Fiver-rah's Journal: Random question

So... A while back, I stupidly posted this rant. I say "stupidly" because first of all, I just posted when I was ticked without really thinking things through. And there were a bunch of really smarmy replies, some of which you can see in the original thread, and some I got through e-mail. I don't think I'm ever going to do that again.

Now, I realize most /. people are reasonably decent. But there seems to be a rather vocal minority out there that honestly believe that women are technophobes and that they are less capable mathematically and scientifically (dear God, and some of these people really believe that it's for physical reasons, too).

Now, I've been sheltered in my ivory tower for a good long while now. I haven't had anyone think me unworthy or incapable because of my gender in a long time. Even though I'm in an area of chemistry/physics which is heavily male, I've never felt like anything other than another scientist.

But just reading comments here occasionally gives me pause, and makes me feel uncomfortable. What gives on slashdot? Does anyone have an idea what's going on? Or are the sexists just idiots? Why do some people think that gender has anything to do with science, coding ability, or intelligence?

Keep in mind, please, that I'm not trying to attack you personally. If the shoe doesn't fit, don't try to jam it on your foot. Yes, yes, I know most people here are quite reasonable. I'm sure you are, too. But I'm curious if anyone who's reading this--which is likely to be nobody--has any ideas here.

Fnord

[zeebillbi]

Gah, you got one obvious troll and you complained? Hardly worth the bandwidth... The thing about beings of the female variety on slashdot is all due to that classic "Anne Marie" troll (yeah, okay, I had way too much spare time as a student) and Shoeboy.

But anyway... I'm in the same situation. Degree in computer science from one of the few universities that's better than Berkeley (and definitely better than Florida State :)) and now work in research in massively parallel computing, cryptography, ethical hacking and anything else which is considered too wierd for our main IT department. Oh, and I run Gentoo as well, but I run it on a custom-built 512 processor z-Series machine as a virtual MOSIX cluster.

Erm, oh, yeah, I remember now, I was just about getting to the point... I've never had any problems with sexism from guys (at least once I tell them that I've already got an SO so they can forget it), but I used get bitched at regularly by girls of the stupid variety for no apparent reason. They seem to think I'm out to steal whatever they've dragged out of the gutter and taken home with them... But they probably don't know what F00FC7CA does anyway...

Ach... I need to either wake up or go to sleep, but I'm too lazy to do either just now... Or I could go and whore this account up to 50 alongside the other half dozen or so in preparation for one almighty trollfest...

Re:Fnord

[Fiver-rah]

One obvious troll? Are you talking about Dr. Biscuit? Now, *that* was funny. But you didn't read my mail. I concluded that there are some seriously disturbed people on /. afterwards. I also concluded that they had *all* written to me.

In general, I've never had any problems with sexism from guys, either. But every time someone mentions gender, it seems like there's always one or two people who say things like, "Oh, but girls aren't any good at X." Not most. Not even many. But just a couple.

I'm not really complaining; I'm just curious. Who are these people, and why do they think like that? Have they really never met competent women in their lives? It's really weird.

The worth of a school is not in the ranking, but in what you get out of it. FWIW, Berkeley is, in my opinion, the best place to do theochem as a graduate student. There's tons of theorists, doing a variety of things, and they're all really good, well respected, and well connected. All these things matter. As for undergrad... well, really, undergrad doesn't matter much. I paid far less for my undergrad education than just about everyone else I know. A friend of mine went to Harvard. He was a great student, but at the end of undergrad he barely knew the professors that wrote him recommendations. On the other hand, I knew and interacted with lots of my professors, and I still keep in contact with several of them. I got a damn good education from Florida State, and in the end, the difference between someone who gets their BS from Harvard and PhD from Berkeley and someone who gets their BS from FSU and PhD from Berkeley is ... only the difference in the relative merits of the two people.

Re:Fnord

[daoine]

But every time someone mentions gender, it seems like there's always one or two people who say things like, "Oh, but girls aren't any good at X." Not most. Not even many. But just a couple.

Yeah, and at the same time, there's always one or two Dr. Biscuit type people who seriously believe what they're saying as well. I think they're in the minority, they're just rather vocal. And weird.

It's funny - last time I had a girlie rant on /. I got a bunch of emails from random /. chickees who basically said 'Rock On!' Granted, I think it was more along the lines of why women leave grad school in droves compared to men (as I did) - so it's not quite as potent a topic.

There's always going to be a freak who thinks girls can't do anything. And there's always going to be a freak who thinks that girls are constantly being held down by 'The Man' and the world will be evil until they're all gone. You were just *lucky* enough to hear from all the former. :)

btw...having gone to grad school at Georgia Tech, I am obliged to say that FSU's football team sucks. :)

Re:Fnord

[Fiver-rah]

Oh, last time I ranted about why women left grad school in droves it wasn't on /. Having watched several of my better friends leave, and listened to other female friends as well, I think that it's a really complicated issue. But in large part, it's ego-related. I've been lucky enough to have some really really supportive people. One of the things that has really helped my ego is making friends with some people who are slightly ahead of me in the academic world (like new professors) who have been extraordinarily encouraging, and who tell me that I'm smart and capable. It makes a big difference.

In my four years in Tallahassee, I never attended a single football game. As I have no first hand evidence to the contrary, I'm sure the football team does suck.

Having gone to grad school at Berkeley, I am obliged to say that the Berkeley football team sucks. And nobody can argue with that.

Or are the sexists just idiots?

[Doctor O]

Or are the sexists just idiots?

Yes, they are. By chance I read your rant and enjoyed it very much. Even though (or is it because?) I am male, I could fully understand your point, mainly because I feel the same about those people.

Anyone who believes that people can do things better or worse simply because of their gender is plain stupid. It's about the same as saying coloured/jewish/whatsoever people are inferior. It's stupid, and it's racist.

My son was born two weeks ago. He's my first child. He will learn that the only differences between people are individual ones, and not dictated by gender, color or citizenship of one or another country. Educating our children is all we can do. And this is exactly what I'm planning to do. This is the step we have to take to make this a planet of people, not nations.

Dr. O