The value of sharing our perspectives

This morning I read an article called The deadly truth about a world built for men – from stab vests to car crashes. And it opened with an anecdote about broadcaster Sandi Toksvig’s experience while studying anthropology in University.

Her female professor showed the class a photo of an antler bone with 28 markings on it. She told the class that it was allegedly man’s first attempt at a calendar. And while her students were admiring this antler bone, she continued, “Tell me, what man needs to know when 28 days have passed? I suspect that this is woman’s first attempt at a calendar.”

The article goes on to talk about how the world was designed from a man’s perspective, examples from healthcare, the design of tools and protective equipment, the gadgets we use, voice recognition software and so on. There are physiological differences between men and women, and many of the things we use in our daily lives are just a little to big for women, just a little too heavy, just a little too male.

@hj_chen

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🥑 Developer Advocate 🥑

Southeast Asia is made up of 11 countries and 10 of them had been colonised by European powers in the past. When I was a kid, I always got the feeling that our society viewed Westerners as “better”. We watched television shows and movies produced in Hollywood, listened to English pop music, played American-made video games.

And as I was growing up, I wondered why we knew so much about these Western powers, but they didn’t know anything about us. Why are we so surprised and impressed when a Westerner speaks our language, but we don’t have the same admiration for locals who speak English?

Please note that I have nothing against English, I recognise the benefit of having a so-called global language that facilitates communication amongst all the world’s people. But when only a small number perspectives dominate over others, we lose something as well.

…that it is vital speakers represent the diverse range of people working in technology today.

—Ali Spivak

Now internet infrastructure varies widely across the world, but in many developing countries, data infrastructure is lacking and expensive. Even something as benign as forgetting to optimise your website’s images, can add up to a significant portion of an user’s income in Niger or Madagascar, for example.

That’s why it is important for developers from those regions, and every region around the world for that matter, to make their voices heard, and bring a greater awareness of the situations and contexts that we operate in.

Jarod mentioned just now how important is was to for conferences to have minimum standards for diversity and inclusion, and that's a step in the right direction in terms of conference organisation. But there's also much work to be done from the side of speakers, and content creators in general.

References and attributions

Thank you!

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@hj_chen

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