Hacker News Reader

Comment by brandoncapecci | Hacker News Reader

Well, I know every time I answer a question on Stack I make sure to check the gender of the OP first. On the off chance they are female I just respond: "Software is like sex; it's better when it's free - Linus Torvalds". /s

In all seriousness there is no partiality to StackExchange - as one can remain completely anonymous. The only questions that consistently aren't answered the the ones that have been asked hundreds of times. Code is ignorant of whether it's programmer has a Y chromosome. This is simply oversensitivity for oversensitivity's sake... and I'm glad I'm not the only one who finds it a bit annoying.

View on HN

Code is ignorant of gender. Coders are not. Code doesn't answer questions. Coders do. Code doesn't post on forums. Coders do. Code doesn't answer differently based on the perceived gender of the questioner. (Some) coders do.

Some people are happy hiding who they are so they can get a decent answer. Some people are not.

I don't understand how concealment comes into play. I no more conceal my gender on SO than I conceal my preference for cats or dogs, political stance, or my alcoholism. That is, those things are not mentioned because they are not relevant and don't even consider bringing them up, not because I am concealing anything.

"I don't understand how concealment comes into play"

Many people choose handles that make obvious their gender. Not deliberately so; people often choose handles based on their names and names are, as a general rule, indications of gender.

Many women go on to chose handles for themselves online that deliberately obscure their gender in such forums. Someone who would be, for example, JennyKibble in many places becomes JKibble. This is how concealment comes into play.

"I no more conceal my gender"

The vast majority of the world's population is not you.

> Many women go on to chose handles for themselves online that deliberately obscure their gender in such forums. Someone who would be, for example, JennyKibble in many places becomes JKibble. This is how concealment comes into play.

Fair enough, I suppose I have always considered such abridgement to just be general identity obfuscation, not sometimes specifically gender obfuscation.

> "I no more conceal my gender"

> The vast majority of the world's population is not you.

Yeah... that selective quoting alters the meaning of my words beyond recognition...

"Yeah... that selective quoting alters the meaning of my words beyond recognition..."

The point I was aiming at is that using yourself, as a sample size of one, and extending the conclusions you draw from your own behaviour to the behaviour of others is prone to error.

On a personal note, I thank you for, and congratulate you on, your civilised response and your amenability to considering beyond the knowledge and beliefs you have at the time; an attitude I hope to present myself. Either I'm getting too old, or internet discussion has gone downhill in recent months.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com