> Or they meant, "Hi! Mind if I backhandedly point out you don't belong here (again?)" Because, you know, that's how people interpret it when you remark upon th

> Or they meant, "Hi! Mind if I backhandedly point out you don't belong here (again?)" Because, you know, that's how people interpret it when you remark upon their presence or skills. I don't think you're right to say that there's a single way that people will interpret statements like that. Statements like that can be made out of genuine admiration. I have made such statements out of admiration, and statements like that have been made about me (about my ability to speak Mandarin, in China). It seems to be a fact that women in tech are rare. I have found it to be true in my life that if you are rare or strange in some way, life will probably be harder for you in some ways, because it will take a while for other people to learn to deal with you. You can choose to look at it really specifically as "sexism", but I prefer to think about it as "people don't handle unfamiliar situations very well".