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> You can't just sweep away sexism under a rug. Stereotypes are different than sexism. Some stereotypes are sexist, but assuming that someone is a man when it

by Dewie 12y ago

> You can't just sweep away sexism under a rug. Stereotypes are different than sexism. Some stereotypes are sexist, but assuming that someone is a man when it is likely that he/she is isn't sexist. Maybe irritating, and rash judgement - but that's stereotypes in general. Sexism is a belief that one gender is better than the other, or that some gender is bad in some way. Does assuming that someone is a male programmer make them sexist? Not really - not unless you _also_ assume other implications like "women can't program", or other such nonsense. But that's a leap to make.

codygman 12y ago
> Does assuming that someone is a male programmer make them sexist? Not really - not unless you _also_ assume other implications like "women can't program", or other such nonsense. But that's a leap to make. In my experience I've found people who assume genders to have a reason for assuming. The most common reason is they don't believe women can program as well as men.
- eximius 12y ago
  I'd argue a simpler reason is that the vast majority are male. "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - As an aside, while I firmly believe that both genders have equal _potentials_, I think that due to various socioeconomic and cultural pressures, genders are _not_ equal at everything in execution, on average. It might take a while for that to happen.
- icebraining 12y ago
  You do realize that by saying "in my experience, people do X are more likely to be Y", you're doing the exact same thing you're criticizing?
  - codygman 12y ago
    "(Minorities) who do X are more likely to be Y" and "(Privileged) are more likely to reinforce their privilege (because the don't see their privilege and/or want to keep it)" are two different things. At face value these to things look the same, but upon examination it's only a convenient simplification.
    - icebraining 12y ago
      The first post (who you were assuming stuff about) said nothing about any minorities. The fact is, regardless of how you paint it, you're making prejudiced assumptions about him/her based the fact that (s)he belongs to the group of "people who write 'he' when talking about coders of unknown gender". Assuming that (s)he is "privileged" is just yet another prejudice, not a fact upon which to base your opinion.
      - codygman 12y ago
        > Assuming that (s)he is "privileged" is just yet another prejudice, not a fact upon which to base your opinion. ??? Men are more privileged than women, that is fact.

by Dewie 12y ago

codygman 12y ago

> Does assuming that someone is a male programmer make them sexist? Not really - not unless you _also_ assume other implications like "women can't program", or other such nonsense. But that's a leap to make. In my experience I've found people who assume genders to have a reason for assuming. The most common reason is they don't believe women can program as well as men.

eximius 12y ago
I'd argue a simpler reason is that the vast majority are male. "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - As an aside, while I firmly believe that both genders have equal _potentials_, I think that due to various socioeconomic and cultural pressures, genders are _not_ equal at everything in execution, on average. It might take a while for that to happen.
icebraining 12y ago
You do realize that by saying "in my experience, people do X are more likely to be Y", you're doing the exact same thing you're criticizing?
- codygman 12y ago
  "(Minorities) who do X are more likely to be Y" and "(Privileged) are more likely to reinforce their privilege (because the don't see their privilege and/or want to keep it)" are two different things. At face value these to things look the same, but upon examination it's only a convenient simplification.
  - icebraining 12y ago
    The first post (who you were assuming stuff about) said nothing about any minorities. The fact is, regardless of how you paint it, you're making prejudiced assumptions about him/her based the fact that (s)he belongs to the group of "people who write 'he' when talking about coders of unknown gender". Assuming that (s)he is "privileged" is just yet another prejudice, not a fact upon which to base your opinion.
    - codygman 12y ago
      > Assuming that (s)he is "privileged" is just yet another prejudice, not a fact upon which to base your opinion. ??? Men are more privileged than women, that is fact.