The thing is, most of the men out there are also self-taught and struggle with the same issues we women developers face… it’s just that they’re more vocal and more self-congratulatory about every little hurdle they figure out a way around.

More than once, when teaching CSS techniques, I’ve had someone say, “Oh that’s [insert male name here]‘s solution.” And my response has varied from “Yeah, whatever,” to “And I’m sure about a hundred other developers discovered the same thing for themselves at some point.”

Meri and others are spot on when it comes to the need to mentor and encourage other women. Beyond that, it’s probably a matter of finding time to be self-congratulatory.