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The mere fact that so many software developers don't see the big issue here is exactly the big issue.



Why? People who don't get jobs because of their gender is a big issue. Why, of all problems, is this a big issue?

In my not so humble opinion, people are simply looking for something to complain about. If there were a supposedly man-degrading word that could easily be expressed in hex, I'd use that for debugging, too. There's absolutely no reason to think that the use of these words is somehow meant as some sort of insult, and taking it as such appears to me to show a very rigid mind.


I don't see the big issue. The phrase "big boobs" alone is not sexist.

If it had said "the only good thing about women is big boobs" this would be a different case, but it doesn't. The phrase alone means nothing and anyone calling it derogatory or celebratory is simply projecting.


The big issue I see is a bunch of men, most of whom have probably never actually worked with a woman in a STEM field, think they are experts on what such women would find offensive.


I find this hypothesis truly bizarre. Since almost the late 80's I have been in one of these (clever acronym du-jour) STEM fields, and have yet to NOT have worked with women in my group, as peers. (My background is primarily writing banking software, if that matters.) I've never NOT worked with a female geek programmer either at my level or above.

My anecdote is not data, but neither are vast and wild generalizations like you are making.


Exactly. What a depressing array of responses here. This is precisely why this needed attention.


Especially in a forum, where very frequently, there is a post about sexism in our industry and a call to attract more women to the field.




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