
Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions - rvivek
http://blog.hackerrank.com/3-teen-sisters-crush-coding-records-stereotypes/
======
rdtsc
That is pretty awesome.

I remember back in high school in the Soviet Union (then, what became one of
the ex-Soviet Union republics, much like Georgia), there were quite a few
girls in my class who were doing well above and beyond what boys would be in
math, informatics (what we called computer science) and physics. Remember
asking a girl for help to understand integrals.

So there is something to it in that part of the world. And yeah I think strong
role models help. One of the girls' father was a programmer that helped
probably.

And other aspect, I think they didn't have as many stupid and bad role models
to look at -- no teen pop models, no Snapchat, our school didn't have cliques,
not as much backstabbing. There was not any emphasis on sports as extra-
curricular activities (How I know to compare, you might ask? Well I actually
went to a year to a US High School as well so got a pretty good first hand
view of both sides).

Heck for a while someone invited kids from our school to join a sports riffle
club (or target shooting, whatever shooting .22 riffles sport is, always
wondered if it was KGB or army looking for snipers to train...). And even
there, half of those that joined were girls. And they hit the targets better
and most consistently than us boys because they were more dedicated and we
just goofed around more.

Maybe I am being nostalgic here, but I think there is something to the
differences in culture. Although I wish I had a better idea exactly what it
is.

~~~
jacalata
Some of it may be traceable to the enormous number of Soviet men who died in
WWII, prompting intense state support for single mothers and allowing the
remaining men to avoid responsibility and be spoiled, essentially. This is
mentioned briefly in this article if you're interested -
[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/11/all-
the-...](http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/11/all-the-single-
ladies/308654/)

~~~
jlg23
Maybe, or maybe it was the basic understand that the communist dream can only
come true if everyone, men and women, equally work towards it. In my parents'
generation (I'm born in the GDR) there was no debate about feminism. Women
were _expected_ to work, childcare was available, it was free and it catered
to people who had to work 40h/week. Sometimes I was in kindergarten from 8am
to 8pm.

I still remember how I did not get jokes about inferiority of girls when we
emigrated to Western Germany - I simply had never ever heard one before.

What speaks against your theory is that men died on all sides in WWII, but in
the West (read: democratic societies), women's rights developed in a
distinctively different/slower way.

PS: Yes, it was not all rosy, childcare was dual-use, it was also used for
indoctrination of the youngest and even to some degree to control/check on the
parents.

EDIT: It's probably revealing that my initial impulse is to consider this
story as irrelevant because it focuses on the gender. Yes, after 26 years in
the West I understand why it is relevant.

~~~
davezatch
I can't find the link now, but I remember reading about a paper (probably
through Marginal Revolution) that showed that, in the GDR, because men and
women worked equally and earned equally (in the general case, party leaders
aside), a lot of cultural gender equality just became the norm. E.g. men
couldn't impress women with nice cars or any of the other status symbols that
are so common in the West, and had to 'convince potential mates' through their
personalities and actions.

So a lot of the gender roles of the West were basically obliterated, i.e.
there was no real stay-at-home mother in the GDR, all mothers were working
mothers. Seems to fit your experience, and the GP as well.

~~~
eru
Also, there were almost no nice cars to be had.

~~~
TeMPOraL
Social signalling is relative to the things available for that society. Even
if there were no "nice cars" available by your standards, there still were
"impressive" cars, relative to the society in question.

~~~
StudyAnimal
No I think except for the politicians and military most people just got the
standard model of Trabant or nothing.

~~~
eru
You could also get a Wartburg, a Moskvitch or a Lada, and a few others.
Probably also Skoda, but I don't remember hearing about them back then.

The big brass were driving Volvos. They were nice cars, but Sweden was seen as
sufficiently neutral and socialist-like.

------
azaxacavaba
Competitive coding contests are in a way similar to chess or olympiads and it
is a sport in itself.

For all the years I have spent and observed on topcoder, Google Code Jam and
others I haven't seen a lot of women coders reaching the top, not even from
Russia. So what these girls are achieving is a big deal and should inspire
many. It is a little disappointing to see comments like they didn't crush
because they didn't get the first prize. Consistent winning of multiple
contests is definitely something and they are doing it pretty well.

