Ruby on Rails Workshop for Women
blogs.law.harvard.edu
blogs.law.harvard.edu
There are far too many grants/scholarships/opportunities that are explicitly only open to women or minorities (I'm a minority and it still bothers me). A hypothesis of implicit discrimination against group A does not justify explicit discrimination against group B.
This happens all the time in the tech (and Math/Science) community and it really bothers me. This workshop in particular is one that I would have liked to attend, but am being excluded from because of my gender.
Frankly, I don't know any women who would be interested in attending a 2-day RoR workshop so I can't go as a 'guest' - and I don't think that is too unusual.
"Yeah, but I mean, if I took up a sudden interest in crocheting or something and the best way to get connected and start learning was to go to a crocheting convention that's 99% female, I'd feel a little awkward/discouraged."
Bringing more women into the profession is a good thing. Having the woman in my life able to throw down in jQuery and even sometimes beat me on pentests is a good thing; you have no idea how much easier it is to build a company with your spouse.
Let's find something else to get all huffy about.
Let's just not do it.
There's a subtle but fundamental difference in those two messages.
The canned answer is, "The other 11 months of the year are White History Months."
This answer has become trite at this point, but the argument at its core remains valid. Unfortunately, there are serious biases in our society. Correcting those biases is a worthy goal, and one we should pursue. In the mean time, we can use Black History Month and Ruby Workshops for Women to compensate for the biases and at least try to treat the symptoms.
Spending 2 years engaging in non-development activities (by choice) is not limited to women.
Biking around India: a non-development activity undertaken by choice.
Therefore:
We should all support paid family biking-around-India leave.
The logic is unimpeachable!
In any case, your mention of circumstances that could apply to people of any gender is a red herring. It's a workshop for women, not a workshop for people returning to the dev workforce after a 2 year hiatus.
I'm offering a reason why a men-only RoR workshop would be offensive when a women-only RoR workshop isn't. A RoR workshop for people returning from long trips abroad also wouldn't be offensive, although the equivalence you imply between the two ideas is weak.
Former-long-term-traveler-only RoR workshops are not offensive, though they are a bit silly.
Women-only RoR workshops are not offensive, and I don't think they're silly either.
Maybe run a workshop where the behavior/environment you find offensive is explicitly verboten?
Post it on the walls: this place is "attitude-free, newbie-safe and mama- friendly" and you'll almost definitely drive away the people you don't want there.
In fact, I think you'd just end up with a pretty normal tech workshop (male dominated), but without some of the (rare) 'edgier' content that some of the Rails guys seem to relish. Business as normal then.
A man whining about not being able to attend a single tech event is laughable. The industry (and the culture of the industry) is so overwhelming male dominated. It's not like you are missing out on anything.
If events like these help get more women involved and participating in the industry or community, then more power to them. It certainly beats not doing anything to attract minorities.
A cynical person could say that we already have minorities (e.g. Indians) - we just don't have the popular ones (e.g. women).
That said, I agree about "a man whining about not being able to attend a single tech event". Sometimes we should just grow a pair and suck it up. This really isn't something worth getting worked up about.
When I used the word minority, I meant it purely in a numerical sense. If I was a participant in a female dominated industry, I'd say holding outreach events to attract more men would be a good idea too.
Um, women aren't missing out on anything either. They are just as free to attend the same industry events as men.
Why? Seriously.
Because you're a dude? Have you been to mostly-women gatherings before?
I believe that if people go to an event expecting to be treated as an outsider, they will behave in a way that will discourage people from welcoming them.
It's true that some number of guys have treated some women as lesser beings at tech conferences, but it's also true that some number of guys have treated other guys as lesser beings at tech conferences. Geeks are competitive and cliquish. It may be that way with people into crocheting, too; I would almost expect it. But my experience has been that most people are pretty accepting if you show some persistence and genuine interest.
What I don't see mentioned much in the discussion of women and tech gatherings is that a whole lot of guys feel awkward and unwelcome when attending tech events.
That doesn't necessarily mean there's no misogyny, but it suggests that the feeling of unease people feel is not (always) because of sex, but because some groups just are not so welcoming of outsiders until the outsider demonstrates some chops or other sign of "belonging".
How many times have you skidded away from attending an event (professional, social, whatever) because you didn't know anyone there? How many more would you have avoided if you knew everyone there was Not Like You, in some fundamental, if suck-it-up-able, way?
I'm still on the fence in terms of whether minorities (numerically in this industry) deserve 'special treatment' - but if members of a minority choose to reach out to each other (networking events, dinners, scholarships), who are we to criticize?
In any case, I'm not criticizing, just pointing out a bad argument. They can have their little Ruby on Rails "you go girl" event, I have no desire to go. Although I've never attended such an event, I'm told they suck; {Good AND girl} is a much smaller set than simply {good}.
But suppose you are right. Simple thought experiment: take a workshop, and throw away half the good people. Is the workshop just as good as before?
If by throwing away half the prospectives, the remaining half can learn faster or more comfortably, then I'd go with "better", not "just as good".
Edit: The first hit on Google for "ruby type checking" is a post about adding it to Ruby, which would suggest to me that it's not already in there. Apologies for my ignorance on the matter.
"Men are warmly welcomed when they find a woman who wants to learn Ruby on Rails who will register and bring a guest."
(OK, fair enough - that's no bug.)
Wot no rockstar and porn-imagery fueled hijinx? That's no Rails conference.