I am debating flagging this piece. I see no good coming of it and I am frustrated that this stuff gets upvoted and then verbally pissed on when better stuff gets ignored.
I actually think the company in question handled this really well. It will be interesting to see what they do next though, I would honestly have troubles with this person if I had to go back to work with them after this.
> men readily speak up to disagree with us, rarely speak up to agree, validate, genuinely encourage, etc.
There are men in this very thread stressing the importance of speaking up for women regardless of facts in all public conversation as a political action.
Aside from that, no one should expect anyone else to go to bat for them (and they should expect to get called out on their mistakes). It's the way the world works for men and women.
This is what I submitted today (yes, I wrote it -- not really relevant to why I am aggravated): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10453412
It has one upvote and no comments. Meanwhile, plenty of people are happy to piss and moan about how this woman is Doing It Wrong, upvote this and fill it up with ugly comments.
I would like to see a great deal more focus on how to solve this. This is not it.
Having flagged this piece, I plan to move on. I think this does not help anyone.
I do agree with some of your points though. Focusing on (and talking to) women who are succeeding in tech would be much more productive than hostile, aggressive or "ironic" feminism. That would include this piece. I don't know how an author can talk about rapey bros then complain that someone uses the word "chicks". If anything her ad hominem is much worse.
I liked this from your post:
> We go looking for an obstacle to break through and fail to find it. We show up equipped with tools to destroy a barricade only to find there is no barricade and the people we are facing feel threatened by and unwelcoming of us because we are weirdly armed to the teeth for a battle that should not happen, and if it does happen, it harms the cause of women rather than helping women.
I would argue that this is what lukev is doing in this thread and like you say, it's not winning any converts.
I think the only thing I really disagree with in your stance is that you greatly over estimate the support system available to men. There's a reason women now outnumber men in higher education. While the stories of master/apprentice, captain/crew are nice, the reality is most men are extremely isolated and left to fend for themselves. Just like women.
