Good day folks!
Did you miss me?
Last week I decided to translate one of my posts to PT-BR for my Brazillians <3 So I didn't have anything knew for you.
Today I am writing to tell you why I write! And why you should write too, specially if you are part of a minority group.
I started coding a little over a year ago and since day 1 I have done lots of googling, watching classes and reading posts like this ones. And guess what? The vast majority of the material is written by white cis male. Now, if you are a white cis male please don't be offended, you are very well represented and most of the material out there is great BUT as a latina women I felt unrepresented.
I felt unsure if I should even keep going, because, is there really a place for someone like me?
Well, I found out there is!
Thank you to the women out there that do the work! That share their journey and inspired me to do the same! And that is one of the main reasons why I write.
So other newbies can see. So other girls can see. So other immigrants can see!!!
Now, I am a code baby. I have yet to find my first tech job. To participate in something big. But when I do, it won't be my victory alone. It will be a victory for all the people I represent. For all the people that represent me.
For all of you in the dev community as well, because I love you people ;)
So it doesn't matter where you are in your code journey SHARE! Share to inspire, share to teach and share to get motivation (I swear dev.to is a safe place (: )
And if you are the cis white male I mentioned before, please cheer us up! Share what you know and incentive us.
Thank you all for being awesome!
And have a good Monday!
P.s.you can get the awesome #omgSheCodes sticker here https://etsy.me/36Ut2sI
Top comments (19)
I don't think I understand how the articles out there wouldn't represent you.
Humans have a mantality to congregate into groups and generally that come with similarities.
psychologytoday.com/us/blog/close-...
"The less information we have about a person, the more actual similarity affects liking"
Now I wouldn't argue not to write, but don't you think it is interesting how we use race, sex, and appearances to establish similarity before we are aware of any actual similarity.
It is not about only "similarities". It is about representation.
Like I see you like anime and so do I, so that is what I would understand as a similarity.
Now, your gender, race and sexual orientation are a big part of who you are, specially in today's society. When you are part of a group that is underrepresented in tech you often feel unsure if you can really do it. You feel out of place. So, in my case, seeing women that are out there doing awesome tech work, inspires me and sends me the message that: Hey, I can do that too!
Hope that makes sense :)
But I don't want to represent other, white, heterosexual men. And more importantly I haven't assigned a representative for me.
This is not to say there are no challenges faced due to, well pretty much anything. I'm also not saying it is wrong to stereotype. What I'm looking at is to familiarize ourselves with how the brain copes with different situations.
Do be inspired and do have fun with challenging others and yourself. It is just how we are :)
Luv the
OMG She Codesimage!that is a sticker I got from Etsy. !!!
For some context, it's designed by a woman called Yasmin on Instagram: instagram.com/omgshecodes - it represents her as a female Muslim coder! 😊🔥
I will get the link of her Etsy shop and share here! Thanks Yusuf!!!
Eu aprendo o Português (Sou francês), E eu vou viver no Manaus logo.
But I will speak in English. Why, because I'm a developer. And it's our official language 😛
I'm not sure this part is necessary, I hope that normally minded developers don't care about you're a brazilian woman.
I respect you for what you shared with us. I don't care where you from or what's your age or your gender.
And I'm not sure it's necessary to tell us all this things. That's your choices.
I'm a french white male and I won't do an article about it xD (And people could say I'm racists if I do 😂).
But in the crux, you're right. Good developers share 🙂
Muito obrigado
(PS: I tried to read your Brazilian article but I only learn since 6 months, it's fucking hard x') )
Kudos to you for learning Português! It is a very difficult language lol
Thanks for your comment too. Idk how things are in French, but at least in the USA and in Brazil women (and latin women in the USA) have to work 2 time as hard to get to the place they want and there aren't nearly as much as man in tech, so it is always nice to meet and read about other women in tech. No I talk for latin women, but I believe the same go for people of different races and queer people.
Boa Sorte em Manaus!
I usually don't even look at who the author is, what's his/her gender and how he/she looks like. What meaning does it have in the world of coding? You either write or don't.
It actually has a lot of meaning. As a girl, I would never had started to code if I hadn't seem other girls coding and sharing their code journeys because I would be insecure and thinking it was only for men. And this is just my example.
Well, I guess whatever helps to overcome personal issues must be a good thing.
I'm glad you found your motivation to write! :) I think if anyone's posts, stories, and articles can contribute to someone finding their joy or passion in coding, it's a good enough reason to start writing.
Most people would categorize me as a "cis white male", but I still find it hard to identify with anyone, so I don't really know if posts by someone by whom I feel represented would help me in one way or another - simply because I've never encountered such a situation. But if you can make such a difference for someone, it's an even better reason to write!
So go get those bytes out! Preferrably in unicode, if your article outlet permits. ;)
Thank you Peter for your comment :)
I hope someday you find a community where you can feel represented, it is a nice feeling when you feel you belong. And again, while my main focus is to inspire people like me, my bigger goal is to inspire anyone that needs inspiration!
I love this post. Although I'm a male, I'm from an ethnic minority background which is often underrepresented in many areas, including tech. Hoping to help break that barrier!
Yes!!! We can't stop until we break some barriers man! So the people from our ethnics that comes after us will have a better chance
I read that all coding for the earliest computers was exclusively done by woman. The men barely told them how the hardware worked, but they figured it all out on their own.
This just spoke to me.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Thank you for your comment :)
Really appreciate it 🥰