I thought this article was interesting

[sunfell]

A woman...and a geek?

Geeky women have a lot to put up with, from sexist portrayals of women in their favourite media to friends, family and coworkers doubting their competence, says Wisrutta Atthakor. But why should female geeks give up on what they’re interested in?

Wisrutta writes eloquently of things that I am sure that many of us have run into- what I call the Great Wall Of Girly Stereotypes. Being ignored in electronics shops. Having to prove your mettle as a techie or expert over and over again. Running into the 'you're too cute to be a geek', and worse reactions from males.

I've been a geek since that fateful day my dad left the back of the TV off. I had to see what was in there. This was back in the days (mid-60s) when TVs were still user-repairable, and had actual tubes in them that one could replace from stocks in the hardware store. That old Curtis-Mathis TV had a shocking surprise for me- and I learned about capacitors that day. I was 6.

I loved our hi-fi and our portable Sony tape deck. The first word I remember being able to read (at the tender age of 3) was "Sony". I probably would have been an audio engineer had I not become a communications tech in the USAF.

In spite of my geek proclivities, my family insisted that I adhere to girly standards. My parents were very traditional, sad to say, and they saw my precociousness as a bad thing. I would ask for a electronics kit or a crystal radio, and get a tea set or a Thingmaker. I begged and begged for a microscope, and finally got one when I was 11. I thought that lizards and bugs were interesting than babies and dolls. And when Barbie dolls were foisted upon me, they became adventurers, astronauts, explorers.

My family was not rich (we were a military family), and my parents did not save up for college for me, nor did they encourage me to go- except for nursing school, which my dad thought I couldn't refuse. I did. I joined the Air Force so I could get away from that. Of course, I ran into other just as difficult to comprehend attitudes while serving- but I was a competent tech, and learned a great trade.

For me, being a geek means having an insatiable curiosity about how things work. It doesn't matter if that 'thing' is a lizard or a virus or a computer- I want to know what goes on inside it as a system. I can spend hours exploring things, learning about them, understanding their little secrets and quirks. I learned about computers from the hardware side of the equation, and wish I knew more about the software. I want to build websites from scratch, too- and need to learn more about that.

But the stereotypes remain. Unlike a lot of other geeks, I am not really into gaming- I played my share of D&D at tech school, but enjoyed reading more. I'm not much into comics or anime, either, but I do love good music, books, and interesting technology. The Internet has been a godsend for me- it's the best library on the planet.

Happily, I am now at the age where I do get respect as a tech and expert. It's sad that my physical looks had to fade back in order for people to see past them and understand that I wasn't merely an ornament. I admire women who can be both physically beautiful and respected for their brains at the same time- although I sometimes think that the respect is lip-service. I remember having to fight off the damn 'romeos' who would not take 'no' for an answer, and who refused to grant me the respect they paid men who did the same thing I do. I believe its that particular attitude from certain men that keeps women out of tech. After having to fight off constant advances, it isn't fun any more.

Today, I am in a job that does not have that problem. Age does have its advantages. And I am still proudly a geek gal. Nothing will change that.

(no subject)

[dragonwolf]

Hello all.

Hmm, about me. I suck at introductions, for one. They always come off sounding like an AA meeting or something (not that AA meetings are bad, they're just scripted).

So anywho, I've been a geek since my dad gave me my first computer when I was like 8. Many breaks and "dad! Can you help?" phone calls later, I was able to work on my own computers and eventually used what I learned to land a job on Geek Squad. I now work as an application and web developer for a somewhat small, but growing and respected consulting company (and have been blessed with a diverse group of coworkers and awesome upper management that encourage women in the field).

I'm very much a computer nerd and drool over I7s and SLI cards with some of the best of the boys, as much as I drool over the new CSS standard specifications and Microsoft or Java technologies.

I'm into some anime, but am picky about it and have come to despise "Americanized" versions of both anime and manga, which eliminates a lot of manga until I get rich and famous and have the time and money to learn Japanese, and leaves me with fan subbed anime. :)

I'm a bookworm, as well, though my collection isn't nearly as large as many people I know (in part because I weeded out a lot of books and donated a bunch to a local library before going to college). My collection includes everything from religious books to drawing books to fantasy and fiction, and I hope I'm able to continue growing my collection.

I'm also a somewhat light gamer. I say somewhat because I don't play a lot of different games, but the ones that I get into, I get really into. I prefer RPG and RTS games, with some of my favorites being World of Warcraft (me and half the world), Star Wars: Force Unleashed, Sins of a Solar Empire, and Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War.

Sunfell talked about stereotypes in a previous post and how there's a lot of disbelief that women can be geeks. I've been fortunate enough to not be on the more hostile end of the disbelief spectrum and instead be on the more humorous side of things. Those who play online games, such as WoW, are probably familiar with voice chat, and everyone knows about the androgynous nature of the Internet. I find it rather amusing when a group hears one of their female group members talk on voice chat for the first time, since it's almost always met with a "whoa! It's a chick!" response (especially if the guys are younger). Thankfully, most of them get over their surprise pretty quick and don't harbor any bigotry.

Alright, I think that's enough about me. I'm starting to feel like I'm being kind of self-centered, so I think I'll stop here.

Hello!

[worldstosee]

I figured I'd go ahead and write up an intro post as well since others had started posting. My geeky interests are Science Fiction, books and computers.

I've been a science fiction geek since I was around seven years old and started watching Star Trek: The Next Generation with my Dad - and eventually the Star Trek Movies. This also lead me to reading the Star Trek Novels and I think at one point I had nearly every Original and Second Generation Star Trek novel ever published along with several of the manuals and the encyclopedias.

I've always preferred reading to other activities. At recess I could usually be found sitting under a tree reading a book - much to the dismay of my parents and teachers. Science fiction has always been my primary genre but I also enjoy reading fantasy and mystery. I'm slowly rebuilding my reading library this year after having gotten away from reading over the last couple of years due to college and other things.

I've also loved computers since the day we got our first computer - I never did learn much about programming or anything like that but I loved using the computer for anything school related since my handwriting has always been sloppy and there was spell check! Once in college the internet was available to me and I discovered a great new source of knowledge. There's always something new to learn about online - especially about places other than my own location.

Peer pressure! peer pressure!

[crevanfox]

Well, if everyone else is going to introduce themselves, I'm totally jumping off that cliff too. :)

I'm an odd she-geek, in that I'm not a big Star Wars fan. More of a Trek, Firefly, SG1, SGA, Terminator, Supernatural(oh Dear God, I just admitted that in public didn't I?) fan. Who also collects comics (Ultimates, Ultimate X-Men, Buffy:season eight, Angel:After the Fall, and my current obsession:Runaways).

I'm also anti-tech. Mostly because I am old, and this new fangled blinking, and beeping is confusing to my prehistoric mind.

Reading wise I'm a big fan of urban fantasy (Walker Papers, Women of the Other World, Dresden Files, etc.)

I'm from Canada, and since North America, possibly the world?(have to look into that) just had free comic book day,and Wolverine just came out my week is pretty much made.