Computer Love Computer Love

I'm so sick of porn with my file sharing! What the hell BitTorrent tracker sites?

BitTorrent is a file sharing protocol used to distribute large files.

So instead of sending the file from one computer to the other which is known as

peer to peer. What's happening is that everyone whose downloading the file is

sharing with everyone else. So we're all taking little bits of information and that will

eventually be compiled into a full file on our computers. It's a really efficient,

decentralized way of downloading files. It's actually really ingenius.

But as with most geeky technology, BitTorent tracking sites fill their ad space with

ads directed at young men, not at people who look like me.

One way that I can tell is because the ads are either "How to get ripped in 4 weeks!"

or porn directed specifically at heterosexual young males.

The images are women being debased and dehumanized to sell advertising for sex sites

or online dating sites. Some are straight up pornography and others are just using

pornographic images to entice young men to visit their sites.

For example the Evony MMO used ads like this which clearly is using women's bodies

to attacted boys to come play their game except I think their game was like a strategy

MMO, like it had nothing to do with the women in the advertisements.

And then these ads are clearly for porn except they are trying to pretend like it's the

"classiest collection of nude art"

All of these ads are just using women's bodies to appeal to geeks and gamers.

People that look like this.

I just want to file share without being bombarded by naked women and offers to

meet ladies in my neighbourhood.

I also don't want to download a virtual stripper who takes her clothes off

on my desktop. And frankly I'm horrified at the thought of someone turning their

computer on and having their own virtual stripper do a little dance for them

everyday. That falls under the fembot category and y'all know how I feel about that.

There are plenty of techno-geeks who are women so why do these sites insist on

advertising only to men? That was a rhetorical question. I actually know the

answer to that. Women are systematically left out of techno-geek culture.

It's a boys club that's reinforced socially and culturally. It creates a space that is so

undesirable for women to be in that they don't want to or they aren't give the

opportunity to participate.

Just look at the fact that less than 3% of open source programmers are women.

Or how about the fact that only 13% of wikipedia contributors are women?

It's not that women aren't interested in technology, it's that there are very real

barriers for women to get involved and engage. Having ads on the BitTorrent

tracking sites targeted at a very specific demographic of young hetero sexual males

alienates and discourages women from participating. And these ads are only a teeny

tiny little fraction of the intentional and unintentional barriers keeping women out of

the boys club.

I like technology and coding and science fiction and open source software and

And I'm also told that the only place for women in this subculture is to be the

"hot chick" or maybe the booth babe at a convention.

We want to be full participants in geek culture and the only way that's going to

happen is if we dismantle the boys club and tear those barriers down.

Computer Love Computer Love