A little incident that happened to me the other day illustrated why things seem to be so tough for geek guys in the Dealing with Women department.
I am one of those apparently oh-so-rare female computer geeks, and I try to attend the quarterly MS TechNet briefings. There were about 200 guys there, and less than a dozen ladies, including me. At the break, this very (and I do mean VERY) casually dressed and groomed fellow comes up to me, looks me (obviously) up and down, and demands (no, he did not politely ask) to know who I was and what I did. (I am a sys admin for an office of the State Government) His whole attitude was one of 'how dare a woman attend one of these things'. He was some sort of freelancing systems management person looking for computer people to work for him. After that encounter, I sure wouldn't!
Guys need to stop treating us like we're some sort of alien lifeform or like we've got cooties or something. Or worse, like we're Laura Croft. We're not. We like computers and tech just as much as you do, and would rather be your peers or your friends instead of 'the Other'.
And to the guy with the Porche 911 'bait'- yeah- that might get you 'chicks', but they'll be the sort who thinks that appearance and things are more important than personality and intelligence. Do you really want someone that shallow around?
Here's the secret to sexual success, guys: Act human. It's that easy. And it's OK to talk about things other than tech. A little diversity goes a long ways in conversation. And mind your manners- discerning ladies really appreciate that.
It's obvious to me that most filmmakers rarely play with REAL computers. Like, just ONCE, I'd like to see a Blue Screen of Death pop up at a dramatic moment. And what about these noises movie computers make? You know- those little beeping noises that accompany each character as it is typed on the plain ol' monochrome display (did I mention that most H'wood systems are antiques, too?) I NEVER hear a real HDD sound.
I think that this so-called 'gender gap' in computer sciences has a lot to do with personality, rather than gender. Many people who code for a living or play around with computers are by nature solitary, self starting types who can care less about the social pecking order or who said what to whom. Most Western women are not raised to do that- they're taught to be malleable 'nice girls' and be sociable. (Guess I missed that 'class' as a girl!)
That said, there may be something to the growing trend of teaching girls and boys seperately. In an all-female environment, girls will play with computers a lot more- mostly because there aren't any aggressive boys pushing them out of the way or ridiculing their way of learning things.
It is tough being female in a mostly male career field- but I have been 'playing with the boys' for 20 years. Some of the more boorish ones have made my life miserable- but their spouses and girlfriends can be much worse!
I look at the whole thing this way: This is a career field that takes brains, not brawn, and women can apply themselves and succeed in it as well as the guys. My main word of advice for programmers of either gender is this: Treat your colleagues the way you would like to be treated.
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A little incident that happened to me the other day illustrated why things seem to be so tough for geek guys in the Dealing with Women department.
I am one of those apparently oh-so-rare female computer geeks, and I try to attend the quarterly MS TechNet briefings. There were about 200 guys there, and less than a dozen ladies, including me. At the break, this very (and I do mean VERY) casually dressed and groomed fellow comes up to me, looks me (obviously) up and down, and demands (no, he did not politely ask) to know who I was and what I did. (I am a sys admin for an office of the State Government) His whole attitude was one of 'how dare a woman attend one of these things'. He was some sort of freelancing systems management person looking for computer people to work for him. After that encounter, I sure wouldn't!
Guys need to stop treating us like we're some sort of alien lifeform or like we've got cooties or something. Or worse, like we're Laura Croft. We're not. We like computers and tech just as much as you do, and would rather be your peers or your friends instead of 'the Other'.
And to the guy with the Porche 911 'bait'- yeah- that might get you 'chicks', but they'll be the sort who thinks that appearance and things are more important than personality and intelligence. Do you really want someone that shallow around?
Here's the secret to sexual success, guys: Act human. It's that easy. And it's OK to talk about things other than tech. A little diversity goes a long ways in conversation. And mind your manners- discerning ladies really appreciate that.
It's obvious to me that most filmmakers rarely play with REAL computers. Like, just ONCE, I'd like to see a Blue Screen of Death pop up at a dramatic moment. And what about these noises movie computers make? You know- those little beeping noises that accompany each character as it is typed on the plain ol' monochrome display (did I mention that most H'wood systems are antiques, too?) I NEVER hear a real HDD sound.
I think that this so-called 'gender gap' in computer sciences has a lot to do with personality, rather than gender. Many people who code for a living or play around with computers are by nature solitary, self starting types who can care less about the social pecking order or who said what to whom. Most Western women are not raised to do that- they're taught to be malleable 'nice girls' and be sociable. (Guess I missed that 'class' as a girl!)
That said, there may be something to the growing trend of teaching girls and boys seperately. In an all-female environment, girls will play with computers a lot more- mostly because there aren't any aggressive boys pushing them out of the way or ridiculing their way of learning things.
It is tough being female in a mostly male career field- but I have been 'playing with the boys' for 20 years. Some of the more boorish ones have made my life miserable- but their spouses and girlfriends can be much worse!
I look at the whole thing this way: This is a career field that takes brains, not brawn, and women can apply themselves and succeed in it as well as the guys. My main word of advice for programmers of either gender is this: Treat your colleagues the way you would like to be treated.