After much thought, today I'd like to talk about female/male chauvinism, a very controversial topic in software engineering, and by doing so I know that I'm exposing myself to hate and ill will from radical internet groups, but I don't really care...
I'd like to start by saying that ever since I was little, I noticed that females receive different treatment from society, and I didn't think this treatment was fair at all. For example, as a kid there were times when I found myself troubled by some female children, and while trying to get back at them, I was told by grown-ups that I couldn't fight back, just because my opponents were girls!!. Apparently, they deserved some special treatment just because of their sex, but I didn't really understand. My thinking was: if they can attack, they surely can defend. But other people (both boys and girls) seem to have this differentiated treatments seared by fire. And this is just a little example of the differentiated treatments that you are taught while growing up. It may seem trivial, but the problem is that by accepting these special treatments, you are denying to consider all people as equal...
Of course, this has brought me problems, but I'd like to argue that I just try not to make special considerations for anybody!.
I believe that, at least in my culture, this is due to flaws in the way we are currently raised. For the most part, in our junior years we are taught to expect/receive special treatments, and then we grow up and expect to keep them while continuously asking for more benefits. I've previously discussed some of these things, like they way you're expected to greet somebody, but it's funny that a couple of weeks ago I had a similar conversation (with people from disparate corners of the world) regarding things such as buying things in a market and flirting. We talked about how there are certain protocols that we expect and accept as the natural order of things (usually due to our sex) and it's interesting that you only notice them when you get out of your natural context, for example, when you interact with other cultures.
And I don't pretend to be innocent here. During these conversations I also found myself repeating some male chauvinist ideas that I'm not really proud of. There's definitely much to be done, but by reflecting on these topics, and by trying to change my own behaviour, I like to think that I'm doing my best to help improve this world for those who will come after I leave =):.
I know we've got nothing in common now,
Just our shared love of drinking.