~~~
oolongCat
I think most of the negative comments are here, because of the sexist tone of
the author of this article. What these girls have archived is something we
should celebrate, not as a victory for the sexes, but as a sign that more and
more young people are learning to code.

~~~
azazqadir
Exactly. It's good to see that young people today are taking interest in
coding, be it a girl or a boy that doesn't matter.

------
S4M
Basically they are the Polgár's of programming competition (for those who
don't know, Susan, Sofia and Judit Polgár are chess players who were during
their teens chess prodigy and some of the strongest women in the world. Judit
Polgár retired last year, but she is still the only woman chess player who
made it to the top 10
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polg%C3%A1r)).

In both cases they were exposed very young to their respective crafts, and I
wish there was during my teens (in the nineties) an option at school to learn
programming. That was in France and I don't think it has changed since then.

~~~
qb45
> I wish there was during my teens (in the nineties) an option at school to
> learn programming. That was in France and I don't think it has changed since
> then.

That's funny, because I learned programming basics (and was self-taught from
there) at school at a time when there was no formal curriculum and our teacher
was a CS student who just figured he'd do a few lessons on that because what
the heck.

I'm pretty sure that nowadays IT classes in my country are standardized enough
that this wouldn't fly. Also, today nobody would dare hiring a CS student with
no formal teaching qualifications instead of a professional teacher whose IT
competence doesn't extend beyond MS Office. Meh.

------
YuriNiyazov
There's something that continuously goes unsaid in the US tech industry where
we do massive amounts of soul-searching about the lack and/or poor treatment
of women in STEM: the ex-republics of the Soviet Union, while they have
_plenty_ of other problems, do not have this specific problem.

~~~
tenpies
There was an interesting Norwegian documentary that looked into this[1]. The
overall observation was that societies where women were extremely free,
usually ended up with the same gender distributions as societies in which they
were less free (e.g. few women in STEM).

By contrast, societies where women were only somewhat free, the number of
women in STEM exploded (although I don't recall if it was quite 50/50).
Without considering other factors, it almost seemed like some degree of social
pressure to stay out of STEM was necessary to get the most women to be
interested in it.

\---

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5LRdW8xw70](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5LRdW8xw70)

~~~
clevernickname
Came here to post that documentary (the entire series of which is freely
available, btw[1]). I think you misinterpreted it slightly, however. The
documentary presents evidence (strongly denied by the Norwegian social
scientists interviewed) that male and female brains are wired differently, to
be good at and enjoy different activities. It even goes so far as to show
studies that link receiving an excessive amount of the opposite sex's hormones
during prenatal development to developing the stereotypical interests of the
opposite sex early in childhood.

When a very egalitarian, gender neutral society like Norway exhibits more
"traditional" gender distribution in the workforce than a less egalitarian
one, the Norwegian social scientists thought this must be because of
institutional sexism, or cultural brainwashing reinforcing gender roles, or
whatever other excuse you've heard a million times. The documentary instead
posits the idea that in a society where you are truly free to do what makes
you happy, maybe it's normal that less women than men would want to be
engineers and less men than women would want to be teachers or nurses.

Whereas in "somewhat free" societies that have higher numbers of women in
"male" jobs, these societies are usually much less affluent than, say, Norway.
So of course people will end up doing jobs that they may not particularly
enjoy, they have to to survive. It's not mild social pressure "daring" women
to go against the grain or anything that could be imported, it's economic
pressure forcing people to take whatever jobs are available (or indeed, having
jobs assigned to them by a planning committee).

