I come from a family where the women are not to be trifled with.
I grew up in a home with an incredibly strong and intelligent mother. My mother was raised by a woman who was tough as nails. My father’s mother was a genius and world class card player. I had a great great aunt who was a nuclear physicist in the 1950s.
Call me naive
It hadn’t crossed my mind that women don’t belong in technology until I saw Twitter shit-storms on the subject. The most noteworthy for me was surrounding this blog post from my coworker Ellie.
Nor had it crossed my mind that women playing, enjoying, or critiquing the content of video games would be an issue… But nevertheless “#GamerGate” became a thing. And here’s an elegant takedown of that embarrassment.
My experience
Easily half of the most talented designers, developers, and project managers I have worked with over my career in technology are women.
Back in high school computer science class I copied off a girl when I didn’t understand something because she was hands down the best coder in my class.
With rare exception, I haven’t witnessed a ton of brogrammer bullshit, mostly because I deliberately avoid that kind of toxic man-child assholery.
Stupid behavior
If you’re treating people differently because they don’t have a Y chromosome, then you’re a piece of shit.
If you’re trudging through the Internet leaving comments that include “#NotAllMen” or anything that begins with “as a white man” you’re not helping anyone. Instead try shutting up and treating everyone with respect in your real life.
I really can’t believe this is a controversy.
The Geek Whisperer 