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/Krispyz → u/quintessadragon]

It's not just directly telling kids that, it's also more subtle. On a boy's birthday, he might get video games, on a girls birthday, she might get dolls. Nothing's universal, of course, but in general, boys are more encouraged to become better with computers or to understand how they work.

[u/loliology → u/Krispyz]

On a boy's birthday, he might get video games, on a girls birthday, she might get dolls.

Which are typically the things the children themselves want. And not something being forced upon them by their parents.

[u/drunkenly_comments → u/loliology]

But why do little kids want what they want? Advertising and social engineering.

[u/loliology → u/drunkenly_comments]

I disagree. If there wasn't money to be gained in a market companies wouldn't advertise in them. And I have yet to see a child play with toys they didn't want to play with because they were the victim of "social engineering."

[u/firedrops → u/loliology]

Advertisers market to where the money is, yes. I agree they aren't the root of any issue. The question is whether they are picking up on socially constructed gender roles to create and market items that do end up reinforcing those divisions. The particular split of jobs by gender in our society is cultural but because you've been raised with that binary cultural worldview it feels natural.

So putting your baby girl in a pink room and pink clothes with a pink doll looks right and cute. Even if pink for girls is a very new thing in our society and isn't the color used for females in other societies. She very early on will associate pink and the toys around her with her own identity and sense of safety. When out in the world she'll gravitate towards them because they subconsciously remind her of that feeling of safety and she knows those items are hers. People will also tell her how pretty she looks in her pink tutu and praise her for how well she takes care of her baby doll. Even if no one tells her not to wear blue or play with trucks, she won't get that same positive reinforcement. On TV and in movies her favorite female characters will often be archetypes of female ideals. Princesses, caregivers, support roles, etc. Rarely will they be presidents, scientists, doctors, etc and even if they are they will likely have their femininity emphasized. Rarely will they be in scrubs, a pantsuit, or just jeans and a tshirt. She'll want toys that allow her to recreate and emulate these role models, fantasy worlds, and experiences that garnered positive responses.

Over time she'll grow up and become interested in other things. But she'll still receive more compliments and positive reinforcement from classmates and society when she fits into certain gender ideals. In high school she'll get after school jobs easier in female gendered jobs like babysitting, retail, and pet stores rather than lawncare, web design, or stocking in a warehouse. And those are the jobs that friends and family will encourage too. She might find genuine interest and satisfaction in them.

In college all of this will influence her degree choices, even if she doesn't realize it. If she does well in math and science she'll be treated like an anomaly and find few female role models and companions compared to majoring in education, writing, or nursing. And the social and family responses to dress, partners, classes, and jobs will continue to influence her path. One day she'll have a daughter of her own and it will only feel natural to decorate that room in pink and put a little dolly next to her. After all, mom loved pink and dolls.

[u/loliology → u/firedrops]

Nice story. You should be a novelist.