Off-Topic 02 or “Wanted: Girl Nerds (only hotties need apply)”

Update: I should know better than to put a picture of a young, beautiful girl on my blog. All you 15 year old boys hitting Google Images are ruining my stats. In an attempt to return to equilibrium, I’ve updated the picture below. This one is for you, boys… In more interesting news, the inaugural Google Science Fair has just announced its winners: all ladies. Which is what returned me to this badly composed rant of yore. Back to the program…

For as long as there have been nerds, there has been the nerd-dream: hot girls that are into them for their nerdariffic qualities.

Sure, there are any number of films and stories that perpetuate the myth that the hot cheerleader will leave her jock boyfriend for the pale, skinny guy with glasses (Transformers is one of the most hilarious examples I can think of), but let’s be honest here – sorry guys, it ain’t gonna happen.

It was this post that made me think of this phenomenon, but as a broader thought, why is it that computers are generally thought of as a male domain? This isn’t confined to gamers, or programmers, but computing at large. Perhaps with PC’s becoming ubiquitous classroom furniture these days, we’re only a short time from seeing this change, but I’d hazard a guess that this still won’t be the case.

There is no reason that women are not as capable with technology as men, so perhaps we’re looking at something that is socially attached? Are women less likely to tie themselves to these inanimate objects than men? Do women need more real social interaction? As we become more and more reliant on these technologies, it will be interesting to see what changes take place.