Humans are adaptable, of course. When an intelligent person is forced
(directly or indirectly) into a role that they may not have chosen themself,
they will most likely learn to be competent. And both intellectual outliers
and people (as mentioned above) with prenatal hormone mismatch can account for
people that do exceptionally well in a role dominated by the other gender. But
the question is, are you really making society better if you are forcing
average people into certain roles to fulfill your political goals? Or are you
increasing the amount of unhappiness in the world and perhaps even driving
down the average competency in that field?

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hjernevask](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hjernevask)

~~~
reitanqild
If this holds up to scrutiny maybe a better way forward would be to try to
increase the status and pay jobs that typically attract women?

Note: I am _not_ saying girls shouldn't code, quite on the contrary I'd hope
that all kids, regardless of gender, get more practical subjects earlier in
school: coding, woodworking, low-voltage electronics, mechanics, cooking &
housework etc etc.

------
staticelf
> It might even be a better world, ingrained with the idea that programming is
> just another skill to be mastered through persistence — with or without a Y
> chromosome.

I have never heard anyone, in my entire life, suggest otherwise. Sure it's
cool that they win competitions but by consistently focus on women, treat them
differently, create special groups etc is basically fighting sexism with
sexism.

If we shouldn't focus on the sex but the achievements this sort of article is
exactly the opposite of that. I am confident that these "women can also"
articles/groups/company messages creates more sexism than it solves.

Why can't we just treat each other equally?

------
shas3
While on the topic of girls at Olympiads, one should also add Lisa Sauermann
of Germany who is the most successful participant of all time at the
International Math Olympiad. [http://www.maa.org/news/math-news/germanys-lisa-
sauermann-wi...](http://www.maa.org/news/math-news/germanys-lisa-sauermann-
wins-fourth-gold-medal-at-2011-imo)

~~~
cunac
well not really
[http://official.imo2011.nl/participant_r.aspx?id=19624](http://official.imo2011.nl/participant_r.aspx?id=19624)
but still impressive

~~~
shas3
Ok, second most successful after 2015.

------
tomnikl
Great, inspiring story. I hope that news outlets continue to shine the light
on people who defy the perceived status quo of who can or cannot be a
successful coder.

------
EGreg
_If you were to tell Mari that girls don’t look like engineers, women can’t
code as well as men, or women aren’t as competitive as men, she’d raise a
skeptical eyebrow._

Actually, these girls do fit the typical criteria. They are Georgian, just
like several women world Chess champions. Georgia is part of the former USSR,
where women were pushed for decades to achieve things in math and science and
intellectual pursuits.

Having said that, I'd love to see just one or two young women that look and
dress like those very attractive actresses (as one blogger said, "present as
feminine" [https://medium.com/@sailorhg/coding-like-a-
girl-595b90791cce...](https://medium.com/@sailorhg/coding-like-a-
girl-595b90791cce#.icv7eu7sb)) and yet were strong programmers or physicists
or something. It seems the only look that I've ever seen for women who are
hardcore into math/programming is nerdy. Perhaps the feedback from appearing a
certain way discourages women from pushing themselves in cerebral activities,
or perhaps there is a hidden variable that explains this correlation.

In my own university graduate program, there was exactly one exception.

I know it's not politically correct to bring up a woman's "visual style" when
we are celebrating women coders, but someone should point out the obvious
correlation, and ask why it's happening. Where are the real James Bond
Christmas Joneses? Notably, the public reaction was disbelief:

 _Reception of the film and its casting choices were mixed. The film became
the first in the Bond series to win a Golden Raspberry when Denise Richards
was chosen as "Worst Supporting Actress" at the 1999 Razzie Awards. Richards
and Brosnan were also nominated for "Worst Screen Couple".[3] Despite stating
that she liked the role because it was "brainy", "athletic", and had "depth of
character, in contrast to Bond girls from previous decades",[4] Richards was
criticised as not being credible in the role of a nuclear scientist.[5][6] She
was ranked as one of the worst Bond girls of all time by Entertainment Weekly
in 2008.[7]_

~~~
kaitai
Because people only talked about my clothes, not math, if I wore a dress to
grad school. Now that I don't get asked if it's laundry day or why I'm wearing
that or if I have a date or what special event is happening, and I don't get
mistaken for a secretary, I wear dresses far more often. Simple matter of
energy management -- looking pretty in a university grad program is way more
trouble than it's worth.

