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Comment by Crake | Hacker News Reader

Feminists are probably the #1 force for scaring away women from tech. If you say something is true enough times (All men might rape you! Programmers all hate women!), especially from a position of power and political influence, people will start to believe it. Encouraging and (in some cases, like donglegate) inducing both an atmosphere of fear and paranoia in and towards women is incredibly detrimental towards the general humanitarian goal of bettering society.

There are isolated instances of sexism, but women don't really have it hard at all in tech. I'd say the sex discrimination in favor of women ("affirmative action") massively outweighs any lingering discrimination against women.

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Normally I'd keep walking but, respectfully, I think you need to shut the hell up.

> All men might rape you!

Nobody says this. Nobody. There's this leftover artifact of overreach from feminists in the 90s that makes people think feminism is about castrating men and putting them in little cages until mating season, but most feminists don't think like this and certainly not most women.

> Programmers all hate women!

This wasn't feminism, this is the NYT spreading their usual ignorant filth about the tech industry.

> in some cases, like donglegate

Yes, that was ridiculous. That doesn't mean all women in tech are touchy and going to explode if you say "thrust" or "spurt" or whatever the hell else other words have double meanings.

> women don't really have it hard at all in tech

Are you a woman? If so, your experiences may have been great so far...good for you! If not, shut the hell up because you don't know what you're talking about: whether or not being a woman in tech is difficult or not isn't for you to say because you are not a woman in tech.

>I think you need to shut the hell up.

Dissenters are just so problematic, aren't they?

>Nobody says this. Nobody. >feminists in the 90s

More like 2009.

http://kateharding.net/2009/10/08/guest-blogger-starling-sch...

>This wasn't feminism, this is the NYT spreading their usual ignorant filth about the tech industry.

Feministing, Jezebel, and the like seem to have a lot to say on the subject. Hell, so do a lot of HN comments about how "toxic" and "hostile" tech workers are towards women.

Also, anyone can call themselves a feminist. It's not up to you to decide who is or isn't one.

>Are you a woman?

That shouldn't matter. Why do you need to ask about my genitalia in order to decide what to say to me? You should treat me the same way, whether I'm male or female. Address my brain, not my body.

>If not, shut the hell up

So, I'm either allowed to speak or not allowed to speak based exclusively on something I was born with and have no control over.

I guess if I have the "right" genitals, I only have to "shut the hell up" once instead of twice. Either way, it seems you don't want anyone to disagree with you--even if they are a woman, you'd still prefer them to think what you think women should be thinking.

Telling me to just "shut the hell up" isn't exactly a convincing argument. I'm not a kid, and you're not my parent. "Because I told you to" isn't a valid argument for this sort of exchange.

> women don't really have it hard at all in tech + affirmative action

I'm sorry, but the facts are all against what you were saying. I've read numerous stories about female programmers having a hard time fitting in at work, facing prejudice all the time etc. Same about female tech-founders.

You might be right in the business world or more "female-like" industries such as fashion, but definitely not in tech.

>the facts are all against what you were saying

This would probably be more convincing if actually you provided any, instead of just vaguely referencing anecdotes. Without it, you have just an opinion, not an argument.

Yeah sorry, I think you have a lot of basics missing so it would take several years and experiencing the world lots more for you to understand it.

Ah, more anecdotes. Of course.

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