Re: Another sensationalist Newsweek Article

[tcmay@netcom.com (Timothy C. May)]

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



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