And really, I mean it. This is primarily a website about woodturning. However, it is also my private website, and therefore I will take the liberty every now and then to deviate from this primary focus.
A few days ago, a senior employee at Google got fired from his job, for daring to write a few things that were always going to be the starting point of heated debates. However, if you look at it closely, the debate that followed and the firing itself says almost more about the people involved in those actions than they say about the author of the original document.
So what was this all about: Essentially the author expressed his thoughts about why there aren’t more women in technical jobs and particularly in management of technical jobs. His main argument was that women simply are different from men, and it would appear that they feel less drawn to these jobs, and that it is possible that the qualities required to be successful in such a job are simply less often found in women than in men.
Now, since Google is located in California, which has a particular mix of do-gooders and other people quite remote to the realities of life, it is no surprise that he got flak from all sorts of corners. Getting the sack WAS a bit of a surprise, especially in a company like Google who are normally not found in the corner of zealots.
The reason given for the firing of the manager was that his memo “violates our code of conduct and and cross the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes”. Really? So what is your code of conduct, google? That everybody needs to shut up and only the opinion of the CEO matters? And how exactly has this employee advanced harmful gender stereotypes?
Let’s look at a few basics here: Women are different from men. They have a different physique, so much so that in most sports they compete separated from men. They also are the part of our species that gives birth to our offspring and, more often than not, feeds them directly for the first few months. I would venture to say that such biological differences are good reason to believe that there are also psychological and emotional differences. And I would further say that this is a good thing. Can you imagine having to live on a planet full of alpha males? I’d rather not. So we can pretty much state as a fact that women and men are different. No values attached, just different.
When it comes to child raising and education, I think we can safely assume that there is a fair amount of gender stereotyping going on. However, that is not done by this employee. He is merely observing the outcome! He has not advocated such stereotyping, he just says that it exists. And if this ends up in a situation where a company, founded by males, in an industry that (due to cultural stereotyping) traditionally was male dominated, now finds itself with less women in senior technical positions, I would venture to say: how can this be his fault? He has not advanced anything, he merely points out a few uncomfortable truths: that we are still not doing a good enough job in raising and educating our own children without any prejudice on gender (and let’s not even talk about race or culture). That we are still following traditional role models when it comes to management. That we are still struggling with the concept of complete equality. Surely this is at least in part the fault of the CEO? Ultimately it’s in his power how employees are promoted, and what culture prevails.
However, instead of acknowledging his failure to do more, he does the easy thing: fire the whistleblower.
So here’s what this says about the other folks involved in this whole debate: Most of them fail to realize that there are in fact differences between men and women. Some of them are a consequence of our culture, and those we should seek to address. Some of them are a part of our species, and those we had better leave alone.
This is a little bit like trying to avoid labels like stupid and intelligent. Nobody wants to be called stupid, and in consequence it’s not politically correct to do it. However, the reality is that by definition half of mankind is less intelligent and therefore more stupid than the other half. That does not diminish them in value as human beings or automatically exclude from certain activities. But no matter how nice you want to be about it: it is a fact, and it has consequences.
It also shows quite clearly who’s got courage and who doesn’t. The google CEO does not. The feminists screaming blue murder don’t (by and large they also lack brains, but that’s a separate matter). The fired employee has courage.
And now this employee is being claimed by all sorts of bystanders. Breitbart (right wing website), Julian Assange (Wikileaks), all sorts of freeloaders, and mostly for the wrong reasons.
