PHPWomen Calendar 2010
Wednesday, December 2. 2009
If you're expecting something "Calendar Girls" then you'll be disappointed. We are all clothed in the pictures!
I won't share photos from the calendar itself, if you want to see those you can buy your own, but perhaps to give you a hint I'll share an outtake of myself:
I must confess that I was rather agitated when the photos were taken - as a woman in a male-dominated industry, the risk of being seen as just my physical appearance is ever-present, and I normally try hard at unremarkable, unrevealing clothes with very little makeup and a pair of jeans. Hanging out in the lobby at the hotel during a technical conference in that dress and those shoes was significantly more terrifying than delivering three sessions during my first trip to the US as a speaker (which, considering the problems I have with speaking nerves, is saying something). Even after I saw the photos I was kind of unhappy with the whole experience, although I loved the outtake linked above!
Fast forward 6 months and I had dinner with Derick Rethans, who took the photos in the calendar and arranged the printing, and he showed me the prototype he'd had printed. As I sat and turned the pages, I started to understand why this is so important. The women in these photos are some of the leading lights in the community - respected developers, some of them core developers, key community people, and speakers. Yet I saw them as the women they are ... and suddenly remembered that actually, it's acceptable to be both smart AND beautiful.
So - get your calendar and remember all year that beauties can also be geeks! 10% of every purchase goes to PHPWomen, and we will use those funds to support our women and grow more leading lights like these.
For christs sake drop all the feminist "oh this was so hard for me to do" crap and do every member of the male population a favour by putting more clothes on next time.
John, one of the reasons PHPWomen exists is to make sure jerks like you don’t have your uneducated and misinformed opinions count for anything.
Women are significantly under-represented in maths, science, computing and engineering, and PHPWomen exists to support, mentor and grow the female talent within the industry.
The PHPWomen calendar is a landmark. Together you have Elizabeth Naramore, Lorna Mitchell, Lig Turmelle and many leading lights of PHP, MySQL et al.
Your inflammatory comments are not welcome. Do every member of the female population a favour and filter your mouth through your brain (if you have one) next time.
Regards,
Kathy Reid
(Proud to be a PHPWoman)
Hi Alan,
I’m not sure exactly why you’re asking me to grow up. Would that be growing up as in not challenging the opinions of people who undermine the efforts of a united and committed team of people to further a worthwhile cause?
Or growing up as in letting the status quo of under-representation of women in computing continue?
Surely you can muster a more in depth comment than ‘grow up’. Or, perhaps not….
Kathy
err Kathy . . .
I replied to John. not you. I fully agree with and back everything you said.
My sincere apologies Alan – how awful you must have thought me!
it’s OK :-)
John: This is my personal blog, if you don’t like what you find here, then don’t read it!
Kathy: Very well put, thanks for the eloquent moral support :) The funds from the calendar will allow us, as an organisation, to support more aspiring PHPWomen and that was the main point of the exercise – personally I’m proud of us.
Wonderful plan and even better execution :) I wish everyone in PHPWomen best of luck!
