WEBVTT

00:00:00.435 --> 00:00:03.777
Computer Love Computer Love

00:00:07.530 --> 00:00:12.448
I'm so sick of porn with my file sharing! What the hell BitTorrent tracker sites?

00:00:12.448 --> 00:00:16.379
BitTorrent is a file sharing protocol used to distribute large files.

00:00:16.379 --> 00:00:19.621
So instead of sending the file from one computer to the other which is known as

00:00:19.621 --> 00:00:22.755
peer to peer. What's happening is that everyone whose downloading the file is

00:00:22.755 --> 00:00:28.211
sharing with everyone else. So we're all taking little bits of information and that will

00:00:28.211 --> 00:00:33.158
eventually be compiled into a full file on our computers. It's a really efficient,

00:00:33.158 --> 00:00:37.470
decentralized way of downloading files. It's actually really ingenius.

00:00:37.470 --> 00:00:42.584
But as with most geeky technology, BitTorent tracking sites fill their ad space with

00:00:42.584 --> 00:00:45.825
ads directed at young men, not at people who look like me.

00:00:45.825 --> 00:00:50.473
One way that I can tell is because the ads are either "How to get ripped in 4 weeks!"

00:00:50.473 --> 00:00:54.823
or porn directed specifically at heterosexual young males.

00:00:54.823 --> 00:00:59.431
The images are women being debased and dehumanized to sell advertising for sex sites

00:00:59.431 --> 00:01:04.345
or online dating sites. Some are straight up pornography and others are just using

00:01:04.345 --> 00:01:07.487
pornographic images to entice young men to visit their sites.

00:01:07.487 --> 00:01:12.033
For example the Evony MMO used ads like this which clearly is using women's bodies

00:01:12.033 --> 00:01:17.046
to attacted boys to come play their game except I think their game was like a strategy

00:01:17.046 --> 00:01:21.111
MMO, like it had nothing to do with the women in the advertisements.

00:01:21.111 --> 00:01:25.938
And then these ads are clearly for porn except they are trying to pretend like it's the

00:01:25.938 --> 00:01:28.156
"classiest collection of nude art"

00:01:28.156 --> 00:01:32.996
All of these ads are just using women's bodies to appeal to geeks and gamers.

00:01:33.227 --> 00:01:34.869
People that look like this.

00:01:36.866 --> 00:01:40.846
I just want to file share without being bombarded by naked women and offers to

00:01:40.846 --> 00:01:43.119
meet ladies in my neighbourhood.

00:01:43.119 --> 00:01:46.595
I also don't want to download a virtual stripper who takes her clothes off

00:01:46.595 --> 00:01:50.105
on my desktop. And frankly I'm horrified at the thought of someone turning their

00:01:50.105 --> 00:01:54.116
computer on and having their own virtual stripper do a little dance for them

00:01:54.116 --> 00:01:58.866
everyday. That falls under the fembot category and y'all know how I feel about that.

00:01:58.866 --> 00:02:03.174
There are plenty of techno-geeks who are women so why do these sites insist on

00:02:03.174 --> 00:02:07.486
advertising only to men? That was a rhetorical question. I actually know the

00:02:07.486 --> 00:02:11.330
answer to that. Women are systematically left out of techno-geek culture.

00:02:11.330 --> 00:02:16.043
It's a boys club that's reinforced socially and culturally. It creates a space that is so

00:02:16.043 --> 00:02:19.386
undesirable for women to be in that they don't want to or they aren't give the

00:02:19.386 --> 00:02:21.033
opportunity to participate.

00:02:21.033 --> 00:02:25.770
Just look at the fact that less than 3% of open source programmers are women.

00:02:25.770 --> 00:02:29.693
Or how about the fact that only 13% of wikipedia contributors are women?

00:02:29.693 --> 00:02:33.658
It's not that women aren't interested in technology, it's that there are very real

00:02:33.658 --> 00:02:38.511
barriers for women to get involved and engage. Having ads on the BitTorrent

00:02:38.511 --> 00:02:43.051
tracking sites targeted at a very specific demographic of young hetero sexual males

00:02:43.051 --> 00:02:48.032
alienates and discourages women from participating. And these ads are only a teeny

00:02:48.032 --> 00:02:51.945
tiny little fraction of the intentional and unintentional barriers keeping women out of

00:02:51.945 --> 00:02:53.180
the boys club.

00:02:53.180 --> 00:02:57.692
I like technology and coding and science fiction and open source software and

00:03:02.772 --> 00:03:05.845
And I'm also told that the only place for women in this subculture is to be the

00:03:05.845 --> 00:03:09.457
"hot chick" or maybe the booth babe at a convention.

00:03:09.457 --> 00:03:13.769
We want to be full participants in geek culture and the only way that's going to

00:03:13.769 --> 00:03:17.064
happen is if we dismantle the boys club and tear those barriers down.

00:03:17.979 --> 00:03:20.508
Computer Love Computer Love