Thoughts on GitHub Giving Free Private Repos to Women

jolly_mcfats · 2013-04-28T21:39:12+00:00

My first thought was that it was an example of gallantry, rather than encouragement. Since you have to be a programmer to understand why you would want a repo, handing them out for free to women is more an act of appreciation than encouragement. But it didn't really bother me because- repos are cheap, and this isn't a big deal compared to say, the crisis in education.

Then I read the rationale:

This reluctance has good reasons behind it: fear of being told they are bad programmers, fear of being publicly mocked or harassed, and even fear of losing job opportunities. All of these are greater risks for women on average than men

and I have to ask: wtf is wrong with this generation? Don't kids start off with anonymous, disposable, throwaway handles? My generation did, and it solved almost all the problems they claim are specific to girls right away.

I really don't like feminism that tells women not to step up. The Ada initiative isn't telling women in tech to be agents who take risks and do things, it is telling them to be objects that have things done for them. It isn't telling them to face their insecurities, to blow off unconsctructive criticism, and benefit from constructive criticism- it's telling them that they should expect coddling. This isn't "yes we can!", it's "take care of us!".

stop_stalking_me · 2013-04-29T00:22:52+00:00

Well it's obviously so people don't fork their repos.

/oppressive repo joke

tonyespresso · 2013-04-28T21:12:52+00:00

I am not a programmer myself, however I read the author's commentary about Github offering a free service to aspiring women coders--and I think her characterization of it seems accurate. I am gratified to discover that even a female can have this perspective--and it gives me hope.

arch4non · 2013-04-28T23:30:58+00:00

Title is misleading.

Update: GitHub has clarified that they are not giving women free private repos as the original Ada Initiative post seemed to imply. GitHub gave Ada Initiative an org account, which means AI is providing women with repos from their org account.

...

Men suffer the same anxiety as women do when it comes to releasing code publicly. The difference is that society has made it less socially acceptable for men to show that they’re afraid. Men have to suck it up and deal, women get mollycoddled. Both options suck.

Title	Thoughts on GitHub Giving Free Private Repos to Women
Author	tonyespresso
Upvotes	16
Comments	6
Date	April 28, 2013 9:10 PM UTC (13 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/mensrights/comments/1dakqe/thoughts-on-github-giving-free-private-repos-to-/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/thoughts-on-github-giving-free-private-repos-to.1611532 https://theredarchive.com/post/1611532

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