Re: OT: Gender Bias In SW Development
- Posted by katsmeow Feb 28, 2015
- 3356 views
After all the polished and well-considered words said up till now in this thread, I think it needs some words from reality.
I can't say that any early-life experiences a girl has will prepare her for the likes of Gamergate.
Nothing prepared me for a man trying to convince me to "date" him by hitting me with a closed fist, at work, and then threatening me with a knife after i exchanged his fist on me with my kick to his crotch. The "grievance procedure" and "chain of command" had totally failed me by that point, i didn't even bother reporting the knife incident. But for the next week i had to look up opcodes instead of simply remembering them.
One day a man who had asked me for help in the stockroom, cross-referencing a part number, pinned my arms to my side from behind, and pointed out i wouldn't dare yell out with the big-wig meeting going on in the next room. He was right, i quietly told him to let go, and then i tossed him over my shoulder thru the double doors, and he landed in the middle of the meeting. There was nothing to report, and nothing happened to him.
At another (non-programming) job, i managed to flip a guy who had my arms pinned from behind in the parking lot, at work, and he still didn't let go till i told him i was going to be bouncing his head off the concrete at the count of three, and being he was upside down at the time, he belived me and let go. Next night he came in with a baseball bat, swung at me, said we were going to the freezer for "fun" as soon as he ripped off the cash register. Wasn't but 20 seconds later i had kicked the cash drawer shut on his fingers, and i was holding his bat to his head. The police found him behind the store doubled over in pain holding his bloody hand, and they recommended i not press charges.
I could go on. Like the time work hired in five guys above my level, instead of promoting me, and inside two years had fired four for gross incompetence and demoted the fifth below me. Or the time out in the field when the male employees of a customer told their boss they would quit if i was there to work on the computer system. Or when a employer said he wouldn't hire me because his wife objected to him working with a woman. Etc. Etc. Etc.
You guys just don't seem to understand how difficult it can be to work among you. I recommend to all women now: document with video, self defense classes, and the appropriate weapons.
Kat
