Is professional success the new vogue for compromising on feminism?

A SYTYCB entry

“it’s our job (for now) to be easily integrated into an all-male team, nonthreatening, and hyperskilled”

This quotes from an outline for session offered by Lady Coders previously titled “Men Are Not the Enemy.” Since the following concerns have been raised the session’s title has changed. Unfortunately much of the original copy still remains with an added aftertaste of the assumption that all interview panels will be all male all the time.

Lady Coders bills itself as a project that “want[s] to help women get into technology careers”. The problem of course is that the talks projected and advice given by Lady Coders enforces gendered stereotypes. It does next to nothing for women as a whole and nothing at all for women who don’t conform to herternomative gender roles. This approach, if successful, would only serve to garner success for the already privileged, individual woman who make those compromises.

It might just be lazy or “hip” rhetoric employed by copy writers, but I really hope they don’t mean it. Because this is not feminism or if it is, it’s a twisted sort of feminism. Am I nuts, or is bowing to sexist hierarchies to gain professional success becoming the new vogue for compromising on feminist goals?

Case and point: responses to feminists who’ve expressed concern about LC’s rhetoric identify the compromises the project promotes as necessary and that those dissenting are merely ideological purists. So I guess professional success is more important than standing up for your own boundaries & beliefs about sexism?

Now compromising on one’s boundaries & beliefs for survival is often an unfortunate necessity for many. I would not fault anyone for doing something like identifying with an inaccurate gender/name in order to receive social services. Subsistence depends on that compromise. Folks in such situations are at the actual mercy of the social services system. Their compromise is based on human rights. Which is completely different from compromising on boundaries & beliefs to secure higher financial and professional status. If you have a skill that is valued by the industry that you choose you have power. You are not at the mercy of that industry/system in the way that others are. This privilege is important to recognize as having contributed to your success.

This whole Lady Coders mess comes to me via my partner who is a web developer. We’re both furious at the language used by Lady Coders and agree that it discourages authentic expressions of women’s identities. Oh yes, this project will get more women in the room, but a diverse expression of ideas and experiences will be discouraged by its approach. Coding is creative, knowledge based work. It needs a diversity of ideas to approach the incredible diversity problems knowledge based work invariably presents.

In this sense it would actually behoove the tech (and other knowledge-based) industries to welcome gender diversity with open arms. It is risky, but in the long run it stands to make them more successful, competitive, and flexible.The idea that female job candidates must compromise their identity in order to work in certain places is straight up sexist. It alienates women from their work & depletes recourses of experience and ideas that any business will have to call upon.

The brand of compromise being sold by Lady Coders also contributes to a system of successful women shaming those less successful. Women who have compromised and gained success often express deep disdain for women who have not. Often saying that if other women don’t trade on things like their appearance or novelty that they are just “not trying hard enough”. Feminists critiques of successful professionals are often characterized as negative, purist, or squarely against individual success.

Marissa Mayer, staunch non-feminist was recently hired CEO of Yahoo!

This tactic, used both by Lady Coders and it’s defenders, is a clear strawman dismissal of the very real concerns exposed by feminist questions. They offer no challenge to the current status quo & appear to be completely eager to feed big tech companies token female techies who’ll help them look progressive while publicly excoriating those who refuse to compromise their feminist values.

Not radical ladies, really, just not…

If you are interested in learning about and supporting awesome feminist coding projects check out Black Girls Code and Girl Develop It.