I really appreciate this take. I find that focusing on the labels tends to actually reinforce their negative effects. "Women in tech" implies there is something special about women being in tech, as the author points out, which reinforces the idea that there is something different or odd about it. I get that it's meant to be empowering, but I think it's often the exact opposite.
It's perfectly fine I think for there to be women-focused technology groups, or women-focused initiatives. E.g. if a company realizes it has a very low percentage of women in leadership roles, it's useful to say, "Ok, how do we address that?" But it's very easy to go from that to the kind of thing you're talking about, where people are inadvertently imposing labels and roles, even when that's exactly what they're working against.
It seems like the phrase's origin is in signaling "we are doing something". Something they are locked in with general population representative impossible at scale by sheer numbers. So we get into the typical loathesome reactionary "must do something" and "ass covering" dynamic where there is no sincere cooperation or attempt to help improve, just adversarial layers of bullshit from trophy hunters and ass coverers, the truth goes to die, and any improvement is outright in spite the "work" of all involved.
"Like all matters of diversity with a given foo, just treat them like individual people." is the best wisdom I can come up with on the subject which even if true isn't very likely to satisfy.
There is something different or odd about it though.
I don't think anyone is arguing that the low number of Women in tech is not a problem, understanding the root cause is presumably important or we will continue to miss out on a significant talent pool.
It's perfectly fine I think for there to be women-focused technology groups, or women-focused initiatives. E.g. if a company realizes it has a very low percentage of women in leadership roles, it's useful to say, "Ok, how do we address that?" But it's very easy to go from that to the kind of thing you're talking about, where people are inadvertently imposing labels and roles, even when that's exactly what they're working against.