further explanation. As it stands, on it's own, to me it comes across as rather perfunctory.
  - icebraining 13y ago
    Data on what? On the fact that more boys than girls play team sports? On the fact that aggressiveness is a skill in team sports such as American Football? I think the issue is that you're taking "aggressive" as violent or harmful, when in popular usage it often means simply competitive, assertive and/or ambitious, which is the more sensible interpretation in this case, considering the context (nobody would say that being outright violent is helpful as a startup founder!)
    - kartikkumar 13y ago
      Data on the fact that boys are encouraged more than girls to take part in competitive activities (on the whole, so not in reference specifically to soccer and american football), or better yet, trained in some way (sports or non-sports) to be more aggressive in their pursuits. As an example, a female friend of mine was a gymnast growing up and she was most definitely in an "aggressive", competitive environment. This again is simply an example from my personal sphere which leads me to pose the question as to how such a sweeping statement can be made about the fact that girls are not trained to be aggressive in the sense of competitive, ambitious etc. The limited data set that I am exposed to based on my personal connections indicates no "obvious" bias that you seem to imply exists as a matter of fact. For clarification, I am not definitely not taking aggressive to mean violent/harmful. We can definitely agree on the fact that that is not a helpful character trait as a founder, so I don't question that this is what the quote is referencing.
lnanek2 13y ago
There actually are studies showing women ask for raises less often, etc.. That could be what they are talking about re lack of aggression. Although I admit I haven't seen anything re if it is nature or nurture that causes it. Although, personally, even as a non-aggressive tech geek myself, as a male I had a couple fights back in school when people stuck me with needles, etc.. We might be able to find stats that males fight more often.
- kartikkumar 13y ago
  Interesting, any links to studies that indicate that women systematically ask for raises less often? I find that topic particularly difficult myself, so I'm curious to know if I'm the odd one out when it comes to men in general. I've never had a physical fight in my life. I'm also not sure that that's what was the intention of the quote.

icebraining 13y ago

I think it's rather obvious, from the fact that boys are much more encouraged to play competitive team sports like Soccer and American Football, where aggressiveness is an important skill. (It should be noted that she said aggressiveness, not violence)

kartikkumar 13y ago
Data please? I guess the crux of the issue lies in what aggressiveness is defined as. I just found it a particularly jarring statement to just state without any substantiation. I would never in a million years categorize myself as aggressive and I'm pretty sure that the majority of my male friends wouldn't either. On the basis of that small sample set, I feel the quote requires further explanation. As it stands, on it's own, to me it comes across as rather perfunctory.
- icebraining 13y ago
  Data on what? On the fact that more boys than girls play team sports? On the fact that aggressiveness is a skill in team sports such as American Football? I think the issue is that you're taking "aggressive" as violent or harmful, when in popular usage it often means simply competitive, assertive and/or ambitious, which is the more sensible interpretation in this case, considering the context (nobody would say that being outright violent is helpful as a startup founder!)
  - kartikkumar 13y ago
    Data on the fact that boys are encouraged more than girls to take part in competitive activities (on the whole, so not in reference specifically to soccer and american football), or better yet, trained in some way (sports or non-sports) to be more aggressive in their pursuits. As an example, a female friend of mine was a gymnast growing up and she was most definitely in an "aggressive", competitive environment. This again is simply an example from my personal sphere which leads me to pose the question as to how such a sweeping statement can be made about the fact that girls are not trained to be aggressive in the sense of competitive, ambitious etc. The limited data set that I am exposed to based on my personal connections indicates no "obvious" bias that you seem to imply exists as a matter of fact. For clarification, I am not definitely not taking aggressive to mean violent/harmful. We can definitely agree on the fact that that is not a helpful character trait as a founder, so I don't question that this is what the quote is referencing.

lnanek2 13y ago

There actually are studies showing women ask for raises less often, etc.. That could be what they are talking about re lack of aggression. Although I admit I haven't seen anything re if it is nature or nurture that causes it. Although, personally, even as a non-aggressive tech geek myself, as a male I had a couple fights back in school when people stuck me with needles, etc.. We might be able to find stats that males fight more often.

kartikkumar 13y ago
Interesting, any links to studies that indicate that women systematically ask for raises less often? I find that topic particularly difficult myself, so I'm curious to know if I'm the odd one out when it comes to men in general. I've never had a physical fight in my life. I'm also not sure that that's what was the intention of the quote.