Memset CEO gets female biz-leaders' award from IBM

Famed skydiving hosting-biz queenpin Kate Craig-Wood, head of Memset, last week won an IBM and NatWest sponsored award for successful women in business. Memset representatives informed the Reg: Kate has overcome personal hurdles having undergone a gender reassignment in 2005, which involved numerous operations, whilst still …

[Anonymous Coward]

So, not a 'real' woman

only technically so. I'm not hatin', but I mean, this person did not go through the process of living an entire life as a woman, thus overcoming the particular obstacles presented to women in the field so...sounds to me like a poor choice. Oh sure, they(awkward grammatical choice, I know, but consider the context) may have conquered their own issues and whatever, but being a guy up till 2005....definitely made it statistically easier for him/her to make it that far. How about a real female business leader like Indra Nooyi, the woman who is on top of PepsiCo?

[Paul Stephenson]

errrr

So the winner of the award and role model for women in IT used to be a man? Riiiiight....

[Anonymous Coward]

And West Ham's Player Of The Season award for 2008/09 goes to...

... Carlos Tevez!

[Anonymous Coward]

What sort of message is this ?

They really haven't thought this through.

To be a successful woman you first need to be a successful man?

Couldn't this be seen as yet another slap in the face by male domination, perhaps?

[Kate Craig-Wood]

From the horse's mouth

I was expecting some comments like these. ;) What most people fail utterly to understand is that transexualism is an innate biological condition, in other words I have always had a female brain even though I was born a boy (see http://www.gires.org.uk/ for more info and research on the subject).

Further, I openly admit that I feel I have been advantaged by my male upbringing since i was encouraged towards computing, whereas my sister was not (see http://kate.craig-wood.com/girls-into-it.php ). I could be regarded as what you get if you take a girl and socialise them towards stereotypically male interests.

The fact that I am now winning business awards merely shows that women can do well when given equal opportunities!

Kate.

PS. @AnonymousCoward#1 The award is for entrepreneurial women, not those who have risen through the ranks of a mega-corp.

[Jerome]

Unbelievable

I was expecting some comments like these too, but I thought they'd be mixed at least 50/50 with well-wishers. This reflects pretty damned poorly on the Reg readership. FWIW, congratulations on the award Kate, and thanks for everything you're doing for women in the industry.

[Anonymous Coward]

RE: Kate Craig-Wood

Honestly said and does you credit.

However one must look past the individual, as worthy as you may be, to the natural perception this particular award engenders.

With all due respect, and you'll probably agree, this isn't about you, it's about those who may, or now may not, follow as a result. We are all only human.

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting choice

It does raise some interesting questions and should provoke discussion. Which in some ways makes her a good choice.

I heard her interviewed on the radio and was impressed by how well she talked about both the difficulties facing women in IT and also the wider issues around gender and gender reasignment.

She pointed out that as she has got more "feminine" in appearance post op. she has found it increasingly difficult to be taken seriously in technical discussions. I bet a lot of female engineers out there can relate to that.

[Poopie McStinklestein]

No title.

"She pointed out that as she has got more "feminine" in appearance post op. she has found it increasingly difficult to be taken seriously in technical discussions."

I guess that's why gurus have beards.