She’s Such A Geek
She’s Such a Geek really jumped out at me with its bright yellow cover. I remembered having read about it on boingboing, and on the linuxchix mailing list. I bought it and started reading it over hot chocolate on my lunch break. It’s a collection of essays written by women in science and technology, essentially about their geekiness and what it’s like to be that geek and be a woman. They’re in turn bold, strong, honest, familiar, inspiring, and at times bitter. It isn’t easy being a woman geek and I found myself empathising often.
I can recommend She’s Such a Geek to any one who either wants to better understand some of the difficulties woman geeks encounter, or those who, like me, understand only too well already. This isn’t an earth shattering book - it isn’t going to radically change how you feel about women in science and technology, or being a woman in science and technology. It is a celebration and an affirmation. We’re here, it says, and we understand - we’re like you, and we don’t feel we should have to apologise for it either.