Fairytales

[ljplicease]

I just wasted an evening installing software (Gentoo Linux… not worth it). I’ve come to the realization that software is never going to be exactly “right” for me, and the alternative of writing my own for every task in life is a loosing proposition. Everything is either too big or doesn’t have enough features. Nothing is, as Goldilocks would say, “just right.” There was this brief period in my life when I was completely happy spending my time taking photographs and pretending that I wasn’t a programmer anymore. I miss those days.

Speaking of Goldilocks, clichés and fairytales, mum was complaining the other day about someone at Sydney Uni who was using fairytales to justify his male chauvinism (it’s sad if you are a grown man and are using fairytales to try and understand how the world works). Her analysis was that she would be less likely to have to put up with such attitudes back in the states.

This was all happening at about the same time when I was reading a thread on slashdot (ug… which I am embarrassed to say that I have become addicted to) about crossing the gender barrier in an IT work environment. The question was asked: “How do you make it easier for a woman to enter in or interact well with gender cliques in an IT environment?” IT is of course (sadly) dominated by men, and I shouldn’t have been surprised that the /. crowed would be likewise dominated but I was shocked that the primary response to the question was: “I’d like to say ‘hi’ to women new hires, but if I did then I might get sued for sexual harassment and get fired, so instead I avert my eyes and walk the other way when I see them in the hallway.”

Does that actually happen? I mean in the numbers that would justify that kind of response? I suspect the number of men who have been unfairly dismissed from their jobs due to alleged sexual harassment is negligible. I think “some” people think they are victims because they are required to watch a one-hour instructional video once a year on stuff that should be obvious. Get over it.

Comments

[danicasalmon.livejournal.com]

I think it goes both ways - we're all afraid to approach a colleague. Maybe not so much fear of being fired for sexual harrassment, more just creating an uncomfortable workplace.

And as much as Generation HECS has learned to master, we completely missed clear rolemodels on how to relate to the oposite sex and what relationships are and are for, or how to express our feelings, without requiring the universe to revolve around us.

Everyone whats love - and not just the sex kind. More and more people are seeking community and to have non-sexual peers, of either gender, who make them feel special and important and who inspire us to want to be kind.

Rejection isn't fun, just as for most people rejecting another is uncomfortable.

So I came up with this - I'm passing through, and I thought I'd say "Hi, nice to "meet" you, I wish I could live in a few of your photographs"

Danica

[plicease]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed my photos. They are fun to take. I have a whole pile that I need to process and post. It’s the task that never ends ☺

I agree with you about uncomfortable workplaces. I don’t really want to socialize with the people that I work with for the most part. I’d rather compartmentalize my social and working life. There have been a few exceptions here and there. One of my closest friends was briefly my officemate (female friend too, and no law suits), but fortunately neither of us works for that company anymore (not because it was a bad company, but because it’s better for our friendship).

I just think fear of sexual harassment suits is a poor excuse for not interacting well with people.