Over on the Men’s Rights subreddit, elegantchorus has provided the definitive mansplaination as to why the apparent sexism in the tech world isn’t really sexism.
He starts by addressing one recent controversy: the lack of any female presenters at a press event for Sony’s Playstation 4. Sexism — or just the whimsical finger of fate?
Sony not having female presenters at its console announcement because Sony doesn’t have any female executives, MIGHT be sexist, but its more just coincidence … .
What a strange coincidence that is! Sort of like, I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but all the popes so far have been men. Weird! What are the odds? Anyway:
[T]here is certainly great examples of women in leading positions in important tech companies. Marissa Mayer of Yahoo comes immediately to mind.
That certainly is great examples!
Yet people spent a lot of time talking about how sexist the Sony conference was, while giving relatively few props to women who have actually succeeded, I actually think that’s more sexist than anything the IT industry can conjure.
Yeah. I mean, Kotaku ran an actual article about that Sony thing. Yet where — WHERE!!!? — are the articles about Marissa Mayer, or about that Sheryl chick from Facebook. What’s her last name?
Sheryl Sandberg! That’s right. I wonder how Google knew that. I mean, it’s not like she gets much press coverage. Oh well. Kudos to the male programmers at Google for figuring out which Sheryl I meant!
Anyway, enough with the discussions of actual women in tech. Elegantchorus moves on to the truly important question to deal with when we talk about women in the tech world, which is: where are all the lady coal miners?
The complaints about apparent inequality are always directed towards jobs like Computer Science and Engineering but never towards something like Coal Mining.
You’ve got to admit he’s got a point there. I mean, why are these selfish ladies all worked up about being excluded from high-paying jobs that involve sitting on your butt in front of a computer in a nice office instead of the really dangerous ones that take place deep underground? Why are women more interested in good jobs than in not-so-good jobs?!
It’s quite the GOTCHA moment. I mean, feminists NEVER EVER talk about getting more women into mining, except, you know, when they do. And it’s quite telling that there are ZERO organizations devoted to expanding the number of women in the mining industry except for, you know, the Women’s Mining Coalition and Women in Mining International, and maybe others, I don’t know, which obviously don’t count because of reasons.
Why aren’t there more Coal Mining women? Is the coal mining industry inherently sexist? If you can’t take that question seriously, why should I take the concern about the IT industry seriously?
Seriously, what a ridiculous notion! Sexism … in the mining industry? Pshaw! Women have always been welcomed into the mines with open arms — and some good-natured ribbing! Consider this amusing anecdote I found on the Internet.
The women who broke ground as coal miners faced discriminatory hiring practices from the owners as well as sexual harassment from men who felt threatened by the demands of the women to be treated as human beings, equal in every way. Barbara Angle, a mining woman, said, “There were three women and 300 men in my mine. They used to ‘joke’ with me. “Hey, just set up a cot at the pit mouth and you’ll make more each shift than if you mine.”
It’s funny because women are really only useful as vagina suppliers to men!
Meanwhile, I’d like to add, while feminists sit on their butts and don’t do anything about the lack of women in mining, except organizing and filing lawsuits and all that, bold and courageous Men’s Rights activists have been active indeed in trying to increase the number of men in glamorous female-dominated professions like, you know, housekeeping. Selfish ladies, bogarting 89% of the housekeeping jobs! And 97% of the secretary jobs!
You may recall the chants that filled the air at last year’s Men For Crappy-Paying Lady Jobs rally* in Washington DC.
What do we want?
To be secretaries!
When do we want it?
Right before your 11 o’clock appointment, sir!
And besides, though elegantchorus doesn’t get into this, women are simply not biologically suited for high-paying jobs in tech, just as men are biologically incapable of taking jobs as dental hygienists.
As a Redditor named lbzip2 explained in a comment posted in the thread, women
lack the necessary attention to detail. They are simply not interested in it. Guess what, they have no place here, just like I could never be a historian or translator or lawyer or doctor, because I hate meeting new people. I’m not “enforcing” this or some shit like that, I simply accept that most girls are like this for whatever reason and I’m not trying to force them into IT.
As for those ladies who for some crazy reason actually want to work in the tech world, lbzip2 offers nothing but respect, and the occasional sexist joke:
I treat my female coworkers with respect, I politely discuss technical stuff with them if they feel like. I do make sexist jokes if I was able to get to know them sufficiently before, like any healthy male. They mostly laugh and if they don’t, I apologize and tune it down.
They mostly laugh!! So obviously the sexist jokes are fine, and probably not even sexist. Did you hear the one about the lady miner and the cot?
