

Walter Isaacson on the women of ENIAC - petethomas
http://fortune.com/2014/09/18/walter-isaacson-the-women-of-eniac/

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parennoob
I like this article a lot, it shows how women have been able to be successful
at getting into math and programming irrespective of the otherwise strongly
sexist attitude of their times. I think this actively demonstrates that
societal sexism might _not_ the reason for more women not being interested and
working in technology ('might' being the key word here).

This part of the article is key: "The night before the demonstration was
Valentine’s Day, but despite their normally active social lives, Snyder and
Jennings did not celebrate. “Instead, we were holed up with that wonderful
machine, the ENIAC, busily making the last corrections and checks on the
program,” Jennings recounted."

Think about how a man (or woman) who said this today would be treated. Would
they be lionized as a good, intelligent person dedicated to their job, or
would they be called a "f--king dork" and parodied on the Big Bang Theory?
(Notice how the article finds it imperative to state that they had otherwise
normal social lives.) How might either situation affect boys trying to get
into technology? How might it affect girls?

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anouk_anca
> I think this actively demonstrates that societal sexism might not the reason
> for more women not being interested and working in technology

I don't really agree. What I understood from the article was that, in the
past, when programming was marketed as a women's job, it was mostly women
doing it, whereas now, when it's stereotyped as a male job, it's mostly men
doing it.

