What Would You Choose: Brains or Beauty? (edited)

Recently, this little infographic has caused quite the bustle on the internet. Having been called "The Saddest Pink Infographic About Women In Tech You’ll Ever See," controversy is brewing as to whether or not this is the kind of publicity that women in computer science need.

Personally, I think this is fantastic.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not the type to limit girls to dolls and boys to trucks, but I don't see any problem with leveraging a form of entertainment which tweens actively seek out in fashion magazines and online apps.

Let's start, first, with the idea that intelligent women "deserve more than this".  Yes.  That's true. They do.  But they deserve more than this without excluding this.  The big ol' pink infographic to the left is an extremely flattering representation of both mind and overall persona.  Why should a woman be limited to choosing brains or beauty?  The two are not mutually exclusive.  That's a point I've been trying to get across for a very long time!  Why is it an insult to a woman's intelligence to call her beautiful?  Isn't it okay to recognize all of the areas where she's putting in hard work?

Secondly, this infographic is cartoonish and sassy.  There is no point where it tries to pass itself off as indisputable fact.  The steps along the way may be cheeky, but if you don't like one of the options, you won't select it and it won't represent you.   Personally, I am completely willing to give this card the thumbs-up.

The Women of Computer and Information Science Need You!

Now is the time to get involved with WoCIS if you have any interest in helping to bring computer science you young girls.  We have a couple of really big projects in the works and need as much help as we can get to bring them to fruition.

At today's WoCIS meeting (Wed at 2pm) we gave our projects code names.

Project HATCH:
The women of CIS will teach a small group of high school students some simple programming techniques.  We will then take those high school students to a local elementary school, where we will all teach girls from grades 3-5 how to make a mini-program.  This project takes little to no previous programming experience.  We'd like to recruit 2-3 current CIS women to help us with this project.  Planning meetings can be either Monday afternoon/evening or Tuesday morning.

Project Seedling:
The women of CIS will develop an elementary school assembly and travel to local schools to give 45min to 1 hour long presentations.  We will play, inspire, talk and teach our way through the city.  This one will require quite a bit of content and a handful of speakers so it would be nice to recruit some current women in CIS to help get this started.  Any volunteers?

We would love for you to get involved.  If you're interested in helping, whether you're male or female, please email me to be put on the list for whichever group interests you.  Together, we can spread a love for CS to girls and women.