http://qs321.pair.com?node_id=106347


in reply to Women Programmers, Sex, Tai Chi and Reincarnation

I had meant to avoid this thread, but the thesis seems so far off base that I do have something I want to say.

Your thesis is that if we all become physically fit then we will "get enough" and not drive away females from our profession with our pathetic, panting attempts to get laid.

But, admittedly without any data other than anecdotal evidence, I have to say that I don't think it is clear what the correlation is between being physically fit and random drooling. Certainly lots of out of shape men become tongue-tied in the presence of women. Certainly lots of athletic men think they are God's gift to women and attempt to seduce everything that passes. I have known enough from both groups to doubt that there is a strong correlation between how fit you are and how much of a PITA you will be to females in your environment.

As for the "undersexed" part, well suffice it to say that plenty of programmers seem to have no problem with that aspect of life. Conversely I have known highly competent men in many professions who have trouble with women. Sure, there is a stereotypical geek, and there are enough of them around that the stereotypes are not wholly undeserved. However as a data point, the most "undersexed" geeks I have personally known happened to be in excellent physical shape. I think that looking up to someone other than "Spock" as a role-model would have done them (a pair of brothers) more good than learning a martial art.

As a random data point I should note that of the Saints in our Book whose personal lives I know anything about, a majority have no apparent problems in their relationships with the opposite sex.

And finally, your theory does nothing to explain why there should be such a huge difference between the ratios of men/women visible in the Perl community as opposed to programming in general...