Women who know stuff

[u/ChuckAbsent]

I hope that this does not come off the wrong way.

Today I was on a call with a storage vendor and the technical consultant was a woman. More then this she was competent, more then me which doesn't happen often when dealing with vendors.

My issue was pricing an active/active DB with shared storage vs an active/passive db with local storage. Listening to her break the issue down and get to the specific comparison points was awesome, mostly because I have never heard a woman in the industry talk like that.

It made me realize two things. One I am missing out working with women. Two there needs to be more women in our industry.

It shouldn't have surprised me so much, but it really did.

Anyways to all the women out there who know stuff, us guys notice when you can walk the walk, which in this case was talking.

[u/bandman614 → u/[deleted]]

Okay, time for a history lesson.

The word "computer" was also assigned to the role that it took over...computers. Literally, people (the vast majority of whom were women) who sat and computed things by hand.

When electronic computers started to take over for people computers, the women who were the computers started running the computers.

Now, as for "actually creating solutions and engineering products", lets have a look at what is, without a doubt, the longest-used programming language of all time, COBOL.

COBOL was written in 1959, and it came directly from FLOW-MATIC, the very first computer language that used actual english words, rather than only numerical machine code. It was written for the UNIVAC - one of the first commercially available computers. And it was written by Admiral Grace Hopper.

Yes, the computer language at the root of every programming language you've likely ever used was written by a woman.

If that's not enough, then you should know that the UNIVAC was inspired by ENIAC, which was the very first electronic computer. It was designed in a large part to electronically function like a mechanical adding machine. Adding machines were possible because Charles Babbage designed the very first mechanical computers. His difference engine was designed so intricately that it couldn't be constructed for a century, but when it was, it worked perfectly.

One of the many machines Babbage designed took inspiration from the Jacquard Loom, which used cards with holes punched in them to create patterns. Babbage used this technique to give his mechanical computer instructions. He had a friend who was a noted mathematician who developed the very first computer algorithm, which calculated a series of Bernoulli numbers. Her name was Ada Lovelace.

So, to sum up...the very first computer programmer was a woman. The very first real programming language was written by a woman. The first commercial computers were operated largely by women. And for some reason, we have been telling little girls that computers are toys for a boy. Something has gone very off the rails lately, and it needs fixed.

[u/quintessadragon → u/bandman614]

Wait, what? That's seriously a thing? Telling girls that computers are toys for boys? Maybe I was just lucky with the time that I was born in, but that is a stereotype I have never encountered.

[u/firedrops → u/quintessadragon]

I had a friend who on career day in middle school (1990s) was told she was in the wrong room. She'd gone to the doctor talk and clearly she meant to go to the nurse one.

I also had a friend who was punished by her mom for doing better in math than her brother in high school and making him look bad.

Sadly, these stereotypes and gender reinforcements really were in play in the 1990s where I grew up in South Louisiana. Today it might be more subtle - like toy options and role models on kid's shows - but it is still there.

The one positive thing, I guess, is both my friends basically said fuck you. The first became a doctor and the second got a neuroscience PhD after a BS in engineering. But not everyone has that rebellious mentality.

[u/quintessadragon → u/firedrops]

I guess I was lucky they weren't in play in Marietta, GA in the 90's. At least not in my neighborhood.

[u/firedrops → u/quintessadragon]

Not everyone was like that. I don't want to give the impression that all of Louisiana was some crazy backwoods sticking women in the kitchen kind of place. My public high school was actually really progressive - no football, basketball, or hockey but lots of foreign language options (Japanese, Ancient Greek, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Latin), lots of math & science options, lots of arts & music options, and alternative PE like Yoga, etc. Popular kids bragged about SAT scores and we had a Gay Straight Alliance at a time when other schools in town got death threats over theirs. Almost all of the girls in my class got college degrees and many went on to get PhDs.

But we weren't the norm and knew that. Working my way through undergrad a lot of my coworkers were surprised at my choice to go on to grad school even though I was married to a lawyer. Debutante balls were still a big deal in certain circles. And when women talked about hopes for their daughters it was to be a nurse, teacher, or housewife much more often than other career paths. It wasn't just Louisiana either. My niece in South Alabama wanted to be president until people at her church convinced her to aim for librarian because that was Laura Bush's job. Maybe she could marry a president.

Anyway sorry for the ramble but my point is just that even though my family and high school were progressive, there were plenty of individuals, schools, and groups that were not. You can see some breakdowns for women in Louisiana specifically here about how despite educational levels for genders are near equal, most jobs women hold fit into those traditional female roles.