To TechCrunch’s Battle of the Sexes: No One’s Blaming Anyone
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Posted by Guest Blogger August 29th, 2010 |
By Guest Blogger Cindy Gallop
This weekend a storm blew up in the blogosphere. It began on Friday with Shira Ovide’s piece on WSJ.com, “Addressing the Lack of Women Leading Emerging Tech,” which quoted Rachel Sklar:
“Part of changing the ratio is just changing awareness, so that the next time Techcrunch is planning a Techcrunch Disrupt, they won’t be able to not see the overwhelming maleness of it,” said Ms. Sklar, referring to the influential tech conference.
Michael Arrington of TechCrunch took exception to this comment and posted on Saturday “Too Few Women In Tech? Stop Blaming The Men” (A sample argument from Arrington: “Yeah ok, whatever Rachel.”) This in turn generated 665 comments as of Monday morning, which ranged through agreement with the sentiments expressed (by both women and men) through strong disagreement (both women and men) to, at the extreme end, misogynistic crudeness (men).
Here’s my response:
1. No one is blaming anyone.
In a sector where one gender far outnumbers the other on every possible front (participation, positions of power and influence, gatekeepers and bestowers of capital and funding, role models and inspirational symbols of success, leaders, conference organizers, most-invited conference speakers, most-read bloggers, media outlet owners etc etc), women are asking men for help to even things out. That’s all. And hopefully any man who would genuinely like to see more women in tech, will.
2. Nobody – women least of all – is suggesting that help should be provided in anything other than a meritocratic context.
Every single woman in tech I have ever spoken to, myself included, would rather we didn’t need to ask for help, didn’t need to even raise the issue of one gender’s experience versus the other. We do it because…
3. The meritocratic playing field is not level.
It’s difficult for any man, no matter how well-meaning or well-intentioned, to conceive quite what it’s like to live as a woman in a world where the default setting is always male. To take just one example - men: imagine you had been going for years to conferences where you never saw a single speaker of your own gender onstage (bar one or two seemingly token exceptions); where you never saw role models of your own gender to aspire to; where you never saw anyone of your own gender to inspire you, to make you think, ‘I want to be like them and that’s what’s going to keep me going as I struggle with my startup’, to make you feel, ‘One day that could be me.’ Imagine all you ever saw and heard from on those stages were women, year after year, conference after conference (and the majority of the audience around you were women too). How do you think you’d feel about that?
4. We need help with what is otherwise a self-perpetuating cycle.
It’s a numbers game. There are far fewer women in tech than men. So anyone genuinely interested in changing the ratio and evening out the balance, has to more than meet women halfway – because you won’t run into them as frequently as you do men, and you won’t find them simply by ‘asking around’. You have to make a real and ongoing effort to locate the best of female talent, speakers, startup founders to fund, while actively publicizing ‘Women are welcome here’. (And no, to some of the TechCrunch commenters, things have to even out a whole lot more before any of that can possibly translate into discrimination against men.) That will bring more female perspectives and input, which will encourage more open-mindedness and support (as well as more difference, creativity and innovation), which will generate more successful female role models to inspire more women to follow in their footsteps, which will lead to more women cycling through over time. But we need that help.
5. Many, many women want to start, lead and grow tech companies.
As some commenters and twitterers have pointed out, the roots of this whole issue run very deep. The numbers of girls electing to study computer science in high school have actually gone down over time. This is not as simple as just ramping up class recruitment efforts: those numbers improve when parents and the girls themselves cease to see computer science, math and engineering as ‘unfeminine’, and when boys start seeing studious, hardworking, geeky nerdy girls in high school as hot and dateable. But I personally know (and mentor and advise) a very large number of women who either want to, or have, started up tech ventures. Yes, we have other things to contend with, like family duties and childcare (nothing gender-equal about who’s expected to shoulder the brunt of that), but never doubt for a moment that as many women as men burn with a passion to start something, to stick with it and make it grow, to have an impact, to make a difference, to change the world through technology. So please, let’s just help each other do that, and let’s show the rest of the world that tech is one arena where anyone with the right combination of talent, grit and determination, really can achieve anything, no matter what’s inside their pants.
