As a professor I know no matter how good of a presentation I give, no matter how understanding I am to students' personal problems, no matter how much information I was actually able to convey, that I will have 1 to 4 negative student ratings at the end of the semester - and 60+ good ones. I try to not focus on the whiners and it takes an effort to brush off the people who want to focus on the wrong things. If there is constructive criticism, I try to use it and be a better teacher.

When I was making one of the adjustments to becoming crippled, I taught myself how to knit and how to draw. Older women would routinely criticize me for having learned how to knit from a book. I did not learn the approved "woman's way" they told me. First, I had to learn from my mother or grandmother and not a book; Second, I had to be female, and not a broken down male disabled vet. I chose to keep knitting and no one turned up their noses at the gift of an unexpected hand knitted scarf. The woman who was criticized for being a female developer, needs to continue to do good work and no one who is competent will turn their nose up at good web wizardry because of the developer's gender.

Gender based criticism tells us more about the social inadequacies and phobias someone has, than our own professional deficiencies.

We should do what we love, regardless if it is knitting (which, sadly, I am no longer able to do), or coding and being a web wizard. If gender is someone's issues, leave them behind as we continue to live a life of creative excellence.
Semper Pax, Dr. Z