Robert Hayden writes:
The May 16th newsweek has an article on comparing women and men is cyberspace. It's blatantly biased, portraying men as sex-starved, war-mongering, unsensitive geeks, and women as the perfect example of what society should REALLY be.
I'm growing tired of these sensationalist articles in the popular press, that serve to only alienate the denizens of cyberspace and scare off the civilians.
I thought the article was fair, and describes reality very well. As the computer nerds are so fond of saying: "Where are all the women in this group?" Me, I just accept it as the way things are that women are not much interested in cars, hunting, and cryptography, to name but a few groups, and that their interests tend to lie elsewhere. I don't expect to meet women for dating situation at hacker gathering, so when I _don't_, I'm not surprised or disappointed. When people ask me what I'm interested in, what this "Cypherpunks" group is all about, I get fairly stereotypical reactions: most of the men are interested, enthused, and see all kinds of implications that intrigue them. Most of the women express worry, concern, and fear that this crypto anarchic future will mean scary things. And with any technical description, the women's eyes glaze over. That's just the way it is. Maybe the generation that comes of age in 2010 will be different, but I doubt it. The "Newsweek" article had a hilarious, and accurate-even-if exaggerated, cartoons: A girl in front of a terminal: "My friends and I are teaching dolphins to communicate through e mail." A boy: "I like to blow stuff up." There you have it. --Tim May -- .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@netcom.com | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-688-5409 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."