Australia Wants Women In IT

Last year I was thinking about moving to Australia and getting an IT job down under. Unfortunately, the reason(s) for going disappeared and I found the bar to entry was just too high. Plus, it was going to be a complete nightmare to get my beautiful dog Alva over there. However, I really enjoyed my visits there and the people I met and the culture in general.

As a result of my new-found Aussie obsession, my Google News page is customized with all kinds of Australia-related content. I like to keep up on what is happening down there and I especially like to read their perspective on news related to the USA. Today all the planets must have aligned or something to deliver to me divine inspiration.

I was lured in by the headline in The Age “Making IT a ‘sexy career choice’,” but I honestly wasn’t prepared for just how sexy Australia has made Information Technology. So the idea is to attract more females to the IT industry by helping to shed the myth that we are all pasty white, zit-covered, socially-awkward nerds with bad hair. Enter the IT Screen Goddess 15-month calendar.

These ladies are smart, sassy and on top of their game. I’m so glad this idea came to fruition and that someone is attempting to destigmatize the IT field for women. One thing I was not happy about is the grotesque censorship and prudishness offered by more than half of the web commenters regarding this effort. Many referred to it as “pornography” — which, for as much as I have looked at the images, I just cannot see the genitalia, penetration or smut regularly accepted as porn.

This is a really well done calendar and I think it looks great. I say “Good on ya!” to the organizers and the models and pray that they don’t listen to the narrow-minded detractors. We are approaching a very problematic epoch globally where people just cannot accept the human body in any way, shape or form. Shame on these fools for feeling the need to pervert everything instead of appreciating natural beauty.

I know it wouldn’t serve their cause very well, but this calendar may have convinced me to start job shopping in Oz again.