Open Journal Montreal

this i found pretty shocking:

while indeed a minority of information technology workers were women (roughly 20%), an even more staggering minority — to the tune of 1.5% — of free software contributors were women. The reasons given for this disparity were many and mostly related to cultural roles and expectations for women in the western world. “Alpha dog” behavior, posturing, backbiting, and mysogyny were listed as common and unfortunate social habits among free software programmers, and throughout the day the issue of how to deal with this behavior was approached from several different angles.

Not only did the majority of the predominantly female attendance agree with Peters’ compilations of data, but several had appalling stories about men behaving terribly toward them on free software mailing lists, in IRC channels, and indeed even in real life at Linux User Groups (LUGs).

though I guess my experience wasn’t so different- the vibe at the few meetings i’ve attended was half hostile half trying really hard to make up for the other half- ie: tense. A few of the forums and mailing lists I’ve tried to participate in have outright ignored me, though sometimes the reaction has been enthusiatically the opposite. The most dominant impression I’ve had from os programmers was a desire to impress and even maybe intimidate- a poor way of trying to connect, but something that lots of people do, not specifically guys or programmer guys.

I think because my instinct is to veer away from generalizations about men and women i find Jean’s opinion (below) a bit uncomfortable.. it’s not that i don’t believe these patterns exists, i just don’t think giving them air time is the best way to subvert them. it’s like the whole if you’re anti war, be pro-peace instead – a kind of “law of attraction” philosophy.. i’m more interested in giving light to those moments that exceed the general, for example, i’d love to hear more about how these incredible women got to where they are in these high power os tech companies, but anyway:

Jean T. Anderson, an IBM employee and member of the Apache Software Foundation (specifically dealing with the Derby database) followed, informing attendees that unlike many free software projects, Apache was not about code, but about community. She outlined the most significant barriers to female free/open source software participation:

* Women frequently don’t know how to get started with a project.
* They are afraid of looking stupid.
* They don’t want to be flamed on the public mailing lists or IRC.
* The feel that they do not speak English well enough to participate.
* They are uncomfortable with publicly accessible and archived email lists.
* They are not comfortable “selling” their ideas to the group.
* Sexist jokes and demeaning comments create a negative atmosphere for women.

Anderson explained that these perceived barriers were mostly unfounded fears, myths, and cultural prejudices, and proceeded to explain that in practice, there were few things to fear, and that while the openness of free software could not be circumvented or avoided, anonymity was still available. Anderson charged us all to be intolerant of all comments on free software development IRC channels and mailing lists that demean women, reminding us that such behavior harms men as well as women. She also pointed out that in the meritocracy of free software, there is truly no glass ceiling for women like there is in other industries and professions. Secondly, it’s possible to mask one’s gender through the benefit of anonymity — indeed, most of the female presenters had gender-neutral first names, and could easily maintain an air of mystique.

perhaps some of this makes me squirm because, while fun and good and important in it’s way, i don’t think anonymity is really the point or a totally fulfilling solution. it is good to remember that the option exists though, and that we don’t need to feel guilty about it.

Dru’s emphasis below is heartening for me, and ressonates with how

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[ originally posted on Sunday, February 11th, 2007 at 11:23 am and is filed under Communication, Everything. ]