[In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. --L.]
- Confused thoughts on gender, libraries and tech | Information Wants To Be Free
- …it’s the subtle sexism that worries me. That’s the stuff that undermines your confidence in yourself. It’s not anything explicit; just the feeling that you’re in a space where you don’t belong. I have felt that in many male-dominated spaces before, and I don’t think I ever really identified it as sexism. I usually just blamed myself for my discomfort. But perhaps there was something more. I just don’t know.
Why did I go from a very outgoing young girl who was always building stuff, excelling in school and auditioning for every school play to a teenager who wouldn’t even raise her hand in class to give an answer I knew was right? Why did I feel so uncomfortable talking in my college History classes that were dominated by men and yet found it very easy to express myself in my Women and the American Experience class (which was unsurprisingly almost entirely made up of women)? What subtle things went on in my formative years to make me this way? [...]
There was nothing so obvious in my childhood that I can point to and say “that was it! That’s why!” And that’s why I have always blamed myself for my lack of confidence, even though there clearly is something gender-related in it since I felt so much more confident in a group of women than in a group of men. I’ve slowly grown out of that lack of confidence, but I keep trying to figure out where it came from and keep hitting brick walls.
…when Roy was lining up people to write for TechEssence, he asked more women than men, and yet more men said yes (and thank you, Roy, for writing a terrific LJ column on trying to rectify the gender imbalance). Why is that?
[...] Sexism isn’t what it was in the 50’s. It’s not so overt and it doesn’t limit our opportunities as much as it did before. But it does still exist in many subtle forms that are much more difficult to identify and eradicate….How do we change attitudes? How do we change the subtle messages girls get in schools that leads them away from tech and self-promotion in the first place?
- Ricky Martin and Sean Hayes
- The point is, neither of them really conform to hegemonic definitions of ‘masculinity’. And because of that, they get called gay. And have been since long before they came out.
It doesn’t work that way. You can’t actually tell if someone is gay by looking at them! You can’t. Okay? The most flamboyant guy in the world could be perfectly het*. Or he could be bi, or asexual, or any number of things. You can’t know. To assume that people who don’t fit into that masculine “norm” are gay is relentlessly heterosexist. It really is. Similarly, assuming people who do fit that norm must be het, and feigning (or genuinely feeling) exaggerated shock and surprise when they do come out? Also not that cool!
…this particular form of heterosexism? Is something I also see coming from within the queer community.
- Caveat Lector » Blog Archive » Sexism and group formation
- I started out, as I think many women of my age started out, honestly trusting that the worst of the struggle for gender equality was over, and that I could and should expect to be treated with courtesy and respect wherever I went. Not because I was a woman, not in spite of being a woman—but just because. Because it had finally been acknowledged that women are, you know, people and stuff.
When you think about it, against the tapestry of history? That’s an amazing trust. The wonder isn’t that it gets broken in some women. The wonder is it’s left intact as often as it is—and not just out of blindness, wilful or otherwise. [...]
It’s not hard to read about these things. There’s lots out there that would help us break these counterproductive patterns of group formation within our profession and in the larger world. We’re librarians. Why do we not read, why do we not research, when patterns like these damage us?
- Is requiring Open Source experience sexist?
- I think the core point of the post stands. Open Source is very male-dominated, is known for being unpleasantly sexist, and is also a subculture whose norms (even where neutral as regards sexism) don’t fit everyone. [...]
Possible other posts of interest:
* Terri’s Want more women in open source? Try paying them.
* Dorothea Salo’s Sexism and group formation…
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