Caroline Drucker, partner marketing manager of SoundCloud, took part in an event called IgniteNYC. According to the site, they ask the question…
5 minutes and 20 slides rotating automatically in front of NYC’s brightest geeks, what would you say? For nearly two years Ignite NYC has cultivated a vibrant community of artists, technologists, thinkers, tinkerers, and personalities to connect, develop new relationships and projects, and answer this challenge. Enlighten us, but make it quick!
Drucker discussed an issue which many deem important, but most of the solutions have been repeated and regurgitated across tech blogs around the internet – How can women become more involved in prominent roles in the world of tech?
Drucker’s perspective is simple; females in tech should start referring to themselves as women instead of girls. Her insights are pretty funny, and thought-provoking. If you’re wondering how she defines a “woman”, it’s someone who’s menstruated and paid taxes. The reason for the distinction is because the term woman is associated with maturity and power, while girl implies immaturity and less power. Simple enough.
If I can interject with my own thought, I think the problem comes from women getting gipped when it comes to age/maturity neutral descriptors. Let’s take a look…
Man – Woman
Boy – Girl
Male – Female
Guy – ummm…Girl
A guy can be anyone. There are 5 year old guys, and 90 year old guys. Yet, we equate a guy to a girl, even though we use the same term when we’re designating a female child. I think it’s time we devised a maturity neutral descriptor for women/girls. Or women could simply refer to themselves as such in the workplace; that is, after their first menstruation and tax filing.