The Last Article That Needs to be Written About Sexism in IT by a Male

http://leftnode.com/entry/the-last-article-that-needs-to-be-written-about-sexism-in-it-by-a-male.html

by leftnode • 14 years ago

12 10 14 years ago

jeffehobbs• 14 years ago

Yes. This. Very much so.

A good post. An added complication is that it can be tempting to (some, not all) math or engineering focused people to look at problems through a sort of "universal" math or engineering focused lens. Yet fields like theology, social affairs, law, economics, gender issues, or politics have their own (and multiple) philosophies and systems of logic and shoehorning any sort of universal, math or engineering-oriented system of logic onto them is likely to bring discord.

In my (limited) experience, religious engineers/mathematicians often seem to be aware of this concept and can balance scientific philosophies with those of theology and faith while recognizing the distinction between them.

In the same way that there are devoutly religious people who twist every matter in life into a religious matter, I wonder if there are "devoutly technical" people who twist everything into calculations and analysis.

true_religion2• 14 years ago

And... the devoutly technical want to convert all of humanity to their side, wherein not viewing things through the same lens is seen as a sign of mental shortcoming.

madrona• 14 years ago

Why can't the "privileged classes" discuss these issues and have open discourse with women? As long as both parties have open minds, it seems like a far better way to walk in someone else's shoes.

I'm gay and think that it's hard for many straight people to understand some of the setbacks I've encountered - but I would MUCH rather talk about it to achieve better understanding than letting people assume that I'm seething and angry all the time.

abraxasz• 14 years ago

I disagree. It is true that a male is hardly qualified to talk about how a female perceives things. But sexism in IT is an issue that concerns females AND males. A male should be allowed to say that, as a male, he thinks that he is annoyed by any kind of positive discrimination in the work place.

In the same vein, a white person is allowed to have an opinion on positive discrimination, an heterosexual is allowed to have an opinion on gay marriage, and someone who doesn't carry a gun is allowed to have an opinion on gun regulations.

Oh, and to defuse any bashing: I'm black, I have no opinion on gay marriage, or on sexism in IT (not working there).

true_religion2• 14 years ago

You're not exactly qualified to guess how people perceive things, but can you not relate their words second hand?

batgaijin• 14 years ago

I don't really get this attitude. So it's okay for me to write a school essay about the women's suffrage movement? Okay. It's cool for me to write about the civil rights movement? Okay.

Why are things going on today special? Do you think that because I'm white and in a suburban basement without any real property to my name I can't talk about the Chinese housing bubble?

I'm sorry, but if you want to claim that an article is poorly written or uses incorrect sources, say so. If your opinion would change simply based on the pseudonym that something is published under, you do not have an opinion tied to reality.

p_sherman• 14 years ago

Privileged sounds right. What makes him think that he gets to decide.

johngalt• 14 years ago

To be consistent with your opinion; women should write no articles or have an opinion on the challenges men face.

War for instance. No females should be in command positions or authority over the armed forces because they don't know what its like to bleed on a battlefield.

Workplace fatalities are also a predominately male. So OSHA should be run only by males.

tzs• 14 years ago

So are only mentally ill people qualified to write articles about mental illness? Are only cancer patients qualified to write articles about cancer treatment? Are only fat people qualified to write about the difficulty of weight loss?

The author is implicitly assuming that sexism is not capable of being studied in a scientific fashion, and so all we can do is have people write up their personal anecdotes.

The Last Article That Needs to be Written About Sexism in IT by a Male

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