On 01/16/2012 01:08 AM, Alexander wrote:
Sorry about the confusion with my headers.
In Val Henson's HOWTO, Section 2 she insists that the women are
socialised to be less inclined towards computer science:
"If you are unwilling to accept that women's lack of interest in
computing is genetically predetermined (and I hope you aren't willing
to accept it), you need to start exploring what environmental causes
are involved."
If we accept the premise that women would be equally interested in
Free Software in a society that did not discourage them from doing so
or render them less inclined to do so, then an ultimate goal of 50:50
seems pretty fair.
IF men and women are equal in aptitude for working in computers AND
are equally inclined to participate in Free Software activism THEN men
and women should participate in FS activism in equal numbers. Ergo 50:50.
But given that our reality is not so egalitarian, I proposed that the
ratio of men and women should be at least what it is in proprietary
software. (About 1:2) It's a tangible point of reference if nothing else.
None of this excuses the lamentable behaviour of some guys in FOSS, of
course.
- Alex
Sent from my toaster
On Jan 16, 2012 12:27 AM, "Ben Finney"
<[email protected]
<mailto:ben%[email protected]>> wrote:
(Alex, can you please fix your ‘From’ field so that, like your
signature, it gives your proper name.)
Clockwork PC <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>
writes:
> But 28% is nowhere near parity, and it raises the question of
whether
> 50/50 is a realistic goal.
I don't know who is promoting parity, or 50/50. I would appreciate a
Message-Id to whatever message you're getting that idea from.
Who is proposing that goal? If no-one, why are you criticising it?
> Far more importantly than how many women there are in open source is
> *how happy the women in open source are*. Even if 28% women is the
> very highest participation rate we can get, given the society we
live,
> our goal should be that the women in open source get to feel
safe and
> included in our movement.
Right. Given the apparent fact that free-software participation from
women is at single-digit percentages, I'd say that supports the
idea we
are a long way from this laudable goal.
--
\ “I don't want to live peacefully with difficult realities,
and |
`\ I see no virtue in savoring excuses for avoiding a search
for |
_o__) real answers.” —Paul Z. Myers,
2009-09-12 |
Ben Finney
The idea that it is 'wrong' to even consider there might be genetic
differences went out ages ago. This was based on the notion of 'tabula
rasa', that people are completely blank slates. That idea doesn't have
any place in science or biology any more, in the same manner that
geo-centrism doesn't really feature in astronomy as an absolute truth.
Besides, if you go to local politics and activism, ie, against a
particular development, a toxic waste dump in a suburb or education
cuts, just to name a few examples I've been involved in, you'll see many
women there, perhaps even outnumbering men. These issues are just as
vital too.
People here choose Free Software as their cause, others might choose
something else. The point is that woman are choosing to be involved in
causes, and if they are doing this freely, they perhaps for whatever
reason are biased towards different types of causes.
But all this still needs to be done anyway. Fighting against a
culturally insensitive development or a toxic waste dump nearby is just
as valid, and as relevant, as fighting to be able to edit source code
and distribute it for software you use.
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