If You're Unhappy, Consider Tech

http://sostephosays.tumblr.com/post/74646725507/if-youre-unhappy-consider-tech

by trevmckendrick • 12 years ago

32 20 12 years ago

sostephosays.tumblr.com

I've noticed that the tech industry accords Asian women more respect that they are generally shown in other industries.

I believe that other industries, especially law and political lobbying/activism, claim to value women, but actually they are just making up for one kind of bias (believing that women are incompetent) with another: wanting to have attractive women around, and therefore giving them disproportionate respect and reward. White women especially seem to fit the preferences of these employers in this regard.

dionidium• 12 years ago

When the world started behaving appropriately toward me… I was gobsmacked.

Let me be clear that you should treat everyone nicely. There's no reason not to. But what that woman was experiencing is a manifestation of the commonly-held belief that being 100 pounds overweight is a negative quality that is entirely changeable (as evidenced by the fact that the person in question lost the 100 pounds). I don't know why we should regard this as surprising.

vinceguidry3• 12 years ago

Why do you have to be so dismissive? You're basically saying, "you're not saying anything we don't already know, just go back in your hole and don't bother me with your feminist garbage. This is the way the world works and you should just deal with it."

That may not be how you meant it, but that's how it comes across.

mnbvcxza• 12 years ago

It's like you're bringing feminism into this just to troll. He said absolutely nothing about feminism.

calroc• 12 years ago

I regret saying this already, but, uh, overweight men are also subjected to unfair judgement.

mratzloff2• 12 years ago

No, she was experiencing constant and unnecessary judgment by people like you.

notAbachelors2• 12 years ago

It's all down to your coworkers. Every single bad thing that is talked about in this piece? I've encountered, and I work in tech. I've been desperately searching for another tech job for the past 2 years and striking out every time. Even when I get a second interview, or I have a great 4 hour interview and get along great with a potential new boss. Then there's the places that won't even give me the time of day, who repeatedly reject me for even the most entry-level helpdesk/desktop support type of position. It doesn't help that this is not a big town either.

azakai• 12 years ago

Given that you live in a small town, have you considering looking for remote work positions?

notAbachelors2• 12 years ago

How can I find good remote work positions that are not scams?

kfk• 12 years ago

Hi there, have you tried remote? Nobody has ever given me a chance since I never was in tech, but I think I reached competent skills in both web development (django-flask-python) and web design, so I thought I might as well give it a try. I redesigned my website last week and I submitted a bootstrap template to wrapbootstrap yesterday. Maybe it won't work, but then again, what if it does?

Now I am thinking what to do next to add stuff to my portfolio, I have some ideas, I think maybe with a small portfolio I could start getting some gigs and then will see. The only thing I realized is that it takes time, you won't solve this in a day.

transman2• 12 years ago

When the world started behaving appropriately toward me… I was gobsmacked.

(throwaway account to say) As a transgender guy, I have experienced a similar contrast in how I was treated as a female and how I am treated as a man. There were certainly clear cases of discrimination, but I never expected the moment-to-moment differences!

As for the change to a tech job. I suspect there are multiple reasons for such a change. As @yetanotherphd mentioned, she's Asian, so probably got a boost from that (not saying it is right, just saying that stereotypes probably benefited her in this case). Some tech industries do seem to have a younger and more meritocratious population. Also, some tech industries are simply in better financial situations, and this can have many effects (e.g., instead of yelling at her about answering the phones while scrubbing toilets, the employer could have hired another employee).

Technophobe• 12 years ago

Do you mind elaborating on some of the moment to moment differences? Sounds interesting...

transman2• 12 years ago

The single biggest are intentional inclusion in more technical conversations and intentional non-inclusion in more self-appearance conversations. Along the same lines are expected background knowledge.

For reference, I'm in my mid-40's and transitioned over 5 years ago.

Prior to transitioning, I would frequently overhear or walk-into technical conversations about subjects that were relevant or of interest to me. While there were a handful of guys who understood my interest in technology and would intentionally include me, most simply wouldn't even think of including me (and I didn't know any women who were into technology). Thankfully, I never had a guy react badly when I included myself in a conversation, although I would occasionally get odd looks because of my interest and knowledge. Now I'm very intentionally sought out by colleagues (male and female) during technology conversations that are relevant or of interest.

Prior to transitioning, I frequently had acquaintances make suggestions about my appearance; make-ups I should try, how I should fix my hair, etc. While I've had lots of appearance-related conversations with my trans-friends, and I've had the typical, "wow you've changed a lot since I last saw you" conversations (but not as many as I expected). Other than those, I've only had one person comment on my appearance.

One of the more surprising topics that's changed has been car talk. I've never considered myself a car-person, prior to transition this wasn't ever a problem. Since I transitioned, it has come up with alarming frequency. While I've made a point of letting people know that I don't know a lot about cars, I still get comments that imply I'm an idiot for not knowing more.

Another thing that I find interesting is that prior to transitioning, I never had anyone suggest that I go a blind date with a friend of theirs; not one single time! Since I transitioned it's happened several times.

jrs99• 12 years ago

if you think being an asian woman in tech will give you a "boost" you're absolutely wrong. Not even in China will being an asian woman give you a "boost" in the tech industry.

mratzloff2• 12 years ago

@sostephosays, just a note on here (because I don't know how to comment on Tumblr, probably because I don't have an account) that I like your writing, and you should keep at it.

The programming skills will come with time, just focus on improving your craft one project at a time and constantly push yourself to learn something new. I've been in this industry for over a decade, and considered experienced in a number of languages and areas... but I am still learning. You'll get it.

cafard• 12 years ago

It's nice to think that we in tech are all that she hopes. But four days makes for a pretty small sample.

If You're Unhappy, Consider Tech

Related Stories