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Originally Posted by DanaC
Currently a very interesting trend is happening within computing. The more highly technological the field, the more likely it will be coded male, at least at the higher levels. We are over a quarter of a century in to the true 'computer age' and our cultural markers for people who work within the computer industries, both hardware and software are overwhelmingly male. There have always been women working in the field, but it's only relatively recently that women have started to go into it in numbers that could change the landscape. It's quite interesting to watch that change.
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There is a micro trend within that which is fascinating to me, here in the southern US. Among lower-economic Hispanics, computers are very much
not masculine, they are feminine. This is because they have no exposure to the geeky male model, the only place computers exist for them is in their mothers' administrative jobs--i.e., bookkeeping, human resources, secretaries. Ask a group of Hispanic boys if they want to learn about computers, and they will laugh it off as equivalent to playing with Barbie dolls.