------
positivity89
Wow, this was really inspiring. There are probably hundreds of girls/women
like this, but they don't make headlines as often. This is awesome.

The youngest sister may even grow up in a world where she doesn't have the
same barriers as most women today.

Could this be a sign of positive change?

~~~
jakub_h
There are hundreds of boys like this as well. Geniuses get born everywhere, in
different bodies, places, social strata etc. The fact that many of them get
lesser chances to contribute to the world is an outrageous abuse of the most
precious resource that the humanity has, regardless of why it happens.

~~~
yarou
And how do you propose we fix that, and more importantly, does your solution
scale?

~~~
bbcbasic
If you can fix that, you can fix any human problem. It is like the P=NP of
human problems.

------
cbeach
Let's celebrate the achievement of these -people-

Not these "men" or "women." These people. Stop tokenising gender for your own
agenda.

------
microcolonel
I've taken the liberty to rewrite the article in literal sentences so people
can enjoy it without the opinionated flourish.

The interview was preserved as-is, though I added speaker labels to make it
clearer who is talking.

\-------------

TITLE: These Three Young Sisters Perform Very Well in Programming Competitions

5 min read

Mari would be skeptical of a claim that females are not good at engineering,
programming, or competition. Mari, 11, has two sisters who she thinks are good
at programming and competition. Elene Machaidze, 18, and her sister Ani, 16,
take part in coding competitions. They win more than most other competitors.
Other competitors are often men. They have medals from many prestigious
programming tournaments such as International Olympiads in Informatics (IOI).

The three sisters live in Georgia. Georgia is a European country with a
population equal to just 11% of the state of California. They are well known
for being better than their opponents at programming. They are growing up with
supportive parents, teachers, and mentors who instill confidence in them.

Elene demonstrated her success in programming first. Mari and Ani have her as
a role model. Many successful programmers are male.

We sat down with Elene to learn more about their story and how they achieved
so much at such a young age.

Interviewer: _“So how long have you all been coding?”_

Elene: “Mari just started learning programming last year. Ani has been coding
for four or five years now. I started coding when I was in sixth grade. I
joined a programming club called Mzuiri. I just graduated from Komarovi
school, which focuses on math, physics and computer science. Ani is going
there now, and Mari will go there next year.”

Interviewer: _“What drew you all to coding?”_

Elene: “Our parents actually went to Komarovi school too. My dad is a
programmer, and he works at a bank as a security analyst. We were exposed to
math and computer science at a very early age, and we all love coding and
participating in contests just for fun. I do want to major in computer
science, and eventually work as a programmer like my dad. ”

Interviewer: _“How many programming contests have you competed in? And how
many medals have you won?”_

Elene: “I’ve participated in tons of contests and olympiads. But the most
significant ones were:

IOI CEOI IZhO GeOI Google Code Jam HackerRank Women’s Cup Facebook Hacker Cup
USACO COCI There were more too. I’ve won 2 bronze medals at IOI, 1 bronze at
CEOI, 2 silvers at IZhO. Mari, Ani and I competed in HackerRank Women’s Cup as
a team last year, and we ranked third place! Some companies that sponsored the
event even sent us a letter after the contest, but I had to tell them that
we’re too young right now to work for them.

I might call them when I’m a student or graduated. I’m applying to colleges. I
took a gap year after high school, and I was actually teaching programming to
7th to 9th graders. I often point my students toHackerRank challenges to learn
how to code. It’s a great tool to supplement learning in a very hands-on way.
I love how the problems are arranged on the platform. I’ve been using it for
years, back when it was first called Interview Street.”

Interviewer: _“Wow, that’s incredible. You’re getting job opportunities before
college! And even 11-year-old Mari joined the contest?”_

Elene: “Yeah, Women’s Cup was one of her first contests.

We all worked together as a team. I did most of the coding, but Mari and Ani
helped me think through the problems.

It was a lot of fun, and we were really surprised we won 3rd place. It was an
awesome feeling.”

Interviewer: _“How many programming languages do you know? What is your
specialty?”_

Elene: “It’s funny, I actually started coding in Pascal in 6th grade. It’s
such a useless language today, but that’s how I started. Then, I learned C++
and I’ve been coding in C++ ever since. More recently, I’ve been learning
Python as well.”

Interviewer: _“Do you ever feel like you’re treated differently in forums,
discussions or by men in general? Do you feel like you have to prove yourself
more so?”_

Elene: “Some boys definitely think that they’re better than me just because
I’m a girl. I might have felt bad about that years ago, but I don’t feel that
way today. I’ve participated in many olympiads and competitions.

And even though there are many more boys than girls, I was one of the first
few girls on the Georgian team in IOI and I was the second Georgian girl to
win a medal.

The boys don’t say anything anymore. Generally, women are strong and I think
more women should code.”

Interviewer: _“Yes, we agree. And how do your sisters feel being one of the
few female programmers? What advice do you give other girls who want to be
great at solving coding challenges like you?”_

Elene: “For coding challenges, like the upcoming Women’s CodeSprint, remember
that if you get stuck, try to think outside of the box. I like to remember the
9 dots puzzle because it’s a great example of thinking differently.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, the 9 dot puzzle requires you to connect
9 dots by drawing four straight, continuous lines that pass through each of
the 9 dots without lifting your pen. Most people think to connect the
boundaries, which makes the puzzle seemingly impossible. The only way you can
solve this is by drawing the lines outside of the square. Hence, thinking
outside of the box.

Anyone can code well if they work hard and are willing to open their minds to
solving problems differently.

As for my sisters, if a guy says girls can’t code as well as guys, then my
sisters just say “well, my sister wins competitions.” Anytime anyone says you
can’t code, it’s all the more reason to roll up your sleeves and work hard.
Remember, if you work hard, you can achieve anything and prove them all
wrong.”