Guest Blogger Cindy Gallop is Founder & CEO of IfWeRanTheWorld
August 30th, 2010 08:37
Well said, Cindy. Tech’s gender equity issues diversity challenges have some complex interacting causes. You make a great point with #1. There are clear imbalances in the system today. Women are asking guys to help change that. That’s why its so disappointing when guys say “not my problem”.
August 30th, 2010 09:43
It is an interesting perspective (and an interesting debate).
I was in tech for a while (think: development), and I didn’t see any discrimination, per se. Okay let me rephrase it - once you get through the initial skepticism (like, a man, explaining hashing to me as if I am eight years old and never went to school to study IT - only because “I am a girl) - once you get past that, the play field is indeed level. And as long as I can keep up with the pace, no one looks down on me (to the contrary - I get both respect AND free drinks).
If what women (as a group) are asking for in this case is to cut them some slack because they are fragile and scared, I don’t think it’s a good request for the industry. I think it is definitely something we need from family, friends and loved ones. We all do - men and women, to different degrees at different stages of our lives. But tech “industry”, as well as other industries should use expertise and talent as their main criteria of acceptance.
Just like anybody in their good mind would care about the professional standing of their physician (rather his or her than gender, race or religious affiliation), I really think that talent and expertise should be the only criteria. And women *do* use their strengths (that are different from male strengths) anyway. I am walking proof to this.
August 30th, 2010 09:45
P.S. The word “than” should not be there. Ooops. Well, I am a woman after all. Emotional. Explosive. With very fast fingers.
August 30th, 2010 15:45
Great article Cindy.
August 30th, 2010 17:36
[…] There have been some excellent followup posts as well, including from Cindy Gallop, Michelle Greer, Jamelle Bouie, Eva Smith, Ivan Boothe, Laurie on Seldo.com, the uncredited What Do “Where are the Women” Sh*tstorms Achieve? article on Jezebel, Terri on Geek Feminism, Alyson Shontel, clarely on Mavenity, and Fred Wilson. […]
August 31st, 2010 00:17
What I have seen around me is that men help one another without giving it a thought, “Hey, Joe, check this out -” where they don’t think that the women around them would necessarily be interested, so they don’t automatically explain what they are working on.
I’m president of a company that specializes in statistical programming and statistical consulting. I have a Ph.D. I’d say I took some responsibility.
I don’t think that the fact that there are some women like me who broke some barriers changes the fact that there is discrimination. A bit older than most women in this debate, I DO remember being told flat out that women engineer was about as oxymoronic as women fathers.
Yes, I did not let it stop me, but I think your point, which needs to be made over and over, is that my male colleagues did not have to “not let it stop them” because those obstacles weren’t there for them in the first place.
August 31st, 2010 07:40
thanks for this interesting post, Cindy. i think you’re absolutely right that men’s awareness of the problem is critical to achieving equality–we need our brothers to understand the obstacles and make more of an effort!
August 31st, 2010 08:22
Maybe we all need to move beyond group identity and focus on the individual. I’m still not getting why I should care how many purple people are in the dry cleaning business as opposed to orange people. If there are fewer opportunities for purple people who want to be in the dry cleaning business, then I agree that there is a problem. Otherwise who cares if the person cleaning my slacks is orange or purple?
