CGNetworks Feature :: Women in CG
From pots and pans to polygons - Women in CG
By: Leigh van der Byl :: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4
Date: Wednesday, 05 November 2003

Women and CG. I could probably hazard a guess and say that these words combined conjure imagery along the lines of feline, Lycra clad bikini-babes with bulging breasts, coy smiles and oversized weapons, right? However, these curvaceous pixelated outpourings of the imaginations of countless Wacom wielding male artists are not the species I’m referring to. I am talking about the real life chicks sitting behind CG workstations, twiddling the controls of graphics applications alongside their male counterparts.

Like fish crawling out of water in some a prehistoric period to find a new stage of evolution, women have managed to worm their way out of the kitchen, leaving behind an existence of meddling with pots and pans. Women are now as comfortable in front of an OpenGL view port, revelling in the joy of manipulating polygons than ever before. See it as a mental and creative evolution if you will as the kitchen was conquered and it’s time to move on.

I'm not usually a person who seeks out the lines of segregation in this world, but it is fascinating to find out what made other females develop an interest in computer generated art when computers have usually been a man’s domain. I was pleasantly surprised earlier this year, upon starting a new teaching job at a local animation school, to find that about half my class were of the fairer sex. This was quite a change from when I was studying CG at college, where I was one of only a handful of women.

After conversing with many female artists, I discovered that the most popular reasons for them entering the field of CG was a love of traditional animation (especially from Disney) as well as more modern animation, in particular the work from Pixar. They also had a healthy love for computers, video games, visual arts and especially fantasy and science fiction. I would also be willing to bet that these are the most common reasons for males entering the industry too. So if guys and girls share so many common interests, then why is this industry so under-populated by females?

Many debates have raged over the whole male-dominated aspect of this industry and the reasons why. Interestingly enough, a number of case studies have been undertaken over the years and I have to admit that the results were not in a favorable light for us girls. It seems that males do indeed have a far easier time navigating virtual environments than females. While we females could sigh and blame this on the fact that we don't spend all our precious time playing Quake and Doom, this conclusion seems true from my own experiences. Guys just do seem more comfortable working and navigating around 3D space and males have, time and time again, scored higher in studies concerning any manner of spatial cognition.