Stupid Question 108: After Q107, what now Iris?

I just want to say thank you to all of you that engaged in the discussion, no matter the opinion or level of support – I truly appreciate it! I tried answering all of you back, but the sheer amount of traffic made it impossible. I never ever expected so much attention/traffic, and this is the first time I basically can’t access the blog.

The incidents I encountered were just a few, writing about everything would make for a rather long blog post so instead I chose a sample, and made sure that the ‘seriousness’ of the incidents varied- so more people could relate and also because I wanted to ask the question: where do we draw the line? I don’t know, but I want to know how others feel. Some of the incidents, taken out of context and standing alone, seem insignificant (and might even so be) - but when put together I wonder what the connection is and if they OK the next action and next incident. You can agree with all, parts of it, or none of it- but your options matter and I wanted to hear them. I might have gotten more than I bargained for…

We, I, need opinions

Nonetheless, I appreciate all the worries and the expressed concerns that I might quit programming, and/or quit writing about programming. But I won’t ever do that. I love programming, and I never even considered quitting an option. The truth is, 95% of you guys and girls are just frikking awesome – even those of you that give advice and comments I disagree with. Just the sheer fact that so many care and engage in a very important debate, and knowing how passionate we are about what we do, I know this is a good place to be,- if not the best place to be.

It’s all the bits and pieces and how they add together that makes for the result

While I do hope this discussion continues, about gender equity and equality and how we can be better people, my blog will continue to be foremost about code, programming and my life as a programmer. And I will post right out harassment such as the sms’es and phone calls publicly when of rather serious nature, but this won’t be a blog about everything I consider to be wrong or unjust, or the ‘mistreating’s of Iris’. There is a risk I portray the community as something awful and unwelcoming to women, which isn’t representative of the reality. It is rather evident in the last post that the support is there, and I’m very sure that a lot of incidents aren’t on purpose (with a bad intention) but the lack of a discussion lead to a questionable action. Some of these actions without a doubt encourage a certain culture that is not beneficial to either men or women. The question is, which actions and to what degree.

So: After Q107, Iris now what?

Well, it’s back to work for me- and back to doing what I love the most: programming, and nerding out with my friends.

Comments

Excellent call. 

I'm so glad you wrote "95% of the guys and girls are frikking awesome", I was just as impressed by your first post, as I was scared you'd lost faith in the rest of us. I'm glad you haven't and that you speak up about something that is way too commonly accepted. You raise awareness, keep doing that. I'm sure the next time one of your readers encounter anything similar to what you describe, large scale or small scale, the chance they'll react and do something is a little better... That's what we need... The idiots will always exist, the important thing is that everyone else is aware enough to fight them/support their targets, not silently disagree with then.

You're a great role model, keep doing what you're doing and make sure you keep enough awesome and brave people around you to ensure no one ever break you. You should be proud of yourself, I sure am! 

Good to hear that you're not stopping!
I love the 365 stupid questions stuff. Some if not most questions are not only interesting, but I actually never allowed myself to ask them. Great work!

And as for women in IT, we need more. It changes the dynamics of a team for the better. The first person to tell me otherwise has got a problem. I don't want people on my team with such a bad attitude as the ones you described in the previous post.

Keep it up :) 

Last modified on 2012-12-20