> Honestly out of all the flame wars we've had > can you think of any where being a yucky girl was an issue?
I suspect you've missed the point somewhat. AIUI she does not fear that people will bully her because she's female. She simply fears that people will bully her (as they bully others, male or female), and her claim is that males (by social training or otherwise) are better suited to such environments than females are. Consider for instance the form of democracy in which the person who shouts loudest wins. This is one of several forms of democracy that actively operate within debian (others being the person who writes the code wins, the package maintainer(s) win, and person receiving the most votes wins). I want to claim that this first form of democracy is a particularly male thing, others may disagree. > A little trepidation in a new environment is normal. When it becomes > disabling then it is indeed mental illness. Disabling?? I expect it's more like she occasionally considers become more significantly involved in development, but for reasons above decides her efforts are probably better spent elsewhere. At least that's how I read it. I don't expect she's lying awake at nights trying to summon up the courage. I expect she's simply trying to add some personal insight into the issue that started this thread, i.e., why aren't there more female DDs. And to me this seems a perfectly good reason for why people might choose to expend their energies elsewhere. Certainly within the realm of "sanity", whatever that might be. b.
