Beauty, Brains, or Body Armor?

What women need to succeed

Business is tough. Business in the tech sector is even tougher. Recent news events have reminded me of some of the tough lessons I learned many years ago, even during the dotcom boom.

There is just no way around having to deal with the stereotypes and macho culture women still face in IT. The stereotypes include the false choice between beauty and brains. If a woman is attractive, she is presumed not to have invested time developing valuable technical skills. If a woman is attractive and has an impressive CV, she is presumed to be the beneficiary of some form of affirmative action or quid pro quo with male superiors. If a woman is "hard on the eyes," she may have had time to learn valuable technical skills, but she is a b---- because she's not "getting any."

Is this what a professional should be writing? No. But the reality is this is what people ARE saying. And some of them are so accustomed to being able to get away with it, they will occasionally let it slip through in their emails and IMs. Just yesterday, I receved an email on a Yahoo! job board stating:

NO INTERVIEWS , DIRECT JOINING

SURESHOT

“ REPLACEMENT NEEDED FOR A FEMALE CONSULTANT”

Yes, that's right, if you're replacing a female consultant, you don't even need to be interviewed. Just send in your rate requirements and proof of manhood and you're a sureshot hire.

What does it take to succeed in an environment like this? It's not about beauty and it's not about brains. It's about psychological body armor. Women who get it, get it.