Pink Ponies and Pandora’s Box: Linux and Skepticism
Diane Perry, Managing Editor

On April 1, 2006, Slashdot.com, a popular technology-related website and forum, changed the color of its layout—from traditional teal to Skepchick logo pink—in response to the release of some very obvious findings by its marketing department: that the majority of Slashdot's readership was male. By replacing its tagline "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters," with "OMG! Ponies,” the good natured folks at Slashdot successfully poked fun at the results of their own research. However, I could not help but wonder whether or not they attracted more women to the site with their April Fools prank and obvious shout out to the ladies (or lack thereof).

This got me thinking on how we are presenting skepticism to other women (a leap, I know, but bear with it). Skepticism should be delicious like chocolate Chex Mix, exciting like having your first apartment in the big city and as sensitive to a woman's desires as self-warming lubricant. Yet how do you sell the benefits of participating in skepticism when so many of us concern ourselves with the more immediate goals of making dinner, cleaning the house, raising children and doing laundry?

Let’s face it. Women are loyal shoppers. Give us a quality product to stand behind and it’s nothing but love from then on. Slashdot realized this without being condescending. They simply put it out there—a humorous, almost affectionate, invitation to participate in a male dominated arena.

I often feel as if we have been beaten down by centuries of blame for Eve's misconduct and Pandora's curiosity. I see so many women who can think for themselves, but place little effort in defending their position. Do we resist expressing strong views out of the fear from the backlash of having offended someone? We're taught not to be rude, to say only nice things (or say nothing at all) and be pleasantly submissive when confronted. Could the problem then lie with how we were raised?

My mother is a first generation, Polish American and the daughter of a Pennsylvanian coal miner. Growing up poor, Catholic and superstitious, it is no surprise that her favorite television programs include "Medium," "Ghost Whisperer" and "John Edwards." Despite all my attempts to present a logical point of view, she remains a firm “believer.”

I grew up listening to the women in my family when they gathered in the kitchen during the holidays. They exchanged wives' tales about pregnancy, birth and death and presented them as fact. Ghost stories, prophetic dreams and psychic connections were true because great grandmother so-and-so had experienced it firsthand. In their company, god was used like a wooden spoon—to promote obedience and fear in misbehaving children.

(The men congregated in a separate part of the house and only mingled with the women when food was set out. What they spoke of, my young mind could then only imagine--their conversations being deemed inappropriate for the ears of little girls. I naively assumed it was because they were using “naughty” words).

While the women’s stories were entertaining, I never felt comfortable thinking of them as true. They were like Santa Claus and the Easter bunny—too many of the pieces didn’t fit. I mean, why didn’t Wild Kingdom do a show on reindeer that could fly or bunnies that colored eggs?!? THAT would have made sense. My mother offered the lame excuse that they were “camera shy.”

Because of my upbringing, I can understand how women are more susceptible to certain types of beliefs. Girls are fed complete nonsense from the day they are born. We’re mysterious and mystical by design. We can bear and nourish our young and bleed for days without dying (an awful “punishment” by the way). We possess “intuition” and will, as mothers, grow eyes in the backs of our heads (apparently as part of our “sixth sense”). We're the "weaker" sex. While this is all an obvious load of manure, it can still be intimidating to separate yourself from everything you have been taught, to create your own expectations for yourself and to see the facts through the folk tales.

Slashdot saw things differently and acknowledged that we’re out there—us curvaceous and curious seekers of knowledge who dared to break away. You don't need to possess a degree in software engineering to try out new technologies or change your operating system. You just need to be given a more appealing alternative and be willing to change your mind.

According to the myth, the last item in Pandora’s Box was hope. My hope is that even though you and everyone you associate with may use Windows, you are brave enough to give, for example, Ubuntu Linux a try and share your experience with other women.