[ih] historical barriers to equality for women in internetworking

[John Levine]

It appears that Miles Fidelman via Internet-history <mfidelman at meetinghouse.net> said:
>I kind of wonder if what it comes down to is that IETF (and the industry 
>in general) is a place for strong personalities & super-competent people 
>- and that underlying all the push for DEI is really an intent to make 
>the place more accommodating to those who can't give as well as they get.

The IETF has plenty of people who believe themselves to be
super-competent, and way too many who cannot tell the difference
between having strong opinions and acting like an asshole.

I happen to be on my way home from a M3AAWG meeting. In its early days
M3 had a frat boy culture not altogether unfamiler to people who've
been in the IETF. A few years later the leadership decided that was
not good, made some straightforward rules about treating people with
respect, and sent home a few guys who were unwilling or unable to get
with the program.

You know what? It works great. I'd say it's about 40% women, both
among the people who come and the leadership, and the women are just
as effective as the men. There are plenty of strong opinions and
arguments, but everyone knows to stay on the right side of the line
between advocacy and ad hominem. There are a lot of people who go to
both IETF and M3, both old timers and younger ones, and I would be
surprised if any of us found the behavior standards to hinder getting
work done.

R's,
John

PS: This doesn't mean that I agree with what Corinne claims. I like
her but she sure had opinions about what she would find and by golly
she found it.