Learner

There have been a few complaints to management.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I am chatty and I share a lot about what I am currently interested in or doing. That list has varied from dependency injection to unit testing to being a grandmother to feminism.

I am always surprised by how emotional people get about women’s issues. The extreme points of view expressed makes me sometimes wonder – are we all dealing with the same reality?

Even my own point of view has evolved over the years, most recently in dramatic ways.

In my life, these unconnected pieces, family, community, technology, identity and feminism fit together in an important whole. It’s an abstraction of my IRL world and I want to participate fully in it and understand it.

When I learn, it’s not uncommon for a subject to consume my thinking. I’ll even have dreams about it, often working out tricky confusion while I sleep. For as long as I can remember, I infuse these experiences into the world around me. I’m interested in what others think, insights they might have that I have not considered, and so on.

Over the past several weeks as feminism gets more attention in technology several men have approached me and expressed fear, frustration, sometimes anger, strong emotional responses, to these discussions and changes related to women.

When I share information related to feminism, my intention is to share learning material that I believe will help reduce the anxiety in this area and help increase knowledge.

I do not have an special interest in your adoption of feminism. Not trying to convert you.

I might be enthusiastic, but do not misunderstand my enthusiasm as a sales pitch. Not trying to sell you.

My Tweets are very self absorbed and only about me and what I am learning. It doesn’t have anything to do with you. If you project some intended message you think I am trying to send you, you are very likely wrong. When I am addressing you, you will know it. Trust me. =)

It’s possible, likely even, that you will have some degree of anxiety as you review material I share. If the information is interfering in your ability to focus or to enjoy your life, please unfollow me! Try again later when I finally start trying to understand all that domain stuff. I’ll still be sharing and learning then. If that’s more up your alley, it won’t be long before it’s what I’m into, as well.

To the anonymous dudebro who informed me that it’s Tweets like mine that makes men hate women, I say: Hate comes from within. Knowledge and compassion are the only cure. Hope you get better soon!