I noticed this was down voted. I would argue that this might actually be the worst kind of sexism: the subliminal kind. Even though you know that it is not meant to be sexist, every time you read something like this you start to associate programming with men a little bit more. I can't find any references right now, but there are studies which show this.
I think it's sexism bikeshedding. Instead of going and fixing actual sexism (can well be hard and/or painful), you can always smugly point out that someone didn't de-genderfy his[1] writing.
Would anyone complain if it was "her face there"? (Short answer: No). What about "its face there"? (We are after all human beings). When people don't care, that's when sexism no longer matters. Just like the way the word "black" is used in most places outside the US
Not everywhere outside the US: here in Portugal, the word "black" is a terrible faux pas. Of course, the fact that "we" were one of the biggest slave traders has probably much to do with this ;) The word "negro" came from here, after all.
(This is just a remark, not a correction - I know "outside the US" doesn't mean literally anywhere)
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I noticed this was down voted. I would argue that this might actually be the worst kind of sexism: the subliminal kind. Even though you know that it is not meant to be sexist, every time you read something like this you start to associate programming with men a little bit more. I can't find any references right now, but there are studies which show this.
I think it's sexism bikeshedding. Instead of going and fixing actual sexism (can well be hard and/or painful), you can always smugly point out that someone didn't de-genderfy his[1] writing.
1: I did that on purpose
Would anyone complain if it was "her face there"? (Short answer: No). What about "its face there"? (We are after all human beings). When people don't care, that's when sexism no longer matters. Just like the way the word "black" is used in most places outside the US
Not everywhere outside the US: here in Portugal, the word "black" is a terrible faux pas. Of course, the fact that "we" were one of the biggest slave traders has probably much to do with this ;) The word "negro" came from here, after all.
(This is just a remark, not a correction - I know "outside the US" doesn't mean literally anywhere)