An Open Letter to Brogrammers

[tacit]

Computer programming is a tough job. It's not for the faint of heart or the fair of sex. It's grueling, high-stress work, demanding that you sit on a comfortable chair in an air-conditioned office for hours on end, typing on a keyboard while looking at a monitor. Women just aren't rugged enough for that

Comments

[gushi]

This is meta, but initially because of the hard top black-line, I thought that first pic was of a robot, and the lace was exposed circuitry underneath. I think it would have been cooler if it were. "Code like a cyborg with a weaponized waistline".

[tacit]

Bwah! :)

[labelleizzy]

dood. You rock so FREAKING hard.

[csue_n_moo]

30+ years' experience software grrl here.

Bros be dumbass. That is all.

[mr_z]

I support (and actually donate to) things like the Ada Initiative, precisely because of the type of attitudes that "justify" the sorts of ads you highlighted above. In particular, the open source world doesn't seem to have gotten the same memo the rest of the corporate world got some time ago.

I expect to find that sort of "boy's club" thinking in a high school locker room, not in my professional life. (Not that "high school locker room" excuses it, but the reality is that the average 30 year old is generally more mature than the average 15 year old.)

[roshismomma]

<3 <3 <3 (we also have an allies branch of AdaCamp, coming up in June in Portland, co-located with the amazing Open Source Bridge... http://portland.adacamp.org/ hintity hint)

[sweh]

I look at that first picture and I shudder. It actively repels me; I wouldn't want to work there (and I'm glad I don't use couchDB). I am so glad I don't work in an environment where "bro-grammer" is considered a benefit. Sure, sure, we have arseholes. But they're the exception, rather than the rule.

My employer supports Girls Who Code. Last year I was asked to meet and chat with some of the NY coders over lunch. Umm.. what would I (a 40+ white Englishman) have to tell some 16 year old American woman? I actually refused, because I thought they'd really want women role models to chat with. But was told that they really wanted people like me. To be honest, I don't think they really listened to me but, hey, if I managed to encourage someone (anyone!) to invest their future in this line of work then it was time well spent.

[plymouth]

I actually refused, because I thought they'd really want women role models to chat with. But was told that they really wanted people like me.I think that one of the ideas that holds back progress in terms of gender parity is actually this idea that "role models" can only be people that hold some superficial surface resemblance to oneself. As a former girl I was always very confused by events presented as "look women are doing this science/engineering/math thing and someday that can be you!". Well I did grow up to become an engineer but I never became a woman (genderqueer since around age 13 or so). I found my inspiration to go into engineering from a writeup on MIT's hacking culture, which appealed to my sense of rebelliousness and fun (and the "role models" in question were all anonymous so they could be whoever I wanted them to be

[sweh]

Bingo. It seems crazy to me when I hear things like "we need more role models like xxx" - no, what we need is to revise our idea of a role model. Gender parity, racial parity, etc. to me is best achieved when we indicate in situations like jobs that it doesn't matter - and that has to include that the role model doesn't matter either

[tommyjr]

I really think it's the exception nearly everywhere. I've been in the business for nearly 20 years and people like this are a rarity.

Also, you can't blame CouchDB for the actions of one of its users.