Tuesday, January 05, 2016

Accusing males of social development issues

Bruce Perens writes:
It’s unfortunately the case that software development in general and Open Source communities are frequented by males who have social development issues. I once complained online about how offended I was by a news story that said many software developers were on the autism spectrum. ...

It’s still an open issue whether males and females have built-in biases that, for example, lead fewer women to be programmers, or if such biases only develop as a response to social signals. There is more science to be done.
Assuming that this is a problem, the attempt to pathologize men is annoying.

Maybe the men have social development issues, but it is more likely that the women have social development issues.

Suppose that the software development process requires contributors to be told when their programs do not work, and that women take offense at such harsh judgments. One inference might be that men should use more gentle words with the women. Another is that the women should learn to face the facts.

Apparently the more common conclusion is that the men have some psychological disorders or misogynistic habits that make them rude to women.

No, this is crazy feminist social justice warrior propaganda.

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