I am a hacker, and I find this interesting. Changing perceptions on traditional gender roles and issues is very much within the realm of intellectual curiosity. I don't see a problem with this story wrt. the guidelines.
The story was just fine with respect to the guidelines. The thread, unfortunately (and predictably), was not. I share your frustration about that, but I also understand why many users flagged the story—not because it's uninteresting or unimportant, but because HN, or rather a small subset of HN users, can't manage to discuss it without a flamewar.