~~~
striking
Thanks for this, actually. I'm not sure I love the term "propaganda" used on
puff pieces because of its denotation (I think it's a little much and yeah I'm
not disagreeing that you sounded a little "butthurt"), but I'm very glad that
you rewrote the essay into a more easily read, more accessible, more neutral
format.

I wish internet-based journalism promoted writing like your rewrite. It's too
bad neutral writing that isn't flamebait doesn't gather attention.

(And this would have gotten way more attention here if you omitted the
"butthurt" part from the beginning. HN readers love it when you're nice to
other people.)

~~~
microcolonel
Noted, I will update my post with that in mind. It really was pointless
anyway, nobody should care what I think of the original piece. I just get
annoyed when I read something like this; I would rather just read the
statements, but people want to make you think it proves their point.

Thank you for the feedback.

------
nimesh159
This is such an amazing story!

------
differentView
>As for my sisters, if a guy says girls can’t code as well as guys, then my
sisters just say “well, my sister wins competitions.”

>I’ve won 2 bronze medals at IOI, 1 bronze at CEOI, 2 silvers at IZhO. Mari,
Ani and I competed in HackerRank Women’s Cup as a team last year, and we
ranked third place! Some companies that sponsored the event even sent us a
letter after the contest, but I had to tell them that we’re too young right
now to work for them.

What records did they crush? They didn't even win any of the competitions they
mentioned.

