Re:What? You actually WANT intelligent females? (Score 1)

One - You really don't have a clue, i can treat you like dirt and get away with it, because i'm male, and only males have a clue when it comes to computers.
Two - Ooooh! a female with a clue. She wants to go to bed with me. She really will be thrilled to be informed that i'm her best ambition in life, and heck, i get a new bed buddy out of the deal.

This sounds exactly like almost all of the CS types I've encountered at my University. A lot of the guys I've met seem to assume the women in the department don't know as much as them and then waste their energy trying to make a big deal of this. The student chapter of ACM continues this in not being very open to beginners. If you don't know what they know, tough. And of course then there are the ones who chase after you, assuming they'll be able to hook up. Blech.

Of course, I'm generalizing; I know there are decent and supportive CS guys. And maybe I'm biased because of all the crap I've had to deal with. It does become bothersome when you're one of only a few girls in CS courses or at a tech-related group meeting. And sure, I'd like to see more women in tech fields, but this doesn't mean *I* can bring tons of women into the field on my own, as a few people have assumed. I think efforts need to be made within this area though, not just in the open source commiunity but anywhere technology or male-dominated areas extend to.

As a side note, no I'm not a CS major. I'm a rhetoric (creative writing) major - can you tell? - with a great interest in computing. And yes I admit I want to get into web development stuff, but why's that so bad? ;)

Oy, was this a rant or what?

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Valerie Franek
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http://www.digitalmaven.net