From around the twittersphere, blogosphere, etc  this weekend:

Loren Feldman: "People like the puppet more than you because he is more real than you are. More honest than you are, smarter than you are. More human than you are. People want the Shel puppet to win. The same can't be said for you my friend."

Dave Winer: "They let Shel Israel off the hook. He gets his name back, the puppet is retired. The mock trial they were planning for the TechCrunch summer party, that I learned of this morning, is cancelled."

Dave Winer: "All I could think about is how mean this community had become."

Susan sez: Mean, indeed.

"When I enter a room of suits (like the conference last week, which was called Supernova and was concerned with the business of the internet and which I was covering for Valleywag), it's never the women who put me at instant ease. It's the the other freaks: the femmey guys, the queers, the girl with the lip ring, the boy with the crazy boots. The women in tech I once looked to for support, though they may have once thought I was a cute enough anomaly to tolerate when I could be their Token Whore Speaker, are not the instant allies the web sisterhood wants you to believe they are. It's not okay to say this, but I'm scared that for most women, period, feminism is no longer about breaking the rules men have set, but learning men's rules well enough to seem like they're playing along. But that's probably exactly what some women think I'm doing when I take (or took) my clothes off for money. I'm out of reasons to explain why it wasn't. I can point to my home, my city, my lovers, my friends, my community, my work as reasons, as proof -- that I made it in my own fucking Sinatra way, and that my voice is worthy."

--Melissa Grant Gira, writing about both the much commented on paucity of women at SuperNova, and the fact that identifying as a feminist and a subversive, political  queer does not align, much of the time, with being a Web 2.0 digital elitist,  whether you are pro women in tech or not.

Susan sez: In other words, there's more than one status quo.  As you can see through Meilissa's questioning, feminist identity politics and alt gender politics are not exactly the same thing. Here's some of my thoughts on this--

One could argue that the right to be sexual (and have Zivity take your picture), the right to be a woman and not feel like--or be--a minority--at a major conference are tied to identity and people's rights and abilities to own and control their own identities.

However, one could also say that there's a second set of issue here that are as much a part of gender politics as personal identity.-I'd name them as the right to be openly alt or queer, to be frank about sexuality and sexual values, to be open and accepting of those with other sexual orientations and values--that are as much a part of gender politics as personal identity and that are just as threatening to the status quo as feminism.

Melissa, I don't think the women I know wish you ill, or fear you.

I think they, like me, want all of us to find a way to do the right thing, for it to not take so much effort and, as you say, for everyone to have joy.

 I think that what feels like rejection is plain old repression, the need for so  many of us to take a deep breath, face what is different and then ask the honest question "Can we find this truth in ourselves?"

What creates change is the will to change. What creates knowledge--and insight--is listening.
I hope people hear your words, Melissa--this is a beautiful and disturbing post.

"We found that 63% of women in science, engineering and technology have experienced sexual harassment. That's a really high figure. They talk about demeaning and condescending attitudes, lots of off-color jokes, sexual innuendo, arrogance; colleagues, particularly in the tech culture, who genuinely think women don't have what it takes -- who see them as genetically inferior."

--Athena factor researchers Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Carolyn Buck Luce and Lisa J. Servon , explaining the reasons women leave technology careers in their mid-30s and early 40s. This Computerworld article is part of the promotion around a HBS article on their research.

"But if we dare be more than pretty eyeballs driving the market, we must challenge the deep misogyny pulsing at the heart of the hypertext transfer protocol."

--Melissa Gira, Valleywag, writing about women, sexism and net businesses with true Swiftian sarcasm in a delicious post.

Take a look at my new essay, The End of Innocence and Making It Big: The NYTimes spins yet another lost girl tale of innocence, regret and discreetly hot sex, at BlogHer.
A snippet:
"Is there truly any less foolproof way to sell the Sunday issue that to get huge viral buzz from a damsel in distress story played out in that most modern of locales, the blogsphere?

