Jeni's Musings

1. Do we need more women in computer disciplines? If so, why? In WWII, in America, women were brought into the work force in large numbers given a scarcity of men. Did anything about the materiel change? If not, what will the presence of more women (if one accepts there are too few) change?

2. There is a computer language designed by a woman. COBOL. What (if any) qualities about COBOL are there as a result of the gender of its designer? If none does the gender of the designer make a difference?

3. Can sexual behavior ever be eliminated from any social/work environment where humans are the dominant members (some people take dogs and cats to work)? If not, how does one/company/manager go about controlling that? Should we create forests/trees/domain-controllers/ACLs and so on? If we did wouldn’t that look a lot like medieval societies with stratified classes and types and roles (pick one: China, Japan, Europe)?

Stratification and segregation are a means to control and therefore, a means of power. What power should one grant to others over their sex or the means and contexts of expressing it? Do women accept that the DevChix article speaks for them? Should they?

It’s a Chinese finger puzzle. Be careful what you ask for or lend support to. Humans don’t evolve past their sexual orientations. They may mature past needing to express them in certain contexts and certain expressions, but they can only age past the need. The Women-Good Men-Bad polarity is just another power dynamic resulting in a very unstable field.