It's even worse than it appears.
I'd like to see a discussion among programmers of all types about how we can work together to help people. I think our software is being used in some bad ways and more are being contemplated. But I strongly believe that they can be used as a force for good.#
I searched for an image of a "woman programmer action figure" on Google, and came up with nothing. There are images of "programmer action figure," but they're all men. #
"Be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box."#
This is my summary. I've read many that were more harsh, but I think are wrong. This is what I got from what he wrote. #- There are differences between men and women. Not individual men and women, but as groups. For example, men are generally taller than women. There are of course women who are tall and men who are short. It's a general statement about a group, not individuals. #
- From there, he suggests that there may be reasons there are fewer women programmers, other than how we raise and educate children. I don't think there's anything to apologize for there. It's a scientific statement that anyone, male or female, privileged or poor, young or old, would make. It's also the kind of statement a programmer would make. #
- My non-programmer friends laugh at the things I say, the questions I ask, because in my mind I'm always trying to debug something. Figure out how it works. Think of new things it could be used for. Spot problems in the design. #
- Programmers must have great respect for truth, because our apps don't work until they are grounded in truth. Garbage in, garbage out. 1s and 0s. True and false. If then else. Programming is good training in the scientific method. Most of our lives aren't this absolute. But computers are. They do exactly what the program tells them to do. What the programmer tells them to do.#
- I don't know why there are fewer women programmers than men. That is the crux of the issue here. Many people will (try to) shut down anyone who says that out loud. But any person trying to get to the truth has to admit they don't know. #