Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 22:24:32 +1100 From: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> To: Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai <asmodai@wxs.nl> Cc: Licia <licia@o-o.org>, chat@FreeBSD.ORG, Nicole Harrington <nicole@nmhtech.com>, "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Women in FreeBSD ( was Re: Is there a reseller program?) Message-ID: <19990207222432.36384@welearn.com.au> In-Reply-To: <XFMail.990207112132.asmodai@wxs.nl>; from Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai on Sun, Feb 07, 1999 at 11:21:32AM %2B0100 References: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9902070015070.29940-100000@o-o> <XFMail.990207112132.asmodai@wxs.nl>
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[moved to -chat (from -advocacy)]
On Sun, Feb 07, 1999 at 11:21:32AM +0100, Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai wrote:
> On 07-Feb-99 Licia wrote:
> > On Sun, 7 Feb 1999, Sue Blake wrote:
> >> On Sat, Feb 06, 1999 at 11:17:06PM -0600, Licia wrote:
>
> >> > (laughing) Ok, where does that leave -gay- women? :)
>
> >> Attracted to FreeBSD? :-)
>
> > ahh... that's why I like FreeBSD so much?
> >
> > (digging through /usr/src/ looking for the #include <lesbians.h>
> > statements!)
>
> *cough, choke, laugh*
>
> UGGGH, there went my tea again... Could ye lads 'n lasses please prefix
> something like FUN: in the subject line? That would make me put away my tea
> on forehand ;)
>
> Actually, on a sidenote, the number of female IT specialists if slowly
> growing afaik. Just curious which jobs/positions they fullfill as most I
> know/have known were more into management and other more `economic-related'
> positions than pure techiework such as coding, sysadmining or
> networkmanaging.
On the occasions I've been an employee, people have had a lot of
trouble working out where to slot me in. It's like there's a slot at
the bottom and a slot at the top, but nobody wants to see unusual
people working at the benches like a Normal. It's OK to be an expert,
to train people, to write about it, to boss people around and spend
money, to present papers at prestigious national and international
events, or to change policies that affect the working lives of
millions; it's not OK to do the actual bloody work.
I have no reason to put this down to being a woman, but it has happened
most in situations where I was the only woman in the workplace, or in
the whole industry, the only anglo-looking member of the Buddhist
society, or the only recorder player in the symphony orchestra, the
only FreeBSD user, or soemthing like that. Suddenly someone spots a
spuriously wonderful talent, and instantly Cinderella becomes Mother
Theresa and can't say fuck any more.
It seems that any people who are different from others in a field are
more easily accepted as exceptional people than as human beings with
the standard range of skills and weaknesses. Think also of sports
people belonging to racial minorities, university undergraduates older
than 30, and the many blind musicians who have average talent. Treating
someone as a god doesn't necessarily mean you can really handle them
being there. Nor does it do much to help them.
I don't know if this is what other women experience or what happens in
IT, or not (no data to go on), but if it is, it's just part of a
broader human nature stuffup. It's also yet another reason why we must
get our numbers up quickly. When we're allowed to find our own level
and fail a bit just like everyone else, we will be starting to succeed.
Meanwhile, it looks like a larger than expected proportion of us,
regardless of gender, are united by our mutual interest in women :-)
--
Regards,
-*Sue*-
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