Yes I have. A while ago I expressed shock and outrage on HN at the systemic sexism (of the "geek community") evident in the PAX business, and in other similar incidents. I was then given a lesson in logic (because this wasn't precisely sexism, but merely an individual behaving badly in this particular case). I was appalled.
No one here would write such things? I doubt it. And at the very least, I find it unbelievable that "cooler heads" are so quick to say that "panty shot" and "tit viewer" or "brogrammer" or whatever have nothing to do with the culture of IT.
I've spent most of my career trying to teach college-age women (coming mainly from humanities programs) how to program. When I suggest to my most promising engineers they they go into computer science, they almost invariably end up not being able to do it. Not because the professor isn't supportive, certainly not because they find the material too hard, but because of the "culture." They can't always find that term, but that's clearly what it is.
Ask any woman who tried and failed to make it through a CS program, and you'll here the same thing: they were sick of being ogled, they were sick of the porn jokes, they were the sick of the "cowboy up or go home" shit.
This is my culture; I'm part of it. And if you read this board a lot, it's probably your culture as well. We absolutely need to own this one and not pin it every time on errant individuals. We need to actually admit that in subtle ways we have created an environment hostile to women.
No one here would write such things? I doubt it. And at the very least, I find it unbelievable that "cooler heads" are so quick to say that "panty shot" and "tit viewer" or "brogrammer" or whatever have nothing to do with the culture of IT.
I've spent most of my career trying to teach college-age women (coming mainly from humanities programs) how to program. When I suggest to my most promising engineers they they go into computer science, they almost invariably end up not being able to do it. Not because the professor isn't supportive, certainly not because they find the material too hard, but because of the "culture." They can't always find that term, but that's clearly what it is.
Ask any woman who tried and failed to make it through a CS program, and you'll here the same thing: they were sick of being ogled, they were sick of the porn jokes, they were the sick of the "cowboy up or go home" shit.
This is my culture; I'm part of it. And if you read this board a lot, it's probably your culture as well. We absolutely need to own this one and not pin it every time on errant individuals. We need to actually admit that in subtle ways we have created an environment hostile to women.