Most people in tech don't work 12 hours... it is not the norm. Maybe it's a Bay Area or early startup thing, but I never have.
Even if you were right, a lot of other office/"professional" jobs work just as much or longer than us. My friends (female and male) working here in NYC in other industries (finance, marketing, accounting, etc.) usually work 9-10 hours and don't take a lunch break (work while eating). Some careers like nursing are known for their crazy hours.
I've seen it almost everywhere, that's been my experience, but that's anecdotal. I do primarily work with startupy companies and large corps with aggressive environments.
> My friends (female and male) working here in NYC in other industries (finance, marketing, accounting, etc.) usually work 9-10 hours
These are industries dominated by men ...
> Some careers like nursing are known for their crazy hours.
It's not the consecutive hour count that's the issue, but the total hour count. Nurses do work long stretches of time, but they also get long stretches of time off.