

Programmers and Painted Nails - lizdenys
http://clarebayley.com/2014/01/programmers-and-painted-nails/

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merrua
I understand why people where offended it was a gift at a tech conference. Its
not that it matters if you paint your nails or not (man or women) but there is
usually a lot of inappriopiate to venue advertising to women (think pink
biros, and pink science stuff) and I understand the feeling to nip that in the
bud. Btw to all the straight males report they paint their nails, anyone use
nail art blogs? I've hear of someone thinking about a program for designing
nail art. It seems a technically interesting problemset. Scan nail size by
finger, or input it. I've not read of any studies on how much variance is
there on fingernail size. (though im sure someone has). Then consider what is
the smallest paintable size for the users "brush".

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sdfsdf44
I read a few blogs as well as subreddits, but at least for now, lack the skill
to do real 'art' myself.

A program would be an interesting exercise, I guess.

As for 'inappropriate' advertising to women, I'd say that stuff shouldn't
/not/exist any more than ones pitched towards any other specific group too,
but the neutral products should be done in a way not to exclude anyone, with
the expectation that people will eventually gravitate towards them as they
serve different functions - for people already engaged vs getting that initial
engagement.

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scotty79
> I mean that if a woman walks into a Google mixer with long pretty hair and a
> skirt, people assume she works in sales. If she walks in with a ponytail and
> a t-shirt and jeans, people are much more likely to believe she’s a
> programmer.

I am yet to meet a programmer that voluntarily wears a suit. So unless it's a
wedding, funeral or HR hoop jumping, when I see a men in a suit I assume he is
rather some kind of a salesperson not a programmer. That heuristic served me
well in bizarre world of social interactions this far.

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igravious
Yeah, but you won't always be right - do you like being wrong some of the time
because you jump to conclusions?

How about deferring judgement until you interact verbally with the person?

How about not using superficial visual cues to infer social and labor
roles/identities?

I am a straight(ish, ahem) guy who from time to time paints his nails. Q: What
would you infer from that? A: Don't bother, cuz I don't fit into your boxes,
and guess what, no one else does (including you).

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scotty79
> Yeah, but you won't always be right - do you like being wrong some of the
> time because you jump to conclusions?

Yeah. But it takes literally 5 seconds to readjust as new information comes
in. If a guy in a suit turns out to be plumber I won't hesitate to ask his
card if I am in need of some plumbing service at the moment. On the other hand
if I'm right I'm better prepared to spot and fend off attempt to sell me
something.

> How about deferring judgement until you interact verbally with the person?

It's impossible to do that without closing your eyes. You use all your senses
to figure out environment around you. People are large part of it. How
somebody looks, smells or sounds is an information that can allow you to
predict things. If I smell alcohol from someone I don't have to wait till he
speaks something coherent to decide what actions should I take.

> I am a straight(ish, ahem) guy who from time to time paints his nails. Q:
> What would you infer from that?

If I saw you in public with nails painted I'd just think you are daring
individual. It might be positive, it might be negative. I'd be more curious
but also more cautioned if I ever were to enter verbal contact with you.

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sdfsdf44
This sounds about right. People are generally aware of how they look and act
and what that communicates to others; it is always possible to adjust people's
perceptions through words and actions, but the initial impression is, for most
people, at least partly a calculated thing.

By all means, people should look however they prefer to, and ideally many
knee-jerk reactions to things would be less so, but the world isn't ideal. I
strongly prefer people who do reserve their judgement of someone until a more
complete perception of them has been made, but I acknowledge that it isn't
something I always do, by any means. If I see someone in a suit, my snap
judgement thought is very unlikely to be 'hacker' unless they are discussing
or engaged in something relevant (just as it's unlikely to be 'investment
banker' for someone in a band tshirt and scruffy jeans). However, I don't
discount the possibility by any means.

>If I saw you in public with nails painted I'd just think you are daring
individual. It might be positive, it might be negative. I'd be more curious
but also more cautioned if I ever were to enter verbal contact with you.

I'd be perfectly fine with this reaction.

I realise I've probably been stereotyped about it, but as far as I can see,
it's never actually affected me directly.

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sdfsdf44
As a straight male who paints his nails, I find people getting upset over this
issue (and the more general issue of gender stereotypes in tech at all)
ridiculous, both people who assume negatively and positively.

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collyw
Some people just seem to want to take offense where none is intended.

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igravious
Don't know why you're being downvoted, this type of person definitely exists.

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bettyx1138
i think it's cute when men paint their nails.

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sdfsdf44
I understand and appreciate that, but I do hope some day it will be considered
as normal and acceptable as it is for a woman to. It's just self-expression,
and although it may seem strange, I don't do it to stand out even though such
an action naturally does cause me to, and I'd rather I was able to without
being 'unusual'. I'm far more confident than when I started, but still feel
self-conscious from time to time.