~~~
komaromy
It's annoying when the subject of an article is interesting enough to warrant
attention but the headline is sensationalized regardless.

~~~
dang
To take this issue off the table, we've changed the title to something that's
factually supported by the article.

------
dcw303
To everyone arguing technicalities over whether they are actually winners, or
some odd mental gymnastics of reverse sexism, consider the following:

This article is not written for you. Not everything on the internet has to be.

If this story inspires just one woman to start a career in coding, then it is
worth all the collective eye-rolling.

~~~
and-can
I don't see many people arguing over technicalities here.

~~~
ryancouto
at this point in time, the 2nd highest comment is.

~~~
ikeboy
Note that new comments are weighted much higher (e.g. I've had top level
comments on a thread with several comments immediately show up first) and so
the fact that a comment is near the top at a point in time does not mean that
it's popular.

~~~
ryancouto
fair enough, TIL. thanks!

------
rustynails
I'm not sure what you mean by positive change.

Firstly, the article was very sexist and I don't see that changing any time
soon.

"programming is just another skill to be mastered through persistence — with
or without a Y chromosome.". Can anyone point me to a link where anyone (other
than a feminist) has said this?

Smashing of records? They came 2nd and 3rd in most instances. That's not
refuting they may be talented, but the title is misleading, in more ways than
one.

Look, my wife is a damn good engineer. I am not intimidated in the slightest
by good female engineers (I've mentored male and female engineers - despite
constant accusations from feminists that this does not happen).

Can we please establish a policy on YC that false, sexist or dishonest
articles (like this one) be discouraged? This is a thinly veiled pulp piece of
sexist journalism.

There has never been a myth that women can't code. My wife is over 50 and is
more than capable with specification, design, coding, testing (unit,
integration, regression, acceptance) and maintenance. She also does network
design, among many other skills. She's old school and got there on her own
motivation and talent, not puff and propaganda. I went to university with many
women in the same boat.

This is nothing but a propaganda piece. It's s shame we can't celebrate these
young people's success without resorting to sexism and untruths.

~~~
lotso
> Can anyone point me to a link where anyone (other than a feminist) has said
> this?

Seems odd to tie this to being a feminist. I would hope all commentators on HN
are feminists. What is your definition of a feminist?

> There has never been a myth that women can't code.

I don't think anyone says women "can't" code. I would say in most universities
in the US, you could reasonably argue there seems to be more barriers to women
majoring in CS than men for many reasons.

edit: For the people downvoting me, it would be great to explain why the
downvotes as opposed to participating in a discussion.

~~~
scrollaway
You're most likely being downvoted because you misunderstood the parent post.

Saying "you can code even if you're a woman" is _incredibly_ patronizing. It
was never in _question_.

If I started saying, "Well, I think everyone can code, even red-haired
people", it'd be negatively worded _against_ red-haired people.

Hey, have you ever heard a politician bring something up under the guise of
defending their opponents?

Like maybe say "I do not believe in these allegations about my opponent being
born outside the United States. And even if he isn't born in the US, it's not
relevant. We should talk about his policies, not about my opponent being born
outside the US."

~~~
startling
So, your argument is "no one has ever said men are better at writing programs
than women"?

~~~
scrollaway
Not only am I not arguing (and thus don't have an argument), but even if I
were, that would certainly not be my argument.

I was explaining why the comment was getting downvoted.

It is, however, interesting to see how you yourself are adopting a very
similar tactic to the one I talk about in the post you replied to. Simply
fascinating.

~~~
startling
OK, I'll try to be more explicit.

> Saying "you can code even if you're a woman" is incredibly patronizing. It
> was never in question.

This isn't true. Tons of people question this!

~~~
scrollaway
Are those people's opinions respectable?

I know people who question the earth being round. Who question the moon
landing. Does that mean the matter itself is "in question"?

I guess I phrased it pretty vaguely huh? Fair enough.

------
hermanbystand
> Remember asking a girl for help to understand integrals.

Why does this surprise you? Why do you think a girl couldn't teach you
anything about integrals?

So. Fucking. Sexist.

