Girls and Geeks

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09 August

Apparently I can piss off my friends a lot more when I am far away than when I am living near them. My very intelligent, very articulate and very beautiful friend, Nancy Folsom, is very Mad at me because I am a male chauvenistic pig. I am sorry Nancy, but at the high risk of sounding extremely sexist (and against my own gender at that), I have to be honest and say that I personally believe girls can't be geeks. Before you chase me down and go for my throat let me finish my thought. I believe that girls and women can be intelligent, technologists, scientists, ambitious, professional, you name it, but when I say geek, I have a certain idea about what it characterizes and it does not in my mind come even close to a woman. Perhaps I can blame the main stream media for that or perhaps I am just sexist. If Liz Henry thought Dave Winer was sexist, she is going to have a field day with me.

Geek to me stands for someone like my husband, addicted to his gadgets and his email and his Internet connection, very intelligent when it comes to machines, technology, and Internet and not so savvy when it comes to dealing with people, fashion and emotions.

I am lucky enough to know many smart and technologically advanced women, but I don't categorize them as geeks even though they are as good as if not better than any male geeks I know when it comes to dealing with computers. I guess what I want to say is that women as hard ass as they can be in the technical field still have some RAM left for the soft stuff. They are more than just geeks. Is my logic flawed? What do you all think?

23:49 | Blog it | geeky stuff

Comments (16)

maryam ghaemmaghami Scoble has turned off comments on this page.

	maryam ghaemmaghami Scoblewrote: Analisa, After you told me that you liked Kundera I pretty much agree with anything you say ;) 14 Aug.
	Analisawrote: Maryam, On your quote -- "I rather call smart women goddesses than geeks :)" -- I can't agree more :-) :-) :-) I think that maybe, "geek" is a state of mind. It's definitely a "choice" kind of thing. As in - I know many men, who could fit the "geek" model but choose not to... and instead come off to the world as metrosexual... even though they are total whizzes in finance or technology. I just think that as a choice, fewer women (if any) are choosing the "geek" route... and choosing more of the "goddess" route :-) How about that? Cheers, Analisa 14 Aug.
	maryam ghaemmaghami Scoblewrote: John, I didn't mean to offend, but obviously can't expect everyone to agree with me. It sounds like definitions for geek vary for each person. Helen, I would love to meet these women and interview them on the digital divas show (I have to start working on that show) Alfred, Good point as always :) 14 Aug.
	Alfred Thompsonwrote: I think that even with male geeks being a geek is only one part of who they are. Women tend to have other parts of who they are that tend to overshadow the geek parts even if they are very geeky. I think that part of this is how we are "wired" to view women differently from how we view men. This is especially the case with men who as a general rule always see women as women first and formost. It's our hormones. :-) 13 Aug.
	imhelendtwrote: Gulp! Sigh. Oh honey, I have some people I need to introduce you to. Cuz the hard core programming gal geeks I know are just as gadget hungry, geeky and fashion and socially challanged as the boys. I totally gotta introduce you. ;D 12 Aug.
	John C. Welch wrote: I sometimes think that when a lot of people say "geek" they mean "<item> obsessed". That's a personality type that exists everywhere. Cars, boats, planes, computers, whatever. the problem is, that when you say "Women aren't geeks", it creates communications noise, and I guarantee that what people are reading is "Maryam said women can't be geeks for <reason>". That's not what you MEANT, but it is how the offensensitive and thin-skinned would take it. (for example, Robert getting so twitchy when I said that in my particular circles, he's not a geek, he's a technophile.) If someone doesn't really know you, (and most of us don't, not really), that can come off as very insulting. Especially when you're talking about technical types who DO deal well with people and things. I get what you meant, and while I disagree, i'm not particularly offended. But then, i'm rather hard to offend, a necessary characteristic. 11 Aug.
	maryam ghaemmaghami Scoblewrote: Thanks Michelle. I agree that there are inherent differences between males and females and that translates into the world of geeks as well. 11 Aug.
	Michelle Tackaberywrote: I think I understand what you are saying MaryAmie. There is a difference between male and female geeks. Personally I would go for the plasma over the diamond, but I have a very hard time sometimes translating between male geeks that work for me and male executives I work for, even in the same room - the male executives have garnered a little "female" in that they can multitask/multitrack whereas the male geeks can't seem to get out of their technological track, not even enough to "speak executive" or "speak marketing" or anything else. I have worked in organizations with female IT managers and male IT managers and there are distinct differences - guys get revved up over tools and toys, women just don't. Women see entire pictures and how tools relate as part of big pictures, whereas men tend to get wrapped up in how tools work. I'm probably only muddying the picture instead of clarifying it, but I think I understand what you are saying. 11 Aug.
	maryam ghaemmaghami Scoblewrote: Manoj, That's a great idea! love it :) Sorry for the trouble with spaces. I know they are working on the problems. Hopefully it will be fixed soon. 11 Aug.
	Manoj Kumarwrote: Hey Maryam, Pretty simple to find out if a gal is really a geek.... Wanna find out? Offer a gal to choose either a plasma TV or a diamond ring... I'm sure a TRUE geek is inclined towards the plasma TV... if the gal chooses the ring, then she is a hottie and NOT a geek... ;) Hope this resolves your debate. PS: BTW, can you pls tell why I cant edit my blog URL to http://manojsays.blogspot.com when commenting... Maryam, pls change ur blogging platform... Microsoft blogging platform still sucks... :( 11 Aug.
	maryam ghaemmaghami Scoblewrote: Deannie, You are right. There are always exceptions. I rather call smart women goddesses than geeks :) John, I agree. There are different meanings to geek for different people. I was only talking about mine. K.P.: Love that title. Thanks for visiting. no name, Where do you live? It can't be the states. The discussion is still hot and bothered here. David, so what side are you one? :) 10 Aug.
	David Rwrote: Let the debate begin..lol 10 Aug.
	(no name) wrote: Where I live most educated people stopped thinking like this in the 1950's.... 10 Aug.
	K.P. wrote: Thought you may enjoy this blog as I enjoy yours! http://www.womenbehindthetechguys.blogspot.com (Our honey's know each other. I think he even sent this to Robert when I first started) K.P. Keep blogging!!!!! 10 Aug.
	John C. Welch wrote: er...again, living in a different space, most of the geeks here, male and female, aren't as addicited to their tech as Robert is. a rather large chunk don't have cell phones at all, and are really quite happy about it. But then, we implement and create tech as much, if not more than we use it, so it's less of a fan situation. As Andrina said, "After the nth time you've been called out to fix someone's crap, it's not cool, none of it is." 10 Aug.
	(no name) wrote: I have never thought calling anyone a 'geek' was complimentary. And yes, I agree that many technically savvy women also seem to have the capacity to do lots of other things after being the warrior at work all day that many men choose not to do. Eh, there are always exceptions to any statement though, aren't there? deannie 10 Aug.

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