women and their shoes

I just heard a male coworker refer to "women and their shoes!". Then he back-pedaled, probably because he knew I might have heard him and said "not all women of course, though many of them!".

I do not own many pairs of shoes.

Why do some people feel a need to randomly spout statements based on stereotypes?

the benefit of being a female software engineer

Toilets / CC BY-ND 2.0
Originally uploaded by
jscatty (Jed Scattergood)

Jean Hsu recently blogged about the The Benefits of Being a Female Software Engineer.

Being a female software engineer, myself, I didn't find her comments very applicable:

1. Casual attire: in fact, many other jobs allow casual attire, and many companies require that engineers wear business casual. It's true that I'm getting away with ratty jeans at my current company, but that has nothing to do with me being a female software engineer.
2. Good odds for catching a mate: I have yet to find a suitable mate in any of the offices where I've worked as a developer. In fact most of the guys I've met are already part of a couple. I admit, though, I'm not looking for a mate, so maybe that's part of it.
3. Less drama: she claims women are more likely to be "drama queens." Really? In my experience, men are as likely to throw tantrums as women. All highly unprofessional, but it happens.
4. Being memorable: and how is this an advantage? If people simply remember you as "that female engineer who works at X" not as "the most talented engineer who works at X", how does that help? In fact, women are often put in their own separate category, as in sports events, so they're not even compared with the top men at all.
5. Being liked: She says women shower, and bring brownies, and are therefore liked. I've never brought food in to share with coworkers, although some of my male colleagues have. I shower daily, and so far as I can tell, all my male colleagues do also. So far as I can tell, "being liked" has more to do with your personality than anything else(avoiding being an ass helps).

Jean neglected to mention the most important (probably the only) advantage to being a female software engineer. If you work in an area dominated by the engineering department, you will find that the ladies' restroom is almost always quiet, clean, and empty.