"How Geeks Girls Will Rule the World" Author Interview
How Geek Girls Will Rule the World is informative and inspiring. In this book you step into the lives of strong willed woman in male dominate fields. Author Jennifer Thorpe-Moscon’s well composed questions are responded to by very heartfelt replies.
You can expect to read about successful women in Computers and Technology, Math and Science, Gaming, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Comics and Manga. Thorpe-Moscon asks these ladies questions about their passions, how they pursued their career, why they chose their career, what they plan on doing in the future, whether or not they experienced sexism in their workforce and if, how they over came it and any advice they would give someone wanting to be in their line of work.
Have you ever been curious about making your interests and geek girl lifestyle into a career,? If so, this is the book for you. Tons of tips for breaking barriers and not letting sexism get the best of you. Not all of these woman have experienced sexism in the workforce, however for those that did, commonly they came to the conclusion to be passionate and work hard. There are many woman and men helping spread awareness of sexism and working hard to demolish it!
As a special treat for you readers, Jennifer Thorpe-Moscon agreed to answer some questions about this fantastic book, gender equality, being a geek and what this all means to her.
What Inspired you to write “How Geeks Girls Will Rule the World” and what impact were you hoping it would have?
I think this book was a long time in coming for me. I’ve personally been fortunate to be surrounded by geeks most of my teen and adult life who were accepting of anyone wanting to be a part of their community. But nonetheless the problem was always painfully obvious – my computer science classes had so few women. Well-meaning people who didn’t know me that well assumed I needed help with math, like the one DM who told a male player in the group to write me out a power attack chart (I stopped him and assured him I could do the math just fine). And you see it in the media all the time – I remember a shirt being sold that said “I’m too pretty to do math”. And even as geeks become more mainstream, geek girls aren’t appreciated for their smarts. Search “geek girls” and the first few results will be the “Hottest Geek Girls” or “Sexiest Geek Girls”. I realized that girls needed positive role models to show them that yes, women can and have excelled in these areas. And the funny thing is that there are lots of great female role models, but they don’t get much air time in the media. I wanted to give them that air time and help girls and women be inspired by their stories.
Have you, yourself faced sexism in the workforce? If so, how did you handle it?:
Not personally – well, at least not any of which I’m aware. But I did see it in action firsthand. I won’t name names, but I was on an admissions committee once and a woman was denied a spot because someone said she was too “aggressive”. And I thought, geez, she was just confident! If she’d been a man no one would have blinked an eye. Worst part of it was that the person who made this claim was also female, and was someone very familiar with research on gender discrimination. What did I do? I spoke up on the woman’s behalf, and as a result of my and another person’s endorsement, the woman was at least waitlisted rather than outright rejected. And thankfully she did eventually get in. I think that’s an important part of combating sexism – speaking up when you see it happening.
What do you consider the geekiest thing about you to be?:
That’s a tough call. It’s a contest between my love of live gaming and my love of math and science. One is this amazingly creative and expansive interactive storytelling, and the other is this beautiful logical system that explains pretty much everything in our universe. As I noted in the book, I think one thing that most geeks have in common is an appreciation and passion for both of these, and it’s the power of reason combined with the ability to think far, far outside the box that makes geeks so well positioned to impact our world.
What do you consider to be your biggest accomplishment as a writer and why?:
This book! It’s my first one. As a writer, it’s incredibly gratifying to hold your book in your hands.
What do you still wish to accomplish in your future? How do you plan to do so?:
I’ve been passionate about women’s rights and gender equality for a long time, and in my job at Catalyst (a nonprofit dedicated to advancing women and business) I’m finally getting to apply my research and statistical skills to that fight. My primary goal is to continue doing that in even more and bigger ways. I want to see equality of gender representation in the highest ranks of business in my lifetime.
I’m also, in my spare time, working on another book that is completely different from this one. The one I’m working on is… maybe urban fantasy, with a sprinkling of sci-fi and horror? That’s all I’ll say about that. J
What do you consider most stressful about being a writer?:
Probably finding time to write when there’s so much else going on… work, friends, family, etc. And it’s hardest when there’s a part of the story you’re struggling with – when it flows easily, it’s much easier to sneak in some time, but when it’s more difficult, finding time to work through it can be tough.
What is your favourite way to relax when you have had a stressful day?:
Probably watching one of my favorite shows. Right now I’ve got new episodes of American Horror Story and Haven, among others. And I can always rewatch episodes of Doctor Who.
How did you get yourself started in the world of writing and what advice do you have for aspiring writers?:
I’ve always written, ever since I was little. I think writers have always on some level been writers. And writers usually get inspired to write by reading great books. The book that really transformed my life was Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones. I loved it so much – it opened worlds of imagination to me, and how could I not write some of that down? The only advice I have for aspiring writers, as I am far from successful in the field and can’t begin to suggest a path to success, is write. Write every stupid thing that comes into your head. One of those thoughts might blossom into something huge.
Who is your favourite famous geek girl in the media?:
Most of my favorite geek girls are women who are popular among geeks but not too well-known outside of geek circles. I like Danica McKellar – she was already successful off of her Wonder Years work so she didn’t have to study as hard as she did, but she did anyway, and now advocates for women to pursue math education. I also like Summer Glau for all of her roles in geek-friendly television.
If you could be any superhero, who would you be?:
Hm, tough question. I really like Iron Man because he’s not born with any powers or supernatural in any way; he’s just highly intelligent and uses that to become a hero. On the other hand, if there were supernatural abilities out there, I sure would want some. Can I have reality manipulation? :D
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November 04 2013