Valley Girls
A couple of weeks ago I attended the Silicon Valley Girl Geek Dinner at Google. I've been curious about Women 2.0 and what they were about since I was supposedly in their target demographic. The event left me feeling disappointed because it felt more like a pep rally than a professional development event. Beyond all the slick marketing and corporate sponsorship, there was little substance.
This conversation I overheard at the conclusion of the discussion panel summed it up best:
Girl: Oh honey, this event was so empowering!Girl's boyfriend: As long as it was empowering for you, dear...
I agreed with her boyfriend. The event wasn't particularly empowering.
Today, I received an invitation to participate in the second OpenSocial Hackathon.
One particular mandatory field on the registration form caught my attention (mostly because it wouldn't let me proceed without submitting an answer for it.)
My first reaction was, "I am a designer and developer who happens to be female, but I don't see what difference that makes, and why this question is mandatory. Are these people sexist?"
This question makes it sound like they're willing to lower the bar to accommodate women, which makes me feel insulted. I understand that they're trying to encourage more females to come out and participate, but the messaging isn't particularly empowering.
To quote Mike:
By trying to compensate for the historical mistreatment of a group you isolate it and reinforce the definition of the differences between that group and the rest of the world