Re: debian and women? from DWN #10
On 2004-03-25, Katipo penned:
>>
>>She seems to be talking about a fear of being put down or treated
>>poorly for participating in a technical forum. This isn't a fear I've
>>ever had, but maybe I'm in the minority? I've also heard of women
>>masquerading as men online to avoid any such questions ... and I've
>>had women tell me that, in MMORPG type situations, groups tend to
>>follow their direction much better when they played a male character.
>>Me, I never cared for playing male characters, so I haven't had a
>>chance to test that theory.
>>
>>
> The only reason that I have ever come across to explain somebodys'
> masquerading as someone other than who or what they are, is the fact
> that they believed that they themselves, were insufficient to the
> occasion. When you think about it, this is a somewhat sad personal
> statement to make.
>
I don't think this is the only reason. Some women would not like to
call attention to the fact that they're women, especially on a public,
archived forum. Every woman I've ever met who's had a significant
online presence has also had some rather creepy interactions. In
college, I had a guy email me to tell me, based on some pictures on my
website, that I was "too good" for my then-boyfriend and I should ditch
him. That really weirded me out. I've also read some really
inappropriate comments. These incidents weren't related to technical
forums, but I could certainly understand someone just not wanting to
deal with these sorts of things, even rarely.
--
monique
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