Geek Goddesses

[Parcival]

Apparently, they have an interesting new calendar (http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/it-calendar-girls/2006/07/09/1152383607217.html) in Ozi Land.

To buy or to emigrate, that's the question.

[celticgeek]

Emigrate, man - Australia's got great beer and now, Great Geek Women!! Heaven!!

[KenP]

Best place in the world is AU
Lovely Geek Women, plenty of beer, wonderful beaches and magic climate.
What more could a bloke want!

from Sydney AUS

Ken

[leonpmu]

The question is: Does an Australian geek woman want a foreign geek man??

[Icarus]

The real question is, does anyone even fall for this type of marketing? "Look I'm a geek and hot, be a geek and hot too!!!" :rolleyes:

[cybertron]

Whaddya mean, it worked for me!:D

[GliderMike]

What more could a bloke want!


One could want to be a citizen rather than a subject mate.

I'll stay in the good old US of A, thanks.

[Pafnoutios]

The real question is, does anyone even fall for this type of marketing? "Look I'm a geek and hot, be a geek and hot too!!!" :rolleyes:
I'm a hot geek. At least my wife thinks I am.

[eskaypey]

Don't get too excited, guys. This (http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,19747557%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html) doesn't look too promising.

[Parcival]

This (http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,19747557%5e16123%5e%5enbv%5e,00.html) doesn't look too promising.

Gee, another guy who tries to be more catholic than the pope (as the saying goes in German). Well, at least that way the ladies get more publicity for their calendar.

[Fedoration]

I think it's quite good fun, although the rose petal shot does tend to imply that there is sexual content. I don't think that would appeal to females, although I doubt it was meant to. I think that the idea was that young blokes would buy the calendar, thinking that the covergirl would make a nice adornment to their walls. Then their girlfriends, family members, etc see the other images which are far more flattering to the women. I think the marketing strategy is quite clever. It's a win-win situation. The blokes get their hot covergirl. The advertisers get their message across. The girls enjoy the literary reference after the front cover.

[Parcival]

Well, no matter what you publish, you will always get criticised for it. It also heavily depends on the cultural background, like overhere in Europe hardly anyone would complain about the rose shot.

[Pafnoutios]

The peak lobby group says it withdrew because it was concerned the calendar, aimed at raising money to encourage girls to study technology, was exploiting women.
I don't see how anyone could consider a legal, adult woman (or anyone else) doing anything knowingly and voluntarily, without compulsion or coersion, being exploited.

[chzlchp]

...although the rose petal shot does tend to imply that there is sexual content.

And, your point...?

[nabetse]

Then their girlfriends, family members, etc see the other images which are far more flattering to the women.
I agree with that. I think their whole idea is to erradicate traditional stereotype of geekiness thereby getting more women interested in those jobs. A "Studs of Geekdom" calendar might be just as effective. I am no sexy devil myself but I know plenty of attractive geeks.

Then again, stereotypes may not be the biggest obstacle. There may just be very little female interest in geeky things. Maybe it's best to let people do what they like. Just because the population is ~50% female does not mean that the geek work force must be 50% female.

[Parcival]

Maybe it's best to let people do what they like. Just because the population is ~50% female does not mean that the geek work force must be 50% female.

True. On the other hand, our societies immediately shape the interests of a growing child in terms of gender. Psychological research has shown that as soon as a baby is born, adults rise the child in a gender specific way. Furthermore, if parents are careful not to do so, it's usually the child's peer group that pushes the child into gender norms.

So why not actively seize this stereotyped gender thing, print a calendar with it, cash in the money, and attract girls to IT?

[nabetse]

So why not actively seize this stereotyped gender thing, print a calendar with it, cash in the money, and attract girls to IT?
Oh, I'm all for that. I'm sure IT (and other) geeks would much rather be married to living, breathing, humans than their computers. :D

[Parcival]

Oh, I'm not exactly sure about that from the way some geeks I have seen... ;) On the other hand, there are freaky women as well. This sort of reminds me of b9punk who once held a lecture at the Chaos Community Congress about her life with geeks. Her slides (http://events.ccc.de/congress/2004/fahrplan/event/140.en.html) are still available for download.