The 1:09 mark is where I cracked up.
Tag Archives: internet
“Babysteps are the key,” says Jennie. “I’ve attended five hackathons, but have only done one solo project. My first two hackathons, I didn’t do any work beyond the UI. Then, I worked with a friend with a similar knowledge on two hackathons, where I did about half the work. Finally, this weekend I ventured out on my own, and worked on my own. I’ve been interested in coding for about three years now, and though I still have much to learn, I feel as though I have been able to do a lot. By teaming up with friends, I was able to slowly learn how to make my own hacks.”
They’re called boobs, Ed.
I’m a woman, I work in tech. Kinda wish I could leave it at that. I can’t, so I’m going to give you a shit-ton of relavant links, plus a commentary. There will be a test after.
Look, I’ve faced down misogyny in tech before. I think a lot about what I am and what that means and how I define myself. I deal with a life lived with a man’s name. I’m a minority in multiple ways, and sometimes that gets me down, but I also feel that, in many ways, open source gets things very right.
So now that you’ve read everything I’ve said in the last couple years about this, what do I have to say that’s new? What can I say that Stephanie Leary didn’t say better? Can I provide a POV vastly different from Chris Ford? Am I more poignant than Grimes, when she wants to be treated like a person.
I read the WPMUorg post “Where are the women in WordPrees?” too. Unlike my friends Shannon Smith and Siobhan McKewon, I was neither interviewed for this nor asked about it nor mentioned in the article itself. And I don’t really find that a personal slight. I’ve been left out of things in the WP community lists like this before (most notable would be where two WP news sites mentioned someone else who was raising money to go to WordCamp San Francisco last year but did not mention me, even as a successful ‘Look, she just did this too). Shit like this happens. I try not to take it personally, though I will say you lose a lot of my respect when I can spot holes like this in your research. They forgot HELEN for fuck’s sake. (Okay, maybe my feelers are a little bruised about being omitted… I’ll live.)
What do I think about all this for realzies, no takebacks, pinky swear?
Society is still pretty fucked up.
That’s what the problem is. It’s not tech, and it’s not WP, and it’s not school. It’s all these things to one degree or another. It’s why I picked the post title that I did. The idea that a women who shows cleavage gets powers is stupid, but it’s sadly valid in a lot of ways. There’s a reason shit like Boobquake (anniversary tomorrow!) was hilarious. Yes, cleavage causes earthquakes and gayness causes hurricanes.
Our society is growing, and it’s changing, and it’s learning. But it’s doing it in a way that feels real slow until someone points out to you that the Stonewall riots were in 1969. Or that Brown vs Board of Education happened in 1952. How about how women only got the right to vote in the US in 1920 (by the way, I cannot WAIT for the centennial party in 2020).
My point is that we’ve learned that separate but equal is a lie. We’ve learned that different people are different. We’ve learned that different societies are different. And the last hundred years have been fucking amazing with change and growth. And the point is that the problem is the world in general. It’s not just religion — some of my super religious friends are the most enlightened people I know, and some of my atheist friends are shockingly sexist — asshollery knows no limits. It’s not just technology or gaming or comics or writing or anything else. It’s everything. It’s all of it. All the time.
And the only way I know of to change it is to keep changing. Keep encouraging people who weren’t as lucky as I am, who didn’t have my opportunities and background and support. That’s why I taught at the Learn WP Workshops for Women, and why I do support women-only training. In some cases, for some women, it’s needed. Not everyone, but some, and I hate when people say “Well I didn’t have a problem, so it’s not needed.” because If you did have a problem somewhere down the line, if you were put off, this is only making it worse.
Every single day, someone is told they cannot do or be a certain thing because they are another thing.
Let’s stop that, shall we?
Let’s encourage people, tell them they can, and when you see someone who hits a roadblock because someone else back up the way told them “Girls can’t do math” or “Southerners can’t write well” or “Men can’t bake” take the time to tell them that they can too, and help them learn how.
That’s just what I think.
Comments will remain open. Your ability to leave them depends entirely on what you say and how I perceive it. This is my site.
When I Solve A Problem
This is exactly how I feel after wrestling all day, trying to solve stupid problems that shouldn’t have happened, since I certainly didn’t write the non-backwards-or-forwards compatible code that doesn’t work on anyone’s server but our own.
Amazon.
Veronica Mars Movie
Even though it’s already been funded in the time it took me to write this, I would still hope my fellow marshmallows would fund the Veronica Mars Kickstarter because … Because.
I liked Veronica Mars. When it was new, I advocated people watch it. I speculated on it (I thought Lamb was the season two killer, I was wrong, but he went out with an awesome line of “I smell bread…”). I thought it said goodbye in the best way it could.
That doesn’t mean I don’t want to revisit it.
In 2004, it was a rarity: Smart TV with a female protagonist. Veronica was the outcast (a common trope I know), and she was raped (again, I know, and I hated that), but season one was brilliant. It blew my mind that we got a TV show that rarely talked down to us, that touched on the many challenges faced by Veronica (poor girl, rich boyfriend), who was best friends with the murdered sister of her boyfriend, who may or may not be her boyfriend’s sister (wasn’t), whose boyfriend’s pregnant ex-girlfriend was in a coma (and died, and he ran off with the baby), who ended up dating boyfriend’s best friend who just so happened to be the son of the dead best friend, whose father was fired as sheriff only to be rehired and fired again as the show ended…
The layers upon layers that Rob Thomas (not that one, the other one) put into his show was astounding. I don’t agree with all his choices for characters (Beaver in season two, rape AGAIN as a trope I dislike) but every character felt real and genuine. Rob Thomas was like Joss Whedon, without the fantasy/sci-fi aspects. In fact, Whedon guest-stared on the show! That’s a lot of love.
Before the show ended, many of us campaigned, sending Mars Bars to UPN. After the end, we hoped there would be a resurrection, maybe a movie… Nothing happened. It’s been six years, and like Firefly, if they said “Hey, we’re gonna make a movie!” I would drop everything and go watch.
They’re trying to make a movie!
At the time I posted this (and determined that my comic book money was going there instead of to comics), they went from $1,940,000ish to $1,972,206… And it’s climbing as you watch this. It’s crazy. I don’t know who they blackmailed in the WB to do this, but I’m excited. I mean … shit, it passed $2 million by 5:50pm Pacific today.
You should still donate. $1 to $100, or whatever you want. And go get the DVDs to watch three seasons of the only smart shown UPN (aka WB) ever aired. EVER.
If you’ve watched the show, you should also see the follow-up series that was pitched: Veronica Mars: FBI
Weird sidenote. The first time I posted about Veronica Mars was when I’d gotten back from my uncle’s funeral. My uncle bore a more than passing resemblance to Jeffery Tambor. Tambor looks freakishly like Pope Francis I (elected today).
Edited to add…
Look, I know, paying to make a movie is something WB should do, but they aren’t willing to take the risk, and honestly, I wanna see it. The WB is picking up the tab for marketing, promotion, and distribution. The $2mill is for all production costs. Yes, you can make an indie movie for way less, but by comparison, Firefly cost $39 million. We’re not making an indie movie, we’re making a big damn movie. It’s a gamble. There’s a risk/reward situation here. And it’s less about the money here, and more about proving a point. The point is this was a damn good show, it’ll be a damn good movie, and I look forward to seeing it next year. The point is that there is a fanbase for the movie, and it should make it. The point is that WB (and other companies) have not yet moved to understand their audiences, and if we can help them understand we’re here, we’re really, and we’re more than just Nielsens, then it’s worth $50 to me.
If it’s not worth it to you, don’t donate! It’s worth it to me.