Don’t get me wrong – I’ve faced the “can I talk to the IT guy” questions when I *am* the IT guy (Hey look, there’s a shirt for that) – but I tend to think more like Lisa Barone in her article for Outspoken Media called “A Letter To Women In Tech: I Let You Down“. It’s not that I’m particularly young (I’m not yet 40, but I’m well over 30) or particularly aggressive in my style, but I’ve been spared a lot of the getting patted on the head and told not to “worry my pretty little head” about it crap that a lot of women who write about their experiences in tech get. I’m not discounting the experiences of other women, either – I’m sure some do get patronized and marginalized – it’s something that happens to women everywhere, so I’m sure it happens in tech jobs – it’s just never happened to me. It may be that I’m just oblivious – I’m fat, but have never dealt with the kind of teasing and mean comments that women smaller than me seem to deal with on a regular basis. Being spared those kinds of comments could be a result of my attitude. I’m confident that I know what I’m talking about and I don’t put up with being talked down to. I’m also 100% sure that there is nothing technical that I am incapable of doing – I may not know how to do it now, but I could learn – quickly, even. Maybe that attitude helps to head off the patronizing attitudes, maybe it just makes me not see them or notice when it happens.
Either way, I thought the article was a thought-provoking read and wanted to share it, along with my thoughts on the subject. What do you think?
