> Automatic Digital Calculators follows the Booths' groundbreaking 1947 work, Coding for A.R.C., which proposed an assembly code which could be converted into an executable machine code by an "assembler" utility programme. Between 1947 and 1953 they built three machines utilizing this language: the Automatic Relay Calculator, Simple Electronic Computer, and All-purpose Electric (X) Computer.
Notice how many of these were created after 2000, when efforts to get women into IT were already in full swing (certainly at my university).
Women have had two decades now to demonstrate that it was the fault of gatekeeping that certain parts of programming remain almost exclusively male (with the giant asterisk of MtF-trans being an oddly prevalent archetype, and thus, really a false signal).
It's sad, but the feminist perspective is to start from the assumption that sexism is the cause, and work backwards from that.
As someone else pointed out: there is no substitute for just doing the work, especially in a field where all you need to do is show up and publish. The barriers couldn't be lower, compared to virtually every other field, but that objective measure is irrelevant because the motivation is to validate a subjective feeling of collectivized mistreatment. The implication is that we are sorely missing out on some unique insights and contributions, and yet, everyone would welcome those insights, if they were there.
If you go look, you can find endless casual declarations about how women are better at communicating, empathizing, judgement and taste... but if there is even a single thing that it would appear men are always going to be better at, then that's treated as a Problem to be solved by complaining about it. This mainly serves to attract attention and resources so they can turn complaining into their job, or at least, a lucrative source of leads and income.
kbelder|9 months ago
Funny that the only female on that list designed the most hardcore masculine language.
n4r9|9 months ago
> Automatic Digital Calculators follows the Booths' groundbreaking 1947 work, Coding for A.R.C., which proposed an assembly code which could be converted into an executable machine code by an "assembler" utility programme. Between 1947 and 1953 they built three machines utilizing this language: the Automatic Relay Calculator, Simple Electronic Computer, and All-purpose Electric (X) Computer.
https://www.peterharrington.co.uk/automatic-digital-calculat...
aaron695|9 months ago
[deleted]
aaaja|9 months ago
[deleted]
xigoi|9 months ago
unconed|9 months ago
Women have had two decades now to demonstrate that it was the fault of gatekeeping that certain parts of programming remain almost exclusively male (with the giant asterisk of MtF-trans being an oddly prevalent archetype, and thus, really a false signal).
It's sad, but the feminist perspective is to start from the assumption that sexism is the cause, and work backwards from that.
As someone else pointed out: there is no substitute for just doing the work, especially in a field where all you need to do is show up and publish. The barriers couldn't be lower, compared to virtually every other field, but that objective measure is irrelevant because the motivation is to validate a subjective feeling of collectivized mistreatment. The implication is that we are sorely missing out on some unique insights and contributions, and yet, everyone would welcome those insights, if they were there.
If you go look, you can find endless casual declarations about how women are better at communicating, empathizing, judgement and taste... but if there is even a single thing that it would appear men are always going to be better at, then that's treated as a Problem to be solved by complaining about it. This mainly serves to attract attention and resources so they can turn complaining into their job, or at least, a lucrative source of leads and income.