Call it cynical on my part, but I can just see current NYTMag editor Adam Moss looking back over the upper-middle class waif stories (and media sensations) of Joyce Maynard and later Elizabeth Wurtzel and wondering if Emily Gould's sob story of error and reform would generate the same page views and buzz those two highly manufactured heroines achieved.

While much of the media criticism and the consumer comments have focused on Gould's narcissism and opportunistic use of her beauty, sexuality and position, and the aggressive marketing of her subsequent prettily teared up regret, no one has talked much about the cold-blooded cynicism of the Times in assigning and publishing what is just the latest incarnation in an ongoing series of sensational stories by attractive young women who struggle."

"The Tech Industry is what happens when really smart people get paid to have so much fun that they lose touch with reality."

-- Sarah Dopp, blogger, tweeting away.

Queen of Spain, aka Erin Vest, interviewed Barak Obama this weekend, and did an amazing job. Erin's interview addressed policy questions developed by BlogHer members--congrats to all,this is very cool.

As Lisa Stone says on her blog, Surfette, Obama is the first presidential candidate to a directly address BlogHer's audience of nine million women each month via BlogHer.com and a publishing syndicate of 1,800 blogs.

My favorite poetry writing, gender bending, social cause supporting, product manager organizing, code writing, project planning, great going for a walk and talking friend Sarah Dopp turns 25 today. Happy birthday, Sarah!

If you've never read her blog, start with this:
"I'm 25 years old with 11 years experience building websites and reading poetry at microphones, and four years of self-employment in the tech industry. I've never lied about my age, but I'm done with trying to walk like I'm older than I am. I get to be 25 now. And all of the middle fingers I've been giving social constructions for the last handful of years can relax. I made it. So there."

Well-know Israeli blogger  Miriam Schwab was among the myriad people who have had trouble getting authenticated to post comments on my blog (sorry), so I am posting this note for her re my interview with Ayelet Noth:

"I'm sure Ayelet didn't quite mean what it sounds like she said, but in any case I would like to point out that women can have kids and be very entrepreneurial. In fact, giving birth can (strangely) act as a catalyst for making sweeping and exciting changes in one's professional life.

I got married really young, and had a bunch of kids by the time I was 25/26. Not only did I not quit and park myself in my kitchen, each kid pushed me to make changes in my career. I had three kids while in university. After the third was born I decided to get my first real job. The next one led me to quit and start my own biz. The next led me to discover and explore the world of blogging and social media, and turn my business into a social media marketing service provider.

There is enough of a stigma in the workforce against women with kids, so we women should watch our words and make sure that it is very clear that we can have kids and careers. Actually, the fact that we have personal lives, I think, contributes to our value at work. We don't mess around (too much), and are very efficient and focused.

As someone once said to me: "if you ever need something done, ask a busy person." Women with kids are busy, and we'll get things done. "

So Web 2.0 is over, and now it's on to the next thing. For me, I didn't engage with Web 2.0 the way I meant to--it came right on the heels of coming back from Israel, there were lots of other business decisions about work and focus happening, some talk about moving (yep, I am heading for the East Bay later this summer), and whatever other time synchs distracted me,

Having said that, we had a kick ass panel on How to Create Successful Unconferences, BarCamps, & Meetups for Almost No $$, aka why not have an all women panel to help OReilly achieve the balance they so often (sadly) fail to achieve?

Topic was how unconferences, barcamps, and other grass roots conference structures have become powerful tools to develop community; virally market standards, tools, and ideas; and launch new companies and networks.Focus of the discussionwas be how conferences that are organized--or at least, begin, on an ad hoc basis as unconferences and barcamps--can actually generate powerful momentum in pushing forward standards, networks, and community. We went i to best practices, strategies for success, marketing tips, insider knowledge, and tales from the trenches with the amazing panelists:

• Tara Hunt, co-founder of BarCamp and lead organizer for BarCampBlock
• Elisa Camahort, co-founder of Blogher and lead for its conference series:
• Kaliya Hamlin, cofounder of She's Geeky, an unconference for women who identify as geeks

Sides are on slideshare, go get em and see what you missed (though we were so much better than these slides.)