Yet some ladies bizarrely think that the deck is stacked against them in tech:
“Missing out on best career opportunities?” Well, concentrate on the fucking task at hand, not irrelevant details. Suppose I’d like to work in a fuckin’ bakery but hate that the clothes are white (which doesn’t mean in the least that they are clean). So who will start a crusade for me? If the circumstances of your otherwise coveted dream-job are accidental, try to change them. If they are intrinsic, live with them or leave.
Oh, and speaking of things that are stacked:
In my college class we had this beautiful girl with huge boobs. She was smarter than any guy in the whole class. Did we envy her? Did we hate her? Hell no. We respected her and we constantly tried to bring her in discussions for her insights. Did we talk about her body among ourselves? Hell yes, we’re no monks!
Boobs.
Boobs boobs boobs.
Booooooobs.
Oh, sorry.
Anyway, all you gals who don’t like sexist jokes at tech conferences, consider this: lbzip2 doesn’t like to travel!
Women consider sexist jokes repugnant in conference presentations? Well, I don’t go to no fucking conference, because I hate to travel, I hate to spend money, I hate the crowd.
Q.E. fuckin D! Male logic defeats weird lady feeeelings once again!
So, in conclusion, ladies don’t belong in the tech world, and there’s nothing whatsoever sexist about that. Also boobs.
—
*The Men For Crappy-Paying Lady Jobs rally is imaginary. The chant is real, though, in that I said it out loud a couple of times to my cats.
Banhammer for Elmer. Absolutely.
I was looking at the title picture and noticed the computer was an Atari 800. The Atari 800 was an 8-bit machine that preceded the Commodore 64 by 3 years and the 16-bit machines the Atari 520ST and the Amiga 1000 by 6 years (according to wikipedia.) The Amiga was my introduction to computers in the mid-1980s. The fact that somebody programmed an Atari 800 to control a weaving machine is kinda awesome all on its own.
Cool!
I think I started out on Macs at about the same time, with a program called Ready, Set, Go. It was meant for students but worked nicely for the level of graphic design in my job. I’ve hardly touched a Mac product since!
Oh yea! I had forgotten about the original Macs, the everything in one little box. Those were adorable. I never had the opportunity to try one out…sigh.
They were fun, and easy to use, as I remember. I’d never used a computer before (hell, when I was doing classes on computers a couple of years before, it was all DOS stuff, shudder).
Can’t say I’m fond of the Apple thingies now. I’ve got so used to using Mr Gates’s stuff since then, and my brushes with Macs have just been outside my comfort zone. Plus their prices are ridiculous, and there are so many programs that just don’t work with them (navigational software, for instance – not that I use it, but I’m in the marine industry).
I’m just dreading the day my laptop conks out. You can’t get XP on new computers now, PhotoStudio 5 won’t work on W7, and PhotoStudio 6 has lost one of the most important features for my pictures …
Helll… When I discovered that I wasn’t that into computers was with an Apple II, and a cassete drive, using Basic. What I noticed is she has what looks like a rigid heddle loom, and a non-tilting weaving bench, and is set up on dirt; which isn’t all that level.
Since she has to be running a power drop to get the computer/television going, why set up there? Oh, right because the art director thought it would look good to be in the outdoors.
Kitteh’s I hear you on the “can’t do that now”. When the C64 died we had to completely redesign our database, because the windows 98 machines didn’t have the flexibility in data management that PaperClip did.
So you think it isn’t automated? It’s just set up to look cool? Hmmm… that would mean the image on the screen is only to assist or explain. I am so disappointed. I’ll never be able to trust the internet again. 😉
I think it’s being used to control aspects,but it’s not an automated loom. She’s passing a shuttle. I suspect it’s being used to keep track of passes/patterns.
And it’s clearly not the use configuration, she can’t see the screen. As you say, the camera lies and the internet misinforms. 🙂
Pecunium – “When the C64 died we had to completely redesign our database, because the windows 98 machines didn’t have the flexibility in data management that PaperClip did.”
I can hear the far-away and long-ago grinding of teeth and tearing of hair. 🙁
I would like to say I hate Windows 7. That is all.
My boss uses Windows 95 on his home computer. Says it’s the best antivirus system there is. 🙂
First of all, Ada Lovelace most certainly did not invent computer technology, nor did Grace Hopper for that matter. In fact, it turns out that Ada Lovelace was not the first computer programmer. Yes she was a talented and intelligent woman, but her main job with Charles Babbage was as a proofreader. The true first computer programmer was one of Babbage’s sons. As for Grace Hopper, she was a programmer and not a computer technologist. The modern computer is based primarily on the work of Jon Von Neumann; along with John Bardeen, William Shockley, Walter Brattain, and Jack Kilbey. So the notion that men invented modern computer technology is entirely true whether you like or not.