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Beyond Diversity

Caveat: I am an adult Caucasian male with a college degree, middle-class status and no religious leanings or obvious physical handicaps. While this is probably the worst time in Western Civilization to be a white male, overall, white males still seem to get the breaks over other genders/races/religions/and so on.

However, I just read on kottke.org yet another article about how women are under-represented at web/design/tech conferences. I've tried to stay out of the whole "why aren't there more women bloggers?" and so-on blog memes, but here are some thoughts.

And I'm sure I'll look back on this and decide that I'm an ass.

Whatever.

• I think - especially with the tech industry - we've moved beyond the person issue. You know, "on the internet, no one knows you're a dog." It's more what you can do/say, not what you look like. What you look like can help [esp. for women, agreed], but it doesn't cut the other way - see Dave Winer or (the invisible) Pamela Jones. Who cares what they look like/what gender they are? It's what they do/write.


• While I still firmly believe women and minorities - overall - have a tougher row to hoe than white males, we're past the fulcrum on that issue today, especially in tech (with all the terrorism issues today, Middle Eastern males would seem verboten, but they are a big part of tech, and it's really not an issue).


• We have to get beyond this whole "hey, there are fewer [x] than [y] at this conference - we need to promote diversity!" Maybe X makes up 10% of the US population, but really only makes up, for example, 3% of router engineers. So why should one expect 10% of attendees to a router engineer conference to be X?


• Does this mean we should all be the same? God no! Women are different than men, gays from straights, religious from agnostics and so on. It differs with each person, but diversity is good. But just because a balance is off, let's not go ballistic. I like Thai food; I like Chinese food. I don't want them to be the same. And I don't want to have to eat them in the same proportion as their popularity and so on. (This sounded sooo much better in my head, but I hope you get my drift: Yeah, stuff is different; so what? And each person views different...differently.)


• We are too fucking politically correct in this country. And - by that (for this example) - I mean we often pay lip service to political correctness without really doing anything about what we are (pretending to be) politically correct about. I think that's nutty. Personal Counter-Example: I don't read any blogs by African-Americans (that I know of). So what? Nothing against this ethnic group, it's just that I can't say with certainty that I regularly read a blog by an African-American. I read a lot of blogs, however, so I could be wrong about that. Would I be upset (and stop reading) if I discovered blog XYZ was penned by an African-American? No. Will I seek out African-American blogs just so I can read one? No. Get a grip folks.


• Yes, sex sells, and it sells to men, especially. So women in tech/on blogs have an advantage, because they have breasts. Well, yes and no. YES: Amanda Cogdon - of Rocketboom fame - certainly did well, in part, because of her looks (her geek cred and sarcasm also scored). And I think, to a degree (differs with individuals), women are judged - even in tech - by looks. Judged by the Old Boys' Club, a women can't win: Hot? Not serious. Ugly? Who care what she can do...icky... NO: At the same time, it can NOT matter. Mena - not Ben - Trott is the voice of Six Apart. I don't think anyone takes Mena non-seriously. She's a force in the industry.


• Diversity is just that - diverse. Doesn't mean it's all good for all. I've been reading Dooce's blog for years. It's by Heather Armstrong - *gasp* - a woman! I like her style; I like her points of view. But I never read her monthly memos about/to her daughter, Leta. I don't have kids etc. Not interested; I tried a couple times and have since skipped. I also skip the sports entries of a couple of political bloggers I read. Not into that. So what? I still like - overall - all these bloggers. I don't care for some of th stuff they write. Duh! Just because something is different/diverse does not mean everyone should embrace same.

Again, I'll probably ask myself what I was smoking when I wrote this, but I just think we get too stupid and wrapped up over the wrong things.

Recent news headlines have been dominated by the battle over Anna Nicole Smith's body and Britney Spears basically melting down.

Yet people and places keep exploding in the Middle East, for example.

Hmm....