I got to thinking about some of this history stuff.
We've all seen this picture of Margaret Hamilton:
It's stood up as some proud flag of women can code and hooray to what happens when we are more inclusive, encouraging, etc.
Well, there are two minor issues with all of this, and I always feel conflicted:
1- Programming was seen as a menial data-entry around that time, and thus, women's work.
2- Margaret Hamilton did not work alone. In fact, her manager and the entire coding team she was on was female. The manager refused to allow men to work under her.
I guess #2 bothers me because it's always presented like she worked alone and built up that code alone (no), or that she was some love lioness in a den of lions (no), and everyone fails to acknowledge who all of her coworkers are. It's kind of ironic when one considers that the very people who are bringing up her womaness eschews the many other women who worked along side her.