[LRUG] Ru3y Manor diversity

[Paul Robinson]

On 19 Sep 2011, at 21:29, Matthew Rudy Jacobs wrote:

> I do think it's strange to focus on such things, when they've never been a problem.


I can see why you might think that, but I think many of us who are interested in redressing the balance of inequality in the sector would disagree with you.

I can't think of a tech conference that I've been to or heard of that had a participant demographic in reasonable alignment with the demographic of society at large.

By definition then if we care about equality, there is a problem it's just not one that most of us have a huge amount of pain around for various reasons, and so it's not in the forefront of our minds, perhaps.

Perhaps it should be. This sounds like a good chance to make it not so much a front-and-center issue, but at least make it clear it's been thought about.

There are many reasons for the demographic slants being so skewed, so it's good to be mindful of them and to work hard to ensure that the only reasons that those who aren't white, degree-educated, able-bodied males can give for not participating in a community event is a lack of interest.

I don't expect I'll ever go to a tech conference in the UK where only 85% of attendees are white, 84% from England (the rest from other home nations), 6% gay, 71% Christian (!) and 51% female (!!). However that doesn't mean as an industry and as a community we can work to being more *accessible* and for our identity to be at least perceived of as being more open and welcoming.

Plus, even though I'm a white, middle-class, able-bodied male, even *I* find the gratuitous sexualisation present in some talks and at some trade shows offensive. At the very best it just detracts from interesting ideas and discussions, and at worst it makes the assumption about me that as a male I want everything to be framed in the context of female sexuality as if I were an immature adolescent bewitched entirely by base onanistic needs. I can only imagine how women must feel in the same scenario, and that's before the inappropriate direct comments, stalking and - in one case I know of - allegedly, sexual assault that they suffer.

As a community, we can - and should - do better than that! :-)

I think this article is a good - albeit lengthy - discussion of some of the issues underneath all this, specifically in relation to the Ruby/Rails community: http://martinfowler.com/bliki/SmutOnRails.html

The very end is worth quoting:

"Can we get off this subject now and on to important technical issues?

Actually I think a social issue like this is worth spending time on. To build software effectively you have to be able to collaborate with other people, both other programmers and people outside of the software community. Discussions like this help us understand how we relate with other people, which makes a huge contribution to both our professional and personal lives.

'Being a professional isn't just about being good at your job, it's about being proud of the impact you have on the world in general. We have a duty to make the world a better place.'

-- Jez Humble"


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