I am accepting that I am going to be down-voted, not challenging people not to do it. See above fallacy.
As we keep discovering, sexism is the norm for women ...
We hear about one sexism case every few weeks here on HN. Of the many thousands of females in IT, do you think they are all just playing the silent card? Or maybe sexism is the infrequent case, not the norm? Sexism is rare for a pretty good reason: lawsuits. Of her 30,000 followers, how many have made sexist remarks? Less than 10? Seems like the norm to me...
We seem to have this conspiracy that sexism is all over the place, it's just that 99 percent of women are being silent about it. Does sexism exist? Yes. Is it frequent? Probably not, but everyone is entitled to their opinion on the matter.
I have a suggestion for you: When you have the opportunity to have a conversation with a woman in technology, ask her about sexism in the industry. Ask her if she's experienced it: if she's received the sort of unwanted geek attention for which Linux conferences are famous; if she's received stupid or sexist comments (c.f. mwetzler's comment above); if she's had to fend off inappropriate advances in a professional setting; if she's had to go through the mental gymnastics that an atmosphere of sexism creates.
And here's the crucial part: don't argue with her about it. Do it as a fact-finding thing, a survey. Just say you're trying to learn. Ask questions to draw her out and clarify things, but don't share your opinion (especially those above), because that will interfere with the information gathering, especially if they perceive that you're asking only to dismiss or reject what she's telling you.
Women are very frequently silent about sexism because speaking up about it not only fails to address the issue, but worsens the severity of it. What started as inappropriate flirting turns into sexually abusive comments; or an argument in which an experience in which they feel quite obviously wronged, gets trivialized as a misunderstanding or oversensitivity on their part.
everyone is entitled to their opinion on the matter
Absolutely, but some opinions are backed up by a lot of data, and those opinions tend to be more worth having.
Here is one for you:
The straw man: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man
I am accepting that I am going to be down-voted, not challenging people not to do it. See above fallacy.
As we keep discovering, sexism is the norm for women ... We hear about one sexism case every few weeks here on HN. Of the many thousands of females in IT, do you think they are all just playing the silent card? Or maybe sexism is the infrequent case, not the norm? Sexism is rare for a pretty good reason: lawsuits. Of her 30,000 followers, how many have made sexist remarks? Less than 10? Seems like the norm to me...
We seem to have this conspiracy that sexism is all over the place, it's just that 99 percent of women are being silent about it. Does sexism exist? Yes. Is it frequent? Probably not, but everyone is entitled to their opinion on the matter.