Look, I get it. You’re tired of hearing about ‘women this’ and ‘feminist that’. Sometimes I’m tired of it too. But the problem is I can’t turn it off. When I chose my outfit for the day, I can’t choose comfort over safety. When I want to go somewhere, I’m forced to plan for the time of day and go with friends for safety. I have to voice my opinions carefully instead of really saying what’s on my mind. When a woman leaves work, people tell her to ‘be safe’. If a man leaves, they say ‘goodnight’.

No one likes to be told that they are doing something wrong, and honestly I hate telling people that they are saying something sexist. I spend most of my time after meetings texting my girl friends about how I can’t believe I heard something sexist again. Picking and choosing your battles is all fine and dandy if you don’t have to spend every day venting about how the world is unfair against you.

You might be able to tune out all these things, but I can’t. It’s in my face all the time. All day. All night. I’m a woman and there isn’t much in this world that I can do to remind me I’m also just a human.

But technology is amazing. A computer doesn’t care if you’re male or female. My code works just as well as if a man typed it (sometimes better), and my keystrokes have the same effect as if more manly hands typed it. In fact, if you were to look at my code, I bet you couldn’t tell if a man or woman wrote it.

Thankfully, most of the tech world is starting to realize that a more balanced workplace helps everyone. There are initiatives for women to join the tech field. The women that are in a tech field are usually helpful and want to raise each other up. We know what it’s like to be talked down to and treated inferior. Every woman I’ve worked with in a tech field has been amazing and supportive.

There are exceptions to every rule, and I would be a fool not to acknowledge that. But the problem is I can’t point out an issue anymore without someone jumping in to point out the exceptions. Any complaint I say is met with “well I would never” or “so and so wasn’t treated that way”.

Even the compliments I give are met with some sort of resistance. For example, at Microsoft Ignite this year they had a women’s lounge. I was so grateful for this refuge in a conference that was filled with tech men and expressed this thought to others. “Where’s the men’s lounge?” was the response I got.

The world isn’t going to change as fast as I want it to, and the tech field will be mostly men for most of my life, I’m sure. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love it and want to help change it. Open source projects are a great step in this direction. I can jump in these large scale projects that help to change the universe as we know it and no one cares who I am, all that matters is if I can code. Oh, and can I code. The everyday worries about how I have to behave because of my gender are gone when I’m typing out my code. My crown glows and my fingers dance and honey, you should see me in my element. I’m a master. I’m a Queen and I can make this code sing.

So yes, there is a prejudice in the world and the tech field isn’t unaffected. But code is pure and innocent and non-judgmental. To me, that’s important. No one is going to turn around and say they hate my code because a woman did it. My code works, and at the end of the day, that’s all anyone cares about.

Coding rules. Become a coder with me and let’s rule the world.