Beauty seems vain, and it seems like it shouldn’t be a factor to consider when we’re trying to support women in a field like tech, but to me it does.

It does because I’ve always struggled with how I feel about my appearance, and I’ve gotten past that largely through fashion and makeup.

I deal with imposter syndrome

Wanting to feel more like an engineer makes me want to feel less beautiful (and how stupid is that).

I would love for there to be a day when engineers are generally thought of as the epitome of sex appeal and fashion, but that won’t happen anytime soon (as evidenced by Reddit responses). The tech culture just isn’t like that. At least it isn’t yet.

And until it is, I’ll just keep feeling weird about wearing a bit of concealer and mascara to work.

We don’t focus on what a developer looks like as a big issue when trying to improve the tech environment, and that makes total sense. We need to build the esteem of women and minorities first so that we can get them into the tech field. Then

It’s not super important. In fact, this article is probably one of the least important articles I’ve ever written, but it matters to me. It matters to me because I don’t want to feel like I have to sacrifice my self-esteem to feel credible.

It matters because we should be encouraging girls and women to feel both smart and beautiful.

It matters because we should want women to feel like they belong in STEM in all aspects — and they should be encouraged to feel confident and accepted.

It matters. At least to me, if not you.