rare pattern thoughts in a blog

Gina at misbehaving points to the Geek Gorgeous calendar, featuring rather cheesy shots of young women who, we're assured, are true computer geeks.

The little model bios are quite funny in this context--

Lilac, who started working as a programmer at age 16, is now a senior software engineer with an acronym-rich skill-set that includes Java, J2EE, EJB, JSP, JMS, PHP, ASP, ADO, SQL, XML, UML, J2ME, MIDP and more.

Not quite what you'd see on the flip of a Playboy centerfold.

Now that you've gone and looked, I'll say I join Gina in disappointment over the photography and art direction. It could've been so cool, soooo geeky! But while they obviously put some work into this production, the result isn't just cheesecake -- it's cheesy.

Liz Ditz writes on I Speak of Dreams that:

The creator of the calendar, Lilac Mohr, hopes that the proceeds from the calendar will be sufficient to fund "to start a self-sustaining scholarship fund for girls who want to study Computer Science in college."

I personally find that goal ironic for three reasons.

One is that the calendar is sufficiently risqué that I would not have it in a middle-school classroom, even an all-girls classroom. And middle school marks a gateway into science, math and tech careers (see below). So Ms. Mohr can't recruit middle school girls as purchasers of the calendar.

No, this doesn't seem to be designed to appeal to women much at all, but rather seems to be directed more at the reclusive guys who, let's just say, aren't involved much in the dating scene. Does Neta's Ph.D. research into " trust and reliance in automated decision aids, and is researching how the severity of the consequence of an incorrect action affects the operator's attitude towards and dependence on these aids" play much of a role in the erotic fantasy? Does Jim Bob swoon over Brooklynn's Pro Tools skills, or just their, um, visual metaphors?

(Liz points to some actual "organizations that are actually encouraging middle school girls to pursue careers in science and technology." Now that's hot.)

One can't help but notice the narrow range of complexions gazing out of the web page. And Jenny, the creative tech writer, wonders at the homogeneity of the whole look:

Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of that kind of variety on GeekGorgeous.com. Sexy chicks are great; sexy AND smart chicks are better. But sexy, smart chicks who don't adhere to a conventional template of what Average Joe Slashdotter thinks is "sexy" or even "geeky" is the best of all.

But then, too, I'm sure they didn't make this calendar for me. My version would probably be a study of "What Not to Wear" befores and afters -- in my experience, it's a rare geek who can pull off the prOn pout with studied disheveledness with any style. Give me the slightly overweight and overworked senior network engineer who wears too-tight yoga pants, oversized sweaters, and ponytails. Or the newly-back-from-maternity-leave security manager who's gotten no sleep in 12 weeks and still has to manage the outcomes of 3 crises her first week back. Talk about people in need of some cheesecake overhauling.

Yes, because we know how us nerdy girls need some serious help if we hope to be properly objectified.

Like Shelley, I'm also disappointed that I don't know any of these geekettes. But unlike Shelley, I wouldn't expect to know them, since I know hardly anyone in the geekosphere. (I don't really know Shelley, either, so there's that, too.)