August 31st, 2010 08:49
[…] There have been some excellent followup posts as well, including from Cindy Gallop, Michelle Greer, Jamelle Bouie, K. Tempest Bradford and Terri on Geek Feminism, Eva Smith, Ivan Boothe, Laurie on Seldo.com, the uncredited What Do “Where are the Women” Sh*tstorms Achieve? article on Jezebel, Alyson Shontel, Kay on Feministe, clarely on Mavenity, Helena Stone, and Fred Wilson. […]
August 31st, 2010 12:54
[…] I’ve been reading the various recent articles about women in tech bubbling around the interwebs with mixed feelings. I’ve seen a lot of these debates go by, and although I have strong opinions (I know, you’re surprised, right?), I usually choose not to comment here. […]
August 31st, 2010 20:20
[…] – Cindy Gallop in No One’s Blaming Anyone on WIMN’s Voices […]
September 1st, 2010 08:04
[…] So it turns out the right thing being done and to be sustained, is the continual education of more girls; more girls in school. More initiatives to ensure education of girls in regions that literally beg the much awaited improvement. Once they are in the school, it turns out that they do come out more successful than boys. Companies, venture capitalists and the common public are identifying the potential of women power. They feel their leadership can solve a lot of the evils currently prevailing in our society. We are seeing more women winning the Nobel, more women getting elected as people representatives, more women rising to the powerful chairs of huge corporates. Its not surprising that venture capitalists are constantly on the look out for women-led businesses, as they are sure of the merits it brings. There is no need to probably worry about the less number of women in tech after all. As for my understanding, being in tech does not necessarily mean coding, as it could also mean heading or being part of a business where technology is being used/implemented. And why should any one defend or be wary about lack of women presence in tech? Its not just the tech industry that is holding the whole world together ! The continued presence of women across all industries, across all levels is a powerful indicator, a beacon more incandescent than the Times Square, of women doing the right things constantly, quietly, with perseverance and humility. […]
September 6th, 2010 11:45
[…] To TechCrunch’s Battle of the Sexes: Nobody’s Blaming Anybody, Cindy Gallop, WIMN’s Voices […]
September 6th, 2010 13:25
[…] All I ask is for us to question our assumptions about people and examine our own biases daily. Because then, I’m pretty sure we’d stop needing to have these kinds of discussions and start working towards really great progress. […]
September 8th, 2010 12:15
[…] – Cindy Gallop in No One’s Blaming Anyone on WIMN’s Voices […]
September 8th, 2010 12:16
[…] These are a lot of work, so I just want to close on an upnote by highlighting why diversity matters so much to NWENs audience of entrepeneurs, investors, and service providers with another qutoe from Cindy Gallop, CEO of IfWeRanTheWorld: It’s a numbers game. There are far fewer women in tech than men. So anyone genuinely interested in changing the ratio and evening out the balance, has to more than meet women halfway … — Cindy Gallop in on WIMN’s Voices […]
October 21st, 2010 07:33
[…] I had the chance to ask this question of Cindy Gallop, an entrepreneur and marketing/advertising/branding guru, who is the CEO of a start-up called IfWeRanTheWorld. IfWeRanTheWorld and Cindy have both been recommended to me by several readers who are active in the cause marketing, technology, women who tech, and geek feminism conversations. IfWeRanTheWorld offers a real-time example of 3 important trends: feminist design principles, designing for authenticity, and designing to create a better world. […]
December 23rd, 2010 08:38
“when boys start seeing studious, hardworking, geeky nerdy girls in high school as hot and dateable.” Really? God, that’s so sexist. Here’s a thought: those boys will start seeing them as hot and dateable when the ARE hot and dateable. The logical conclusion: To all you girls interested in math and science: work out at the gym, get some skin and hair treatments, spend time with a fashion designer, unbutton that top button, show a little skin, and THEN you will be able to be taken seriously as a technologist.
Sheeeesh.
I am interested in the topic, as Whitney Hess has written so nicely about: http://whitneyhess.com/blog/2010/12/22/the-plain-numbers-about-women-in-tech/ But I take umbrage at the concept that sex prima facie enables anything. It is the power of the individual as the individual we need to celebrate. We need to work to eliminate overt discrimination. But we also need to work to get the best and the brightest on the podiums and in the boardrooms.
I’ve worked for men and women. I’ve had some great colleagues and some duds–but what was in their pants was irrelevant.
I agree we should encourage people to excel in math and science…but also in art and language and history and sociology and business and music. Take the sex games out of it, and concentrate on the person as a person, not a number in a quota.
May 22nd, 2011 05:25
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July 31st, 2011 13:47
[…] – Cindy Gallop in No One’s Blaming Anyone on WIMN’s Voices […]
August 1st, 2011 09:21
[…] – Cindy Gallop in No One’s Blaming Anyone on WIMN’s Voices […]
August 7th, 2011 05:49
[…] – Cindy Gallop in No One’s Blaming Anyone on WIMN’s Voices […]
August 7th, 2011 11:56
[…] “It’s a numbers game. There are far fewer women in tech than men. So anyone genuinely interested in changing the ratio and evening out the balance, has to more than meet women halfway” — Cindy Gallop in No One’s Blaming Anyone on WIMN’s Voices […]
October 31st, 2011 12:30
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