Comments on: Programming While Female: 13 Thoughts

By: jen

jen — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:10:33 +0000

Actually, that’s exactly what was said:
“When I graduated I decided to become a designer. After all I wanted to work in the tech field, but I “wasn’t smart enough to be a programmer”, and with my love of art, design seemed like a good compromise. Besides, that’s what nerdy chicks do – they become designers. Right?”

This was the line that I was referring to — that bothered me. It is also definitely a common fallacy in the computer science field, that programmers often tell designers to “make it pretty” — which is incredibly insulting.

As indicated, I simply think that the way this post was written is what creates that message, and that a bit of review and copyediting would alleviate the confusion. By the end of your post, I *sensed* that you didn’t mean it, and also the way I found your blog post (@kirabug) leads me to believe it had to be an oversight. It’s really tough to write about issues that one is passionate about, and it often helps to find someone to proofread before publishing. For web publishing, or maybe it’s just for the times, being concise is so important because our attention slips before the end of anything of any length.

By: admin

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:30:17 +0000

Hi Jen,

Nowhere did I say that designers aren’t as smart as programmers, and it wasn’t my intention to imply that at all.

Perhaps you are inferring that from the section where I said that I decided to become a designer because I didn’t perceive myself as being smart enough to be a programmer. But I would like to reiterate that I am only trying to honestly describe my own personal experiences and not to draw broad conclusions about anybody else. I also would like to emphasize that I eventually realized that I was *mistaken* in those perceptions – and part of that realization was that I was being unfair to design by using it as a sort of fallback position, instead of going for what I really wanted to do.

I have a deep respect for the craft of design and for designers. I’ve had the pleasure of working with many great ones. And I’m happy for you that you’ve found the right place. It’s just that *I personally* am much better as a programmer than as a designer, and again this is my own personal story.

By: Stubbornella (Nicole Sullivan)

Stubbornella (Nicole Sullivan) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:59:26 +0000

Your post was wonderful, funny, and I totally love #10. Like you, as long as I feel safe, crude humor or being hit on just don’t bug me. Those aren’t really the things I would change.

By: Tweets that mention Beautiful Interfaces » Blog Archive » Programming While Female: 13 Thoughts -- Topsy.com

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:43:34 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bri Lance and anne gibson, anne gibson. anne gibson said: RT @yeah_its_me: Blog post: 13 thoughts on Programming While Female http://bit.ly/dvgkXy (Kinda long, also personal. But not too comba … [...]

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:32:14 +0000

(multiple-talented >>> multi-talented, damned iPhone autocorrect)

And, also, I am a front-end developer as well as a designer.

By: Jen

Jen — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:29:48 +0000

I appreciate the intent of your blog post but so many of the statements cause anger to rise and choke in my throat. The assumption that designers aren’t as smart as programmers being the most glaring. Emotional intelligence is one of the most undervalued skills on the planet and one that is an asset in any field. Designers *must* cultivate this, be empathetic, in order to design well. Some of us are multiple-talented, and I had the option of pursuing math, computer science, politics, language, or art in college. Creating art was like breathing deeply, so art was my choice. When designing or developing, for print or screen, I still have that breathing deeply feeling. It isn’t because I’m not as smart as a programmer. In fact, I think I’m smarter than most programmers because I can do it all — including proofing & copyediting. Words are powerful and we must be careful how we discuss this tenuous subject.

By: Anne Gibson

Anne Gibson — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 02:12:11 +0000

Our paths have been remarkably parallel – except that I’m running even farther behind the “you started coding at 8, right?” curve than you have been. Plus, I’m a few years older…. And where you diverted into design, I spent about 10 years proving that maybe girls can’t be video game programmers, but at least we can fix a PC just as well as a guy can.

(We can be both – but I have not yet convinced myself that just because *girls* can write video games meant *I* can write video games. I wonder how many of us believe in the stereotypes that our very existence disprove.)

If you ever wondered whether you could be an inspiration to a geek grrl, well, let me be the first to say that you already are.