³WHO CARES ABOUT SEX ANYWAY?? ²---------------------------- ¹ /\sk anyone to describe computer boffin and see what they come up with. A spotty teenager with no girlfriend spending endless nights sweating over his keyboard instead? Bespectacled, shy Clarc Kent type waiting to be coaxed out of his shell? Crazy scientist unable to relate to human companions but great with a silicon chip? The spitting image of Clive Sinclare? There are only two things all these wierd and wonderfull computer cliches have in common. One's a morbid fascination with circuit boards and all things electronic. The other is so obvious you probably haven't noticed it. Not one of them is a woman. Why?? The answere, like it or not, is that computing is dominated by men. Most key members of the industry are male from the big names like Jack Tramiel and Alan Sugar right down to Joe Bloggs the sales assistant at your local branch of games-u-like. Most computer games are bought by boys. The mags they read have a target audience that's usually over 95% male. Most of them are edited by men With the exceptionof PR-about the only computer orientated environment in which woman have approximate parity with men - most of the computing jobs which more women than men tend to do are the ones which require less technical knowledge. Obviously there are exceptions, but more often than not you'll find it's your mum or your sister who's more likely to be the word processor operator and your dad or your brother who gets to be the systems analyst. Not that the computer industry shuns the female form. Far from it. Women have their own special function when it comes to promotions and advertising. Visit any computer show and you're bound to find a few long-legged lovelies in mini-skirts handling out leaflets. Take a look at a selection of adverts and you'll find more than your fair share of buxom nymphettes busting out of their scanty bikinis, grinning inanely and tottering on six-inch heels. So far the games industry has shown that it's far more interested in twanging a girly's bra strap than testing her brains. But if it's true to say that computing isn't a field exactly overpopulated by techno-literate members of the female gender, it's as clear that no-one's obviously trying to keep them out. Nowadays girls have the same oppurtunities as boys at school. Most kids leave school computer literate and as computing doesn't make any great physical demands on the human body there's really no reason why little Kylie, say, shoudn't grow up to be a systems analyst earning just as much money as little Jason hopes to do!! Oris there? Sandra Vogel, founder of the Organisation Against Sexism in Software (OASIS) reckons that there are a varity of much subtler influences working to keep women and computers apart. Girls may have plenty of computing opportunities but they're often conditioned to think that programming, like Metalwork or Maths, is something they probably won't be good at. Some teachers don't expect girls to opt for computing so they may not have enough confidence to try it out. In Neighbours, Charlene caused a major outrage when she wanted to be a mechanic. If she'd wanted to be a computer engineer her reception in some families would been the same. Boys on the other hand, are more often positively encouraged to spend as much time playing around with keyboards and joysticks as they want. As for games, how many times have you rushed to your local arcade only to find six girls hogging the Hard Drivin' machine or arguing about who scored what on R-Type??? Not likely, you might say - girls just don't like that sort of game. BUT could it be that they're just put off by the presentation??? Linda Wright, author of several adventure games including The Jade Stone and her own PBM, Arcania, blames adverts and the overall packaging. "The images they use are aimed at the male side of the population and put women off." Few games follow the examples set by Alien Syndrome, Sword of Sodan and Barbarian II in giving you the chance to play a female character. As for the gameplay itself, most woman gamers I spoke to (including our female member) are pretty happy with things just as they are. I think that we should give girls more chances to get in the scene. F.eksample: Try to learn your girlfriends,sisters or kousins how to use the Amiga!! I'm sure that they wan't be dissipointed!!! NOTE TO ALL GIRLS WHO ALLREADY ARE IN THE SCENE: Try to get more girls using the amiga!! Think about how it would be to have girls on a copy party!! I think it would be more comforteble. Anyway enough of that talk!! I think I have said enough to wake up some one!! ³ __ ___ __ | \ | | / |__ |_) |_/ | |/ |__ | \ OF /\/\AJIC12.....