zlacker

So, here's the thing: I think there are lots of good points in everything you wrote here, and yours is the only response to mine that I've upvoted. And I don't even disagree with most of it: I tend toward thinking that the gap is multicausal and that attribution is difficult. "Playing Doom" is exactly the type of thing I mean when I say I think socialization is a major factor in the gap. We could have an interesting back and forth to draw out if and where we disagree.

But my point is that's not the kind of discussion you could have on social media (or, god forbid, ill-advised internally published manifestos) and a not get significant blowback. If I see several friends sharing an article that describes a study effectively showing women are better than men at using Microsoft Word and using that as proof of deep sexism in tech, I'm posed with two choices: I can accurately point out that doesn't make sense as an argument and get people really mad at me for ruining a feel-good social moment, or I can do nothing and roll my eyes internally. Most reasonable people will do the latter, and I don't see how that's a good thing.