Python is for girls!: Masculinity, femininity, and queering inclusion at hackathons

This paper explores how queerness intersects with hackathon culture, reinforcing or challenging its masculine norms. By utilizing autoethnographic insights from seven UK hackathons, it reveals that while queerness is visibly celebrated, inclusion remains conditional—accepted only when it aligns with masculine-coded technical authority. Femininity, regardless of the queer identities of those who embody it, is devalued and associated with lesser technical competence. Beyond social dynamics, gendered hierarchies influence programming tools, roles, and physical environments, embedding exclusion within technical culture. Although gender-fluid expressions like cosplay provide moments of subversion, they remain limited by the masculine framework of hackathons. This study contributes to human-computer interaction and feminist technology studies by showing that queerness alone does not dismantle gendered hierarchies. It advocates for moving beyond visibility to actively challenge masculinized definitions of technical legitimacy, promoting alternative, non-exclusionary models of expertise.