Well this post could go wrong, very wrong, the latest in the Geek Girl dinners has just been announced and this time it’s in the North, Manchester to be exact, and I think that’s fantastic, I’m in support of anything that helps women in technology (a nod to PHPWomen) infact I’m in support of anything that gets anyone into technology but I have mixed opinion’s on this one..
Last summer I wanted to do something good, a run or a walk (I eventually settled on the great north run) but I found the 1st St. Gemma’s Hospice midnight walk, all was good and I was up for it until I read the small print that it was yet another women only event (much like the race for life) , I called up to ask why and was given the blank response that men are too competitive and less women would enter. I was quite pissed off at this overgeneralised statement (at 17st with some good sized man boob’s a competitive run was the last thing on my mind) but was assured they would run this years event and reconsider for next yet (which is on this year and still a women’s only event).
So the Geek Girl Dinner is soon, a good mate of mine (Imran Ali) has been on about organising one of these for months in Leeds and we’ve had the discussion several times that it defeats the point of the group if he organised it..
I think splitting things up into sexes does more harm that good in most cases, but with technology, I think that its such a visibly male dominated industry, I think we need groups like PHPWomen and GGD to provide not just support to women in the same field but also ideas and discussion.
This isn’t a dig at Imran (or Manoj) for helping with organising these things (I know I’ll get an MSN message about it as soon as he reads this) because hes working on whatever he can to get the community working together however I carn’t help but feel that with (at least partly) male organisation and presence, the discussion, questions, answers and ideas generated will be affected.
Whilst thinking this it brought me back to the overgeneralised statement that the hospice made last year and how not everyone is the same but it also reminded me that just last year when I went to my first Geekup and didn’t know anyone how difficult it was to have the ball’s (a pun) to go to somewhere I’ve never been with a group of people I’ve never met).
I don’t think I can go to a Geek Girl Dinner as a participant (I’d go to give it some coverage from northcast if they wanted it) but I know I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from being the big gobbed guy from Leeds and I think that would be detrimental to the event
February 7th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
I have an internal fight every time someone mentions girl geek only events - on one hand it’s about supporting the female geek community (which thanks to Lorna I understand the importance of now) but on the other hand I feel it is almost telling the rest of the community that we think we should be treated differently and this is the exact type of situation we should be trying to avoid. So I remain on the fence.
February 7th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I’m very active in the phpwomen.org group but actually that’s more to do with who they are than how I feel about women in tech groups. I agree with Debs, we shouldn’t be treated any differently, we’re not more special and we don’t need any allowances made. Any group with excludes people on certain groups are negatively biased in my opinion. So long as there is a shared aim I don’t think it matters who you are (phpwomen.org is the main experience I’ve had and we accept guys and they definite contribute the the group).
Tthe womens groups I’ve met so far have been amazing for female solidarity and moral support. I love hanging around with the guy geeks and I learn a lot from them. But there are women everywhere who face the same issues as I have, and just as women have always shared experiences and advice, its nice to have that for our professional lives too.
February 7th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I’m not saying that blokes shouldn’t be allowed to these events and its a difficult thing to specify without pissing people off, Obviously I’m a bloke but I know of girls who would be more up for going to an all girl event and have the confidence to speak out and ask questions that at a normal event would seem basic and silly..
It’s a can of worms…
June 25th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Why does it take a man (Imran) to get involved in organising such an event?