I also don't like how the article equates programming and its value system of efficiency and beauty as factors of value and correctness with the political aspect of Senator's Warren actions that uses a different value system. If you agree with Warren, then this article makes more sense because you think Warren was right, but was stopped. If you disagree with Warren, then you may think that she broke whatever rules of the Senate and was properly stopped.
Finally, I don't like how it equates all of these awesome female and non-binary programmer examples of success with Senator Warren's failure. She was stopped and Sessions was confirmed as attorney general. It would be cool if there was a better example that resulted in success, like Senator Warren's own story of how she became a senator.
And I read the "Nevertheless, she coded" as more of a global She, as in there are still women in computer science pushing for equality even in the face of the obstacles that women in tech have encountered in the past.
For example, the inclusion of Elizabeth Warren and McConnell's line. What McConnell did (attempt to shut down resistance of the opposite party) was wrong-headed and undemocratic, but the only thing it had to do with gender was the use of a pronoun (edit: yodon is right).
Nobody would have paid much attention to it if he'd said "nevertheless he persisted", but a partisan attack was made into something about gender when there's no reason to believe it was so.
What does it really have to do with coding, anyway? It's inclusion says more about the author's goals than it does about the topic.
If that were true, then why were the several men who spoke after her, and read the exact same letter, not disciplined?
I don't think the tone of "the world is sexist" is genuine or fair, Susan Fowlers case is notable because it's definitely the exception, not the norm.
Of course I will be glad when things like that _never- happen_, but if you take the example of murders.. There is usually a huge murder problem when you do not hear about individual murders. If you know how many people a year are being murdered in your town, that means that there is a low enough amount for each case to be exceptional and newsworthy.
Of course, you hope that no murders happen. But that's unfortunately unrealistic.
I hope, sincerely, I'm right about that case and there is no institutionalised sexism in tech, I have never really seen it (aside from one super condescending guy), but of course that's anecdatum. What I _do_ see is a lot of women being told to play victim and doing so, this article is fodder for that.
One explanation for this is that it isn't happening. Another is that it isn't happening in my "spaces" (networks/companies/etc.). But another is that it is, but in ways that I don't see. I don't know how much all my coworkers are paid, and if someone is receiving unwanted advances it would likely be happening where I can't see it. There are other explanations too, maybe I'm used to some sexist behaviors and wouldn't notice if they happened right in front of me. A lot of the tech culture humor I'm aware of, and have participated in, revolves around programmers being men. It took some time and some serious reflection before I realized this was the case, and that it was a problem.
So sure, no one in my office runs around "grabbing women by the ...," or joking with me about it, but that doesn't mean sexism isn't happening. And I respect and trust my female peers enough to take them seriously when they tell me it is.
All that said, there's one piece of data I simply can't square with "sexism isn't a serious problem in tech." Every company I've worked for, every conference or meetup I've attended, most of the blogs I follow and books I've read - vastly more men than women. To the point that it's almost absurd. Here's what gets me about that - I love what I do! Tech is a great field to be working in for a ton of reasons! Objective reasons! On top of that so much of tech lends itself naturally to inclusiveness. What the fk is going on that I can work for years on teams of 90% men?! This doesn't prove sexism in tech, but it's evidence that something is up, right? And the accounts I've heard of women being treated poorly in tech give credence sexism as one possible and reasonable explanation.
Heck, I don't even think I'm arguing with you. Your posts sound reasonable, I get the sense you care, and I'm certainly less familiar with European tech culture than American. BUT it is worth your time to dig into the, "if I don't see it isn't happening" thing because that can be a trap; one I've fallen into myself.
You have to seperate "unattractive to women" with sexism.
For example it's a truism of our field that to get reasonable pay rises you have to job hop.
Woman tend to want to stick around in a job longer than men. So it's a big negative for them.
Women tend to prefer building close relationships in the workplace. In a field that values technical competence above language and cultural compatibility it's harder to build these relationships. Again another big negative for women wanting to work in software dev.
Or consider that we as an industry love new and shiny and see how compatible that is with women who want to be able to take a few years off for children.
I could go on and on.
All these factors make our industry unattractive to many women... but they aren't sexist.
As a male software dev who works on older legacy software I am constantly judged when I interview for not keeping up with the industry.
Also, your murder analogy is.. absurd.
