[Phpwomen] PHPWomen Merchandise: Good Idea?

Mon Mar 9 10:02:11 EDT 2009

Hi Petra

On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 6:22 AM, Petra Dreiskamper <dreis at xs4all.nl> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Seeing this whole discussion unfold makes me almost feel sorry I even
> mentioned the pink elephant at all.
>
> Just for the record: I do not wear make up or even like pink, I just
> thought that the blue
> elephant could do with a pink counterpart om my desk. That's all.
> I certainly did not want to start a discussion on how to best represent
> us as feminine geeks: I never meant it to be taken that seriously.

Oh, I think it's an interesting discussion to have, so I'm glad it was
opened. :)

>
> Apart from that: I guess Lorna is right in saying we're getting
> sidetracked.
> If it's such a costly thing it's perhaps a far better idea to focus on
> T-shirts or baseball caps and jackets etc. with some really cool logo's
> or (funny) geeky lines?
> Maybe even a T-shirt to accompany the cook book?

All of those are great ideas ... I think we could easily start off with
simple things like the PHPW logo, since we have the artwork ready to go for
that already.

One idea that was put forth for a t-shirt was "Codes like a girl," or "Proud
to code like a girl" or something like that. I would so buy one of those. :)

The only custom shops I know of that do the shipping there are cafepress and
zazzle... so finding a cheap international version seems to be the obstacle
at the moment, right?

-E.

>
>
> Petra
>
>
> Lorna Mitchell wrote:
> > I think the elephpant is pretty much out of our price league anyway,
> > as Johanna points out, the seutp costs are quite large.  Perhaps we
> > could take a look at the suppliers others have mentioned, and think
> > about starting off with getting some ideas for t-shirt designs?  I
> > love all the ideas I've seen but I think we need to just start
> > somewhere!
> >
> > Lorna
> >
> > On 07/03/2009, Elizabeth Naramore <elizabeth at naramore.net> wrote:
> >
> >> On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 10:54 AM, Elizabeth M Smith <
> >> auroraeosrose at shitennou.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>>> Just a few comments about reinforcing 'girly' stereotypes in a group's
> >>>> emblem.
> >>>>
> >>>> * Pink: This has been the stereotyped 'girl colour' since around
> >>>> WWII[0]. Not all girls like pink, and some girls and women will get
> >>>> quite offended if it's suggested they wear it, let alone be
> represented
> >>>> by it.
> >>>>
> >>>> * Make up, nail polish: Some girls and women do not wear make up or
> nail
> >>>> polish as they not feeling comfortable about having to alter their
> >>>> appearance to be accepted, or resent the idea that they are expected
> to
> >>>> decorate themselves for the viewing pleasure of men.
> >>>>
> >>>> * Bows: Without the lipstick, the bow on Ms Pacman would make her look
> >>>> like a 5 year old. (With the lipstick, she looks like those 50 year
> old
> >>>> women you see in the mall with caked-on makeup, wearing the latest
> tween
> >>>> fashions)
> >>>>
> >>>> * Jewellery: Of all the girly stereotypes, this is probably the least
> >>>> girly one. Jewellery such as rings, chains and piercings are
> commonplace
> >>>> for both genders.
> >>>>
> >>>> The Gnome Women project had the dilemma where their members did not
> feel
> >>>> like they'd be taken seriously if they used such stereotypes[1].
> >>>> Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to make a footprint girly,
> >>>> without resorting to nail polish, high-heels, flowers or jewellery,
> and
> >>>> afaik they ended up not getting anywhere.
> >>>>
> >>>> Personally, I would react unfavourably to a pink or made-up elePHPant.
> >>>> It just would not speak to me at all.
> >>>>
> >>>> Taking the above into account, what I would react well to would be a
> >>>> chain or leather thread around the elePHPant's neck, with a little
> >>>> female emblem pendant. You could even do this *separately*, for the
> >>>> existing elePHPants! Just get the chain/thread size right, and voila!
> >>>>
> >>> And quite frankly I would find THIS offensive - to each their own I
> >>> guess.  I find it silly to walk on eggshells all over the place to not
> >>> offend this group or that group.  You won't find something that makes
> >>> everyone happy.
> >>>
> >> I tend to agree with this, and while I understand where Melissa is also
> >> coming from, I think that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being
> >> feminine and a geek at the same time.  Yes, I wear makeup and nail
> polish ..
> >> but it's not for the viewing pleasure of men (hell, I've been married
> for 11
> >> years and I work at home - I have no one to impress ;) ) , I do it
> because
> >> it makes me feel good and the makeup covers up my blemishes :). Does
> that
> >> make me less of a geek? Does that make people not take me seriously? I'd
> >> like to think not.
> >>
> >> I think putting the elephpant in a big frilly dress with a parasol might
> be
> >> a bit over the top, but I also think it's okay to give her a little bit
> of a
> >> feminine bling. :)
> >>
> >> I also think that there's nothing wrong with breaking the "typical
> female
> >> geek" stereotype either :)  Xeni Jardin seems to be doing okay.
> >>
> >> Just my 2 cents.. if this is something we feel strongly about, maybe we
> >> could open up discussion on the forums. I think there are some deeper
> issues
> >> here that are interesting to discuss besides *just* the color of the
> >> elephpant- for me, at least, it's interesting to talk about what being a
> >> geek girl means to each one of us.
> >>
> >> Cheers!
> >> E.
> >>
> >>
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> >
> >
>
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