There are women in some countries who believe that genital mutilation of
young girls is a good thing[1]. That's because they've been raised that way.
This is an extreme example, but I think it illustrates the point that what
any group wants for themselves might not be what they'd want if they lived
in an equal society.
The low ratio of women to men in computing is as much a symptom of a problem
as it is a problem itself. The ratio is a symptom that our society tends to
condition girls to not like math, science, or computing. In fact, being
good in these fields can often have negative connations which are worse for
girls than for boys. So, of course, there are going to be lots of women
who, when asked, are going to say that they're not interested in computers,
or that computers are boring, etc.
Equality or fairness can't be achieved by simply asking people what they
want for themselves and giving it to them. What people want will change
depending on their world views, and world views can change through education
and experience.
Demographics are evidence to show that our society has problems. It's a good
thing to try to cure them. Simply hiring an equal number of women as men at
a company would be addressing the symptom, not necessarily the disease. Yet,
at the same time, sometimes addressing symptoms can contribute to healing.
[1] This is changing. In a lot of countries, this operation -- called
"female circumcision" by some and, I think, more accurately genital
mutilation by others -- is often performed by women. In France, not long
ago, there was a case where a man sued his wife because she performed this
on their daughter over his objections. I couldn't find that article online,
but here's an article talks about the problem:
http://cnn.com/US/9604/29/female.circumcision/index.html
----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon Britnell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> The prime justification I have seen for demographics shifting basically
boils down to
> "There should be more women in my field because if there were, there would
be less
> sexism". I still think that demographic tampering is a silver bullet.
People expect too
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