Year: 2003

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Sorry, but this is all just too good and I must share:

 

Don’t invite only male speakers

If all your speakers are always men, women will notice and not feel welcome. Role models people can identify with are important to staying interested in a field.

Do ask women to speak

It’s surprisingly easy to find technically brilliant female computer scientists willing to come speak to your group. If you explain that you are trying to encourage women in computers, many women will be even more likely to speak at your event. Women speakers are probably the number one way to get women to come to your event. They will be able to see a role model, ask her questions about her experiences, and for a few hours at least, not feel like the only woman who’s interested in computers. Be sure that when you do invite a woman speaker that you advertise the event well, especially to women.

One woman says that she noticed her LUG paid less attention to and was ruder to women speakers. She thought it might be because the members dismissed the possibility of her knowing anything they didn’t already know. Be sure not to let this happen to your women speakers.

And the next time you go to attend a technology conference, and see that the male speakers vastly out-number the women, send an email to the conference planners, ask them what the problem is. And then you might want to shop around for a conference that doesn’t equate ‘geek’ with ‘male’.

More from the Women in Linux paper:

 

Don’t tell sexist jokes

Sexist jokes are the number one way to drive women out of any group, and they are more common than many people realize. I have more than once heard a man say that he doesn’t make that kind of joke, and then hours or minutes later, hear the same person make a joke about pregnant women or PMS. Sometime he just doesn’t realize that he made a sexist joke, for example, “blonde jokes” are actually “dumb women” jokes. Sometimes he tells me that it’s okay to make a sexist joke if it’s true, or it’s funny (funny to whom?). What some people fail to realize is that jokes about gender of any sort almost always make fun of women, and will make most women angry, regardless of the context. It doesn’t help to first make a sexist joke about men and then one about women.

You can argue that women shouldn’t be so sensitive (and I will disagree with you) but even then, regardless of should or should not, your comments and jokes are driving women away. If that’s not what you want, then don’t make sexist jokes. If you’re not sure if your joke is sexist, find something else to say.

Do protest sexist jokes

The next time you see someone joking about women on your local mailing list or in person, complain about it. It’s difficult to do this without making yourself a target for ridicule, but it’s even more difficult for a woman to do the same thing. Women keep silent when we see sexist jokes because if we protest, we will immediately be attacked for being over-sensitive, uptight, or a “feminazi.” (emphasis added by Bb) (Note: NEVER use the term “feminazi.” It discredits all feminists, and trivializes the victims of the Nazi Holocaust. Consider how ridiculous it sounds to call people like Rush Limbaugh “male chauvinazis” and you may understand why “feminazi” is so emotionally loaded.)

The best way to fight back against sexist jokes is with humor. If someone replies to a post about the technical achievements of a woman with “Is she single?” reply with, “Gee, Jeff, no wonder YOU’RE still single.” Every time a woman sees a sexist joke or comment, she feels angry, left out, and belittled. Every time a woman sees a man stand up against this behavior, she feels included and valued.

Déjà Vu, all over again.

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Catching up on reading tonight, I stumbled over the following at Mark Pilgrim’s:

 

On a side note, remember that flap just before the holidays about the Coders-Only Club? Well, look at it this way: some people have strong opinions about the way computers should work. Other people have strong opinions about the way computers should work, and back them up with code. It seems obvious to me which people deserve more attention. Maybe that’s just me.

Since this was addressed to little ole me, I thought I should respond.

What can I say Mark? I don’t throw a lot of code around here abouts, primarily because I’ve been saving most of it for the book. Hard as this is to believe for some folk, especially employers in St. Louis, writing a computer book is quite difficult. Especially writing a book on a specification that’s changing, constantly, and working with technology that’s in beta — if I’m lucky.

However, as additional credentials, you all can help yourself to the resume in the upper left-hand corner and take a peek; you’ll see that I’ve thrown my mind around a line or two or 100,000 of code.

It also seems to me, though I am getting older and my brain’s been rattled a tad by the falls, as if I have thrown out code a time or two in this weblog, including a new version of RDF/RSS and other odds and ends. Seems to me that most of technical gentlemen hereabouts didn’t take all that much notice of the little woman and her bits of code. Kitchen things.

(Hey! Isn’t SOAP a kitchen thing?)

Seems to me that some people have put me into a box and are now wrapping that box with a bow and then dismissing me without due consideration, because I don’t put code into this here weblog. But you know, I really don’t like bows, and I really don’t like being clapped into a box. And I really haven’t mastered the skill of pissing standing up so I’ll forgo pissing contests if you don’t mind.

If, and when, I put code out at this site it will be because I want to, for fun, for interest, to help others — not to ‘prove’ something to anybody. And if you want to get into a debate, then you all might want to consider judging a person on the merit of their words, not the elegance of their regular expressions.