~~~
i_cannot_hack
I don't think he meant it like that at all. If he thought a girl couldn't
teach you anything about integrals, he wouldn't have asked for help.

I think he used it as an example to show that the cultural distinction in his
school between the genders when it came to math weren't enormous. Had there
been a clear culture of math as an all-boys-no-girls subject, that exchange
(were he as a boy asked a girl for help) would never have happened.

It is an example used to convey that it wasn't common for boys to think a girl
couldn't teach you anything about integrals.

~~~
hermanbystand
If it surprises anyone that a boy can ask a girl for help with maths, then
that person is a sexist.

Unless you think girls are worse at maths, then this is a null-story. Shall I
tell you a story about how as a child I saw that the sky is blue?

~~~
Infinitesimus
It comes across as you are more interested in being angry than trying to
understand what the original poster might have been saying(?)

> If it surprises anyone that a boy can ask a girl for help with maths, then
> that person is a sexist

I think everyone here agrees with you. My understanding of the original post's
point was:

"I asked a girl for help in math and it was nothing special; Just like asking
anyone who is good at math for help regardless of gender because we weren't
socialized to view girls as somehow inferior here

~~~
tomtoise
Your parent poster is from a 3 hour old account with no other contribution to
HN.

Safe to assume troll.

------
Htsthbjig
Smashing record? What they had done for humanity?

In my opinion is a bad idea to add too much pressure to kids, making them
compete in contest with absolutely no useful outcome.

When I was a kid I entered Mensa but went out soon because of the ill
competition "I am smarter than you" stupidity from tests that had nothing to
do with the real world. A constant ego battle between (in lots of non testable
ways) retarded people.

For me it was mental onanism, most of the people there will score enormously
in the IQ scores or playing chess but then fail in life: fail in love, fail in
relationships and fail in health. They will use excuses to rationalize the
fact that was known to them but I could see why: the environment was vicious.

In contrast at 15 or so I joined a group of crackers that were dam smart and
we were doing things. Forty years old experts would say a protection was
impossible to break and we will break it that same weekend.

It was so fun and we were doing things that nobody had done before. We did not
earn a penny but it was one of the most useful experiences I ever had: Getting
used to do things nobody has done before with a good team does improve other
people's lifes(and your own as a result) dramatically.

Had I been forced to do that when I was a kid I would never had done it.

I was told I was genius, then that I was not(when I refused to make IQ scores
anymore),just a precocious kid, and it was a great release, I had not pressure
over my shoulders to please others' expectations.

I could do as much dumb things as kids do. I was happy as a kid, and I am very
happy as an adult.

I feel sorry for this girls. Let girls be girls. Don't make them symbols of
women fight against XY chromosomes. Let those girls decide if the want to
become activist when they had grown up and could decide for themselves.

~~~
radicality
> making them compete in contest with absolutely no useful outcome.

Performing well at these contests means they will almost certainly be able to
get any tech job they want (considering our interviews are just 'solve this
algorithmic problem') and produce real useful outcome.

------
dafuq2
> The three sisters live in Georgia, a European country [...]

... Georgia is not a European country!

Stereotypical American author confirmed (no clue of geography / politics
outside of the US).

Next time please take a look at a map before writing a blog post.

~~~
brohee
And were would it be?

Georgia sings in the Eurovision, play football and rugby in the European
cups...

The frontier between Europe and Asia is an artificial construct, but Georgia
itself firmly sees itself in Europe...

~~~
pgeorgi
Eurovision Song Contest doesn't say anything about geography: Azerbaijan and
Morocco competed there in the past (being EBU members, Algeria, Tunesia,
Libya, and Egypt could apply, too).

------
oolongCat
Its the year 2016 and the author of this article is still under the assumption
that sex has something to do with skill gained through persistence.

\--edit-- My congrats to the girls, its really amazing, I could only imagine
the amount of work they put in to achieving everything.

