# Justice for CSS

> CSS deserves respect as a serious programming language, not dismissal as mere decoration.
- Title: Justice for CSS · WIRED | Shortify
- Summary: CSS deserves respect as a serious programming language, not dismissal as mere decoration. CSS has evolved into a powerful, capable language that deserves…
- Keywords: css, programming languages, web development, gender bias in tech, frontend engineering, javascript, html, web design, programmer culture, tech industry, accessibility, coding education
- Source: WIRED — https://wired.com/story/justice-for-css
- Author: Pete Millspaugh
- Published: 2026-09-21T10:00:00+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: css, programming languages, web development, gender bias in tech, frontend engineering, javascript, html, web design, programmer culture, tech industry, accessibility, coding education
## CSS makes websites look like themselves
CSS is the programming language that controls colors, fonts, borders, animations, and layouts. It's what makes WIRED look like WIRED.
## Programmers gatekeep CSS status
Some developers insist CSS isn't a real programming language because it lacks a compile step, doesn't throw runtime errors, and isn't Turing complete. But that gatekeeping misses the point.
## Simple doesn't mean easy or unserious
CSS started with 50 properties in 1996. Today it has at least 500, enabling complex projects like Doom recreations, holographic Pokémon cards, and 3D-rendering engines.

> simple does not mean easy
## CSS creator gets no recognition
JavaScript creator Brendan Eich is famous for building the language in 10 days at Netscape. CSS creator Håkon Wium Lie, a Norwegian, is barely known despite equal importance to the web.
## CSS treated as decorative, not essential
In the browser's trio of JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, people treat CSS as less important or purely decorative. But legibility and design matter to how people experience websites.
## Frontend work coded as feminine
CSS developers work on the visible frontend, which carries an undertone that style and beauty work is female work. This affects salaries, hiring standards, and website accessibility.
## Women pushed toward frontend despite preference
A talented backend engineer was assigned frontend work after joining a company full-time, despite never expressing interest. She had to rebrand herself as unmistakably backend-focused to escape the assumption.
## CSS opens coding to outsiders
At Kode With Klossy, a tech camp for young women and gender-expansive students, CSS became a gateway into coding for people who didn't fit the nerdy-computer-boy stereotype.
## Gender diversity worse in backend roles
The State of CSS survey found 11 percent women and 3 percent nonbinary respondents. JavaScript reported only 6 percent female and 1 percent nonbinary, showing frontend has slightly better diversity.
## CSS neglect creates sameness online
When CSS is undervalued, websites rely on frameworks like Bootstrap and Tailwind that make everything look alike. This creates visual monotony across the internet, especially in startups.
## Modern CSS is incredibly powerful
Recent features like container queries, the :has() pseudo-class, and new color spaces like oklch make CSS far more capable. Upcoming if() conditionals and @function will finally silence claims it isn't a real language.
## CSS is end-user programming
CSS is the closest language we have to end-user programming, where anyone can build something useful in an hour, yet experts can build Doom. That's the beauty of a simple yet deep language.

> A novice can build something useful in an hour, and experts can build fucking Doom
## Key takeaway

CSS has evolved into a powerful, capable language that deserves recognition equal to JavaScript and HTML, but faces unfair gatekeeping and gender bias that limits its status and accessibility.