25 Women in 10 Free Software Organizations for GNOME's Outreach Program for Women

You've never consciously discriminated against any woman. The massively overwhelming probability is that you've done so unconsciously. That's not something you should be punished for, but it is something that won't be fixed unless compensating biases are put in place.

> I am male. I never in my life discriminated against any woman let alone for thousands of years. I did do nothing wrong.

> Yet I'm being discriminated against at numerous occasions...

This is a serious problem with reparation schemes or any situation in which a minority group is given preference -at the expense of- other groups. But that's not what GNOME thing is. If it wasn't a targeted program for women in open source, it's not like there'd be some equivalent non-targeted thing. The point is not just to find developers, but to improve network effects, change the atmosphere and tone of the open-source, and otherwise make the open-source world a more appealing place for women.

And the endgame of -that- is to increase the net developer power, not change its composition. There is no excess of open source developers. Nobody will be displaced by un-alienating alienated groups.

But of course you've taken advantage of your privileged position, I'm certain I have, probably without even being aware of it, and have had discrimination fall in your favor, which is much more common than for a male to be discriminated against. As a member of a privileged class you get to live life on easy mode compared to someone else with the same basic qualities but who looks different. There really aren't many moustache-twirling villans out there who actively try and put people down, and no one thinks that of you, the reality is much more insidious.