> she wildly speculates that they must only be asking her because she is female
Not sure what article you were reading but all she doesn't say anything of the sort. She simply points out that companies need to realize some questions may come with extra cultural baggage which could be misinterpreted.
It does. The questioner asked her if she understood the game before she started her code challenge. She proceeded to extrapolate from this by calling such questioning "belittling and sexist", implying that they're only asking HER because she is female. So yes, it is wild speculation on her behalf because she has no idea if the employer also asked guys the same thing.
> While it's a good thing to make sure the candidate understands what the problem is, companies need to be aware that these things carry extra cultural baggage and asking a female candidate if they understand a basic sports rule (or any other male dominated theme) comes across as belittling and sexist.
The full thing.
> she wildly speculates that they must only be asking her because she is female
Your bit.
At no point does she say they she thinks they are only asking her because she is female, in fact I read that as she knows that they ask everyone and not only women but the general context of the question and cultural baggage associated with the context can come across as belittling and sexist even when that is not the intent.
What you are quoting is out of context. The sentence prior to the one you quoted mentions her specifically. So the proceeding sentence seems to use her personal experience as a basis to then make a broader claim in a more general context.
> If your code challenge involves a typically male oriented theme, such as sports, consider changing it to something else. Why not use something more neutral? I did a code challenge that involved ranking soccer teams, and while going over the code a developer at the company asked me if I needed the rules of the game explained to me.
Statement of fact, no "feminism" on display, no hint of anger that they asked her this question, this is merely explaining the situation. No "They only asked me because I am a woman" speculation.
> While it's a good thing to make sure the candidate understands what the problem is, companies need to be aware that these things carry extra cultural baggage and asking a female candidate if they understand a basic sports rule (or any other male dominated theme) comes across as belittling and sexist
Wherein she offers advice on why this might not be a good idea due to contextual baggage. A piece of advice as I mentioned in my previous comment.
> So.. the company asks a candidate if they understand the game, and just because the author of this post is female, she wildly speculates that they must only be asking her because she is female. This is ludicrous. Sounds like a feminist.
There is nothing she has written anywhere in any of these where she "wildly speculates that they must only be asking her because she is female" or says anything that indicates your rather pejorative use of "She must be a feminist".
1) "...while going over the code a developer at the company asked me if I needed the rules of the game explained to me."
2) "...asking a female candidate if they understand a basic sports rule...comes across as belittling and sexist."
It seems pretty explicit that she found it sexist that they asked if she needed the rules explained. If she finds them sexist for asking her the question (as opposed to not asking), she must think they only asked because she's female. I don't see how it can be read otherwise. However, I don't think this makes the lady an OTT feminist.
A possible workaround would be to provide a cheat-sheet with a rules summary. I think one would be less likely to see or assume sexism if there are hard materials on offer to the interviewee - it implies that the same question and materials are used for a number of candidates, and an interviewer is unlikely to withhold the cheat-sheet just because an interviewee is male.
"She must think they only asked because she's female"
Alternatively, she cannot know whether they only asked because she's female. She has to give them the benefit of the doubt, but it leaves her wondering, because it's something someone with sexist attitudes would be more likely to say. If they had chosen a more neutral topic, or presented the material in a way where it was clear that male and female candidates were treated identically, she wouldn't have been placed in that position. Her point is about how it comes across, not about how it was intended. It's more, "here's how you can avoid accidentally making candidates unsure whether you are sexist" and not "this was a sexist thing that happened".
>>> If your code challenge involves a typically male oriented theme, such as sports, consider changing it to something else. Why not use something more neutral?
Since when sport is not neutral? The quoted sentence makes it sound as if sports is some rich white dudes privilege. I would understand her if she was asked to sort women by attractiveness.
Not sure what article you were reading but all she doesn't say anything of the sort. She simply points out that companies need to realize some questions may come with extra cultural baggage which could be misinterpreted.