"Many male programmers saw the role of the eccentric and exceptional computer genius as a desirable alternative to that of a lowly, routinized, and feminized “coder.” […] this identity […] provided programmers with many of the perceived benefits of professionalization: the establishment of barriers to entry to the discipline, the possession of a “monopoly of competence,” and mastery over an esoteric body of knowledge"

Ensmenger: Beards, Sandals, and Other Signs of Rugged Individualism,