[Bramble]

While it might help "normalize" a programming career, it also reinforces the idea that no matter what a woman has accomplished (or is capable of) in her career, her physical appearance is at least as important when evaluating her accomplishments.

Full disclosure: I am a woman. I am also a student and CS major. I happen to be conventionally attractive, and rather than inspiring me, this kind of article contributes to certain fears I have, going into the industry. If we want to inspire young girls to be interested in programming, we should highlight the work of people like Marissa Meyer, who have worked really hard over many years...not give them the impression that being born tall and beautiful is as important as their resumes.

[scotty79]

You may have same objections toward articles that would mention how much money a man makes, what an excelent breadwinner he is, how breave or strong he is. It would reinforce the idea that no matter how accomplished man is in his career what matters is how much money he makes or how manly he is.

I don't think that looks of Marrisa Mayer were not a factor in how much her story was covered.

[eshvk]

> If we want to inspire young girls to be interested in programming, we should highlight the work of people like Marissa Meyer, who have worked really hard over many years...not give them the impression that being born tall and beautiful is as important as their resumes.

It is funny you say that because guess what showed up on my Linkedin news feed the other day. [1]

[1] http://qz.com/166317/why-it-makes-sense-to-pay-beautiful-ceo...

[Bramble]

I am aware that Marissa Meyer's looks are often spoken of. However, before she was a CEO, she earned degrees from some of the world's most highly ranked universities and did interesting work for another 13 years.

Regarding the article you posted - the advantage that attractive people have in the workplace is not limited to women; attractive men also earn this benefit. In fact, some studies show that if attractive women are applying for typically male-dominated fields, they are rated more negatively than their unattractive counterparts. Attractive males do not experience a noted disadvantage when applying for any job.

Further info on this phenomenon: http://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/orsp_shahani-denning_spring03.pdf

[xionon]

That's a good point that I hadn't considered, thanks for the POV-check.