But he’s really a nice linkspam (24th February, 2011)
- Ada Lovelace Day, the once a year blogswarm highlighting women in technology will be held on October 7 (unlike the previous two years when it was held in March).
- More keynoters in the open source space: Runa Bhattacharjee and Lydia Pintscher are two of the three keynotes for conf.kde.in 2011.
- “My mom has a PhD in Math” – fighting back against gendered advertising.
- @victoriajanssen tweets: ”FIVE of the SIX Nebula nominations for novel were written by WOMEN!!!” as well as 4 women nominees for short story. (via @skud)
- Top Secret Rosies is a documentary made last year about the computers of WWII, “when computers were human and women were underestimated.”
- Hillary Rosner writes about learning that she really did like science after all.
One year I took an introductory genetics class (“genes for jocksâ€), just to confirm that science still sucked, and when I earned a C+ I retreated, satisfied, to the comfort of literature, politics, and cultural theory.
And then a strange thing happened. Several years into my journalism career, I became captivated by stories about the environment. I couldn’t read enough of them.
- Cordelia Fine of “Delusions of Gender” fame writes about sexist speeches by former Harvard Presidents, and straw-feminists [trigger warning for discussion of essentialism].
You can suggest links for future linkspams in comments here, or by using the geekfeminism tag on delicious or the #geekfeminism tag on Twitter. Please note that we tend to stick to publishing recent links (from the last month or so).
Thanks to everyone who suggested links.
Meg:
February 24th, 2011 at 10:25 am
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/collectibles/e752/ 25% of the geeks immortalized on trading cards currently for sale on ThinkGeek are women and only one of the two appears to be presented as a hyper-sexualized character. Of the 52 total cards, 10 feature individual women, 1 features Team Unicorn, an all-women group and 2 feature groups who’s membership includes a woman, for an over-all women-are-present rate of 25%. While it isn’t parity, it is more than I’m used to. There are also interviews and the rest of the cards available at http://geekaweek.net
John:
February 25th, 2011 at 2:46 am
Not really a linkspam, but as there doesn’t seem to be an “Open thread” at the moment I’ll put it here: if XKCD’s convention of long hair indicating a female character is in effect, today’s XKCD passes the Bechdel test.
Elizabeth G.:
February 25th, 2011 at 8:55 pm
Jezebel talks about being the inly Girl in the Club. Maybe if I hadn’t had the week I just had I wouldn’t have cared but I nearly cried!
Carla Schroder:
February 26th, 2011 at 9:41 pm
First ever woman on the cover of Linux Journal is Angela Byron of Drupal fame. Way to go Linux Journal! You’ve finally discovered girls as humans and geeks! I am so proud!
http://thenextweb.com/ca/2011/02/26/angela-byron-will-be-the-first-woman-to-ever-hit-the-cover-of-linux-journal/
Carla Schroder:
February 26th, 2011 at 9:42 pm
Forgot to note the LJ was founded in 1994. A bit slow in the wising-up department…
imayer:
February 27th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
Similarly to John, I don’t see an Open Thread at the moment (if there is, I suppose it’s an Open Zombie?), and so this seemed to be the most effective way to reach people:
I am interested in writing a chapbook / manual on impostor syndrome and sexism at large geared specifically toward female college students studying CS (although I hope it will serve as a useful resource for every demographic). In order to achieve this, I am asking for help from the collective wisdom of geekfeminism.
I am looking specifically for notable and relevant statistics and studies (as an engineer, numbers and scientifically rigorous studies are the most convincing of data to me – I’m hoping that the writing I set up will not only resonate with effected students reading it, but also serve as proof to skeptics.), however if you have any other resources or advice, please do pass it on to me as well.
I can be reached at: rabid.feminist@gmail.com
Ethos-generating background information:
I am currently a graduating senior at a school in the top 5 for computer science with a double major in creative writing, and will be starting as a full time engineer at a top tech company in a few months. I volunteer regularly as a gender equality advocate, and as yet another person recovering from impostor syndrome I have noticed how entrenched the phenomenon is in fellow female CS majors.
Thank you!!
John:
March 3rd, 2011 at 9:16 am
Mentioned for comment: Lord Sugar queries job interview laws for mothers.
John:
March 3rd, 2011 at 9:31 am
And again, although it’s not exactly a conversation.
John:
March 8th, 2011 at 3:52 am
BBC article: Has Lesotho bridged the gender gap?