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it’s not easy being a girl geek

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Via Slashdot and Feministing, an article at Computer World that serves as a reminder that it’s still hard out there for a girl with geek tendencies. Bits and pieces:

You can balance an IT career with your home life, but it means making choices that are true to your priorities and understanding the trade-offs. “Having it all” is a fantasy.

Except for men, of course, whom no one expect to choose between work and family...

But Sun’s culture is friendly to women, particularly in its flexibility about working from home, [Katy Dickinson] says. And sometimes she is so well accepted that male co-workers seem to forget her gender. “I’ve been in meetings with executives, who, when I say I have to pick up the kids, have almost responded, ‘Can’t you have your wife do it?’” she recalls.

So women can only succeed as long as they’re not really women?

Also from Feministe comes commentary on this rather disgusting ad, which demonstrates how male-oriented IT still is:

As the commentary at Feministe points out, this ad presupposes that all men should expect that any given hot hot hot chick must offer oral sex... except that, the bitches, they don’t offer it to geeks. Women and geeks of all genders should be offended.

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7 Comments

Another reason that ad offends me is because of the inappropriate use of a capital "O" in "Ours". It should read "Don't feel bad, our servers won't go down on you either." (Optional comma before "either".) ;-)
But the capital "O" is an indirect reference to a blow-job, the shape of those red lips as they perform the duty of every good/bad hothothot chick. Just...ugh.
You dorks. Hot chicks don't care about copyediting -- they're too busy being hot and not-geeky
That's, uh, one hell of an ad. Wow.
I realize they pay the bills, but I have to tell you that I hate the ads on both your sites for the "Zwinky" application. These on-line Bratz with their ever changing slut-wear make me shudder. I don't know what you can do to regulate your ad content, but your female visitors would sure appreciate it if the Zwinkies were dumped from the sites.
I'm getting rid of the Zwinky ads. They brought in a little money, but I agree: they make me want to go on a shooting rampage.
Agree with the ads - they have to go. Another good post though, and I agree with you that it is more difficult for women having to balance family and career.

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I'm MaryAnn Johanson, writer and editor, and this is my scratch pad, idea-jotter-downer, portfolio and resume, and general hang-out blog.

• film/TV/pop culture critic at FlickFilosopher.com
• contributor, Film.com
• member, Online Film Critics Society
• member, Alliance of Women Film Journalists
• member, International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences

Location: New York City
[email me]

photo by David Speranza

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