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What an incredibly important book for little boys, to normalize learning from women early on so they don't grow up to form stereotypes like "programming is for
by jcoder 13y ago
What an incredibly important book for little boys, to normalize learning from women early on so they don't grow up to form stereotypes like "programming is for men". Bravo!
- ultimatedelman 13y agothis comment is asinine. please leave HN.
- jcoder 13y agoYou may have missed my point, but that's probably my fault :P.
- deveac 13y agoI believe the point he was making was essentially that because this book eschews traditional stereotypes and cultural messaging about disciplines like science and math being the purview of males, not only do girls benefit, but boys do as well by virtue of the fact that the values they are being taught are less selectively biased. Not only do young women win (obvious), but young men do as well as they are less likely to both accept and perpetuate stereotypes. It was a bit muddled, but that is how I read his argument.
- jcoder 13y agoYes I agree with that. Sorry for not taking the time to make a coherent argument :)
- shangxiao 13y agoI agree with the sentiment here, but please don't argue that boys benefit from this by having the chance to be obedient little utilities.
- deveac 13y ago>but please don't argue that boys benefit from this by having the chance to be obedient little utilities. I wasn't arguing anything, merely clarifying the point of that poster. But since you brought it up, the argument that boys benefit from being exposed to values like acceptance of diversity, and stand to gain by not being exposed to gender prejudice as they learn about the world around them...well it is an argument I not only accept, but embrace. What a cynical and devious re-framing of the poster's argument btw. Aren't you something.
- shangxiao 13y agoHere we go... the delicate genius has been insulted... Your use of quoting and italicised text makes you look so much more intelligent than me. Btw, I wasn't reframing the poster's comment. That's what I was agreeing with, but I bet you couldn't see from behind all the red.
- deveac 13y agoAgain, I think you may be confused. The poster's argument that you're claiming to agree with is the same argument that you're taking issue with when you say: >I agree with the sentiment here, but please don't argue that boys benefit from this by having the chance to be obedient little utilities. but please don't argue that boys benefit from this by having the chance to be obedient little utilities. That boys benefit is precisely the argument the poster is making (your framing them as "obedient little utilities" notwithstanding). Additionally, the usage of italics simply indicates emphasis. It's one of the most mundane aspects of written English. Nothing fancy about it, FYI.
- Confusion 13y agoNote: author is being sincere. It's easy to read the comment as ugly sarcasm, inspired by whatever -ism comes to mind.
- ultimatedelman 13y agothat's not how i read it. i read it as a sarcastic comment berating the author for allegedly creating a book that perpetuates gender stereotypes. to be fair, if i re-read it after having had my morning coffee, i can see how, if sincere, it's actually a good comment. if that's the case, i retract my comment.
- jcoder 13y agoAbsolutely sincere, but pre-coffee as well :)
- throwawaycoder 13y agoExcept that most kindergarden nurses and primary school teachers are women, so they already normalize learning from women all the time. Oh, and of course mothers are women, too, and most kids spend more time with their mothers than with their fathers. (I have nothing against a programming book written by woman - I learned Java from the Java Tutorial and earned lots of money with it - but I ask people to challenge their prejudices). I even sent the author of the Java Tutorial a fan email once (the original author was a woman, don't know what it's current state is).