Girl Geeks, RickRolling and DIY

Inspired by the discussions going on at Nella Lou’s inspiring blog on the topic of women in Buddhism (here and here), I wanted to speak to a few of my personal experienced.

I come out of Riot Grrrl culture and much of this DIY ethic has inspired me throughout my life. Maybe we need to take this back even further to the fact that I’ve always been a tomboy. My dad wanted a boy and until my brother was born, I was the surrogate son. My mom has photos of me playing baseball. memories of gnarly skateboarding injuries that would turn your stomach and I have been left with a preference for horror movies, comic books, video games, punk rock and Jackass stunts that many women don’t share. I’m also a geek. I have been working in the technology field for many years (marketing for a computer graphics card company, web agency project manager and community manager for a few technology start-ups).

As a lady in technology, I noticed that I was part of a minority. I would go to events and see maybe 2 or 3 women but a sea of guys. I’m not going to attempt to assign any blame for this but rather share how I decided to apply a DIY approach to the situation.

I started a local Girl Geek Dinners group in which each month I gathered a gaggle of gals together to network and listen to a lady speak on a topic they are geeking out about. It’s been a great way to create a community and the conversations, business contacts and knowledge-sharing that has come from these events has been incredible. More than this, there is such a strong degree of support that has come from these events.

I’d encourage ladies who feel so inclined to start a podcast, start a group blog, an aggregator of ladyBuddhabloggers, a wiki - anything. I’d love to participate in anyway that I can.

It’s really worth considering that it’s only now that many Buddhist centres, teachers and practicioners are beginning to understand the power of participating and sharing online. In the sanghas I’ve been a part of, I’ve always been one of the minority who has a blog. Many of the people I know are comfortable with posting links related to Buddhism on their Facebook page, but lack the time or desire to write blogposts on the topic.

The same is true globally and not just in Buddhist circles. I always refer to the ‘RickRoll’ incident in which we attended a friend’s birthday party and she was handed a gift. Upon unwrapping it, she saw that it was a CD of Rick Astley’s Greatest Hits. The crickets sounded as the majority of non-internauts in the room didn’t get the ironic nature of the popular internet meme.It was clear to me then that I’m very much a part of a minority in that respect.

I wonder if we should start Green Tara- rolling people? Hmm…