Re:The (un)importance of gender in programming
by deathwarmedover on Friday February 17, 2012 @09:09AM
(#3603308)
Could you elaborate on why you are against this? I use boy/girl interchangeably with man/woman and don't attach any meaning beyond stating gender. Do you feel strongly that it belittles adults to refer to them as boys or girls?
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Re:The (un)importance of gender in programming
by chalst on Friday February 17, 2012 @09:32AM
(#3603403)
It depends on context, but when we are talking about the competence of people to do a professional's job, then yes, girl might suggest that any competence they have is precocity, they are not mature and well-rounded, and they are not generally what you want the pay grade above where they are.
And girl/boy are not quite analogous. "Boy" can be used in a belittling way, but it more often used in phrases like "one of the boys" to mean easy-going and fun: a positive statement about someone's ability to work in groups.
It's not an easy point: there's a few women I know who think that not using "girl" means that you think they are too old to be attractive. I think that often holds in both the US and the UK; it used to be true here in Germany, but I think calling a woman "Maedchen" in her workplace today is positively offensive.
I advise you not to call female colleagues girls in the office, and be sensitive outside the office. It's a good topic to raise in conversation.
Re:The (un)importance of gender in programming
by deathwarmedover on Tuesday February 21, 2012 @06:48PM
(#3618522)
To be clearer, I was more taking issue with original comment's blanket rule that adult women can never be called girls. As you said, "It depends on context", and I think the original comment neglects this.
I'm totally aware it's not always appropriate to use such terms.
Re:The (un)importance of gender in programming
by untog on Friday February 17, 2012 @09:35AM
(#3603419)
Absolutely. Well, as a male, if someone calls me a boy I consider it belittling. I'm pushing 30 now, so it doesn't bother me so much, but when I was in my early 20's it definitely seemed like code for "inexperienced idiot".
Re:The (un)importance of gender in programming
by clarkevans on Friday February 17, 2012 @09:43AM
(#3603448)
She didn't use boy/girl interchangeably. She used girl/man.