I sincerely hope the problem isn't systemic or systematic within tech, but I need to see data to believe this. Your anecdotes of multiple women who have, unfortunately, suffered, is not evidence of a systemic element of tech company culture.
I'm not worried about framing issues, I'm worried about being accurate and precise. One of the parts of programming that I like the most is the procedural accuracy that comes from coding.
I don't stare at a screen all day. I work and have worked with teams of all sizes, hiring, firing, negotiating salary, dealing with HR and all that stuff. Although I would love to stare at a screen all day.
It's funny that you are calling me as sheltered and saying my experience isn't valid. This doesn't seem like rational behavior. Your irrationality in this aspect makes me doubt other claims by you that are not backed by data.
I certainly don't expect everyone to write a blog post about it, but I would encourage people to tell their stories. Otherwise, we just have more and more hearsay.
In this case, HR will work to prevent a very expensive lawsuit. I've seen HR help victims of sexual harassment many times.
But without more people speaking up, things will never get better.
If you have any female friends who want to work in a truly equal work environment that promotes women as equals; then my studio is aggressively hiring. http://www.massive.se/jobs/ ; it's in Sweden but we're also very good at relocating people (thorough support with VISA's and relocation allowances, etc;)
I am claiming that you should not assert something is common without data. Somehow your anecdotal conversations are valid for a really broad assumption for frequency?
It's very interesting that you have such a double standard toward things you believe. How do you form beliefs? Do you randomly decide things, then cherry pick enough "data" to back up your opinion?
No true Scotsman
*Trying to censor opposition in earlier post.
If you ever wonder why people aren't taking you seriously or listening to you, that's a good start.
Can you elaborate?
ETA: I genuinely don't understand the parent comment.
There's a page on Wikipedia that lists all logical fallacies and links to their pages, it's often cited as one of the best / coolest pagest on Wikipedia (seriously, check it out.)
But recently a lot of people think they can win (or shut down) arguments (or pleas for equality) by leaning on these logical fallacies a little to hard. It's a lame and desperate move, as there's literally always something you can throw out when you can't defend your point anymore. It's become such a "thing" that you can counter "oh cool that you found that wikipedia portal". It's particularly frustrating since combating inequality (or any social issue) often requires more of an emotional / social intelligence and personal experiences / understanding, which are apparently not fair game to these Greybeard Grand Wizard Gatekeepers of Logic(tm)
And asking for concrete data/stats on an incredibly personal, often legal, and highly politicized systematic trend is obviously absurd, but a good way to dismiss an argument you find inconvenient and don't want to address.
I've seen sexism once, it was some guy talking down to the team lead of the help desk, this guy was _shredded_ by every person in the office, before being told to come to HR, someone came to clear his desk that day.
This was in the UK where it is rather hard to fire people, so I find it hard to believe to be quite honest that the situation is anywhere near as dire as it's painted. Of course, I wouldn't see it, I'm a big ugly bearded bloke.
But we need stats, stories, we need to hold people accountable if it's not the way it should be. Not tell everyone it's bad and then go on about feminism. The kinds of people who are causing these issues do not give a solitary fuck about how your girls have your back, especially if you're not going to hold the guy to account in the first place.
There's one particularly dishonest method that people who defend the status quo use (usually out of sweaty desperation for privileges handed out based on gender, race, or financial class), which is the way they frame incidents of abuse or oppression as completely isolated from society or culture.
If you look at the Uber or Tor cases you have to realize that there is a culture in hacker / geek / IT that enabled it. Hell, if you post on HN must you realize there's values that the majority of us share. And those values that enabled the horrors at Tor and Uber are likely also present in other situations that are based on or include the same culture.
If you think I'm implying all men in SV or on HN are misogynists then you're willfully misinterpreting me, I'm just saying these are systematic / cultural issues and should be addressed as such. Also, it'd be great if you'd step out of the way.
I won't comment on "get out of the way".
The reason I bring this up is because if Women know it's normal and accepted to point out their oppressors and that justice will be had, then they will be more likely to report them and the world becomes a better place.
I fight for equality, my fight is no less valid than yours just because I have a penis, but I told you about the refugees already- I don't want women to be in tech if they're not integrated. We _all_ deserve to be integrated.
But at some point, you read enough stories, you realize it's the norm, not the exception.