Comment Well... (Score 1) 806
Most women in IT realize they are, in fact, female, but that doesn't mean they want to be treated any differently than your average civilized guy. If you're all going down to the pub to catch Babylon 5 reruns, just say, "Hey Cindy, we're all going down to Moe's Tavern to catch Babylon 5 reruns and have some chili fries. You're welcome to join us if you want, and if not, that's cool too." That is very unlikely to be construed as harrassment.
Conversely, if a woman is outside of a group and wants in, she could strike up conversations about stuff on the desks ("Neat lightsaber! Reminds me of that battle in Episode 99 where Yoda's ghost form kicks Darth Luke's butt. Say, which was your favorite Star Wars movie?") or tattoos ("What made you decide on Cartman over Stan? And why in $diety's name did they decide to REALLY kill off Kenny?") or T-shirts or books ("Sweet! They came out with the 9th book in the Chronicles of Foreverland? How is it, so far? Is it better than 'Shadow-stalker's Journey' or should I just save my money for the new Neal Stephenson novel?" or "Cool Penny Arcade shirt, man. I really like the Armadeaddon storyline, but they're all pretty funny in their own way.") or talk about your hardware at home ("Well, the serious gamer really wants a Zorchware, of course, 'cause the rendering is superior with their algorythms, but I'm using ZilchCo's knockoff until I can afford the Zorchware pricing. I think it works just as well for Zombie Stompers but I wouldn't want to try Neverwarriors with the ZilchCo. The elves tend to lose their ears when you run with the ZC-12, unfortunately!").