I just read a long article about geeks and sexism.  Some parts may make over generalisations and I probably wouldn’t be able to define what is a geek. But still, the situations the author describes made me nauseous: pure and un-understandable hatred.

Last week in Toulouse we had one more discussion about women in Free Software. My point is always that I am fed up with talking about it, because it’s the only time I actually remember that I am a woman. I very rarely experience sexism in FS, and it’s always remarks that are very easy to ignore. I never find it offensive because they always sound absolutely stupid and meaningless.

Reading Felicia Day, Miranda Pakodzi or Anita Sarkeesian‘s stories, I felt extremely lucky. In the hacker communities I joined in France and Germany, in the hackerspaces, conferences and of course at FSFE, people have always been welcoming, friendly and respectful. I never felt my woman condition as a burden.

I don’t know what are the roots of the lack of women in technology related fields, but it does disturb me when I realise it. It mostly happens during big FS events, when I end up being one of the rare or the only woman. I don’t feel threatened at all, the problem is that I am enjoying this technology world so much, and I feel so empowered by all the things I discover that I want to share it with other woman. But they are mostly absent.

If I understand technology, I can fight surveillance and keep having privacy and the freedom that comes with it. This is why I became involved with the Free Software movement in the first place. I don’t want to be controlled by those who control the technology that shapes my life.  There is a great gap between people who understand technology and the others. Security, power, access to knowledge… I don’t want women to be mostly on the wrong side of the gap, which is why I try to get as many women as possible to start using Free Software, as a first step towards technological liberation.

We need to know how to fix our bicycle, change a tire and grow food. We also need to know how to manage our computer, encrypt our communications and we need to understand what is internet or how does DPI work -I hope I will come to this in a future post.

My personal story, the protected world I live in and all the great people around allow me to see the “women and technology” issue very positively. I have a “it’s great, bring your sister your friends and your mom” approach. Mar_Lard’s article made me realise once more how lucky I was: being a woman in a geek world can be a nightmare.

Gender aside, I still badly lack legitimacy here. I need deeper technical expertise/understanding. No matter how much I understand about theory, to feel good in this world I will need practice. Snakes, here I come !