An open letter to Rachael Ray

Dear Rachael,

I watch your show each morning while I run on the treadmill at the gym. Your upbeat personality is generally a cheerful way to start the day, and I enjoy getting recipe ideas for that night’s dinner.

Monday was an exception. You gave your audience members an HD Tuner Stick with a cute baby remote from buy.com. I thought this was really cool. You then remarked how the ladies in the audience would need to have a guy set it up for them. That was really *not* cool, and made me quite angry.

I am a women, and I love technology. I can set technical things up, sometimes even better than the men I know. For example, on the weekend I had to set up a television for my father who couldn’t figure out how to get the Digital Cable working. He had been going at it for an hour. My mom and I had it set up within 5 minutes. So while some women might not be able to set up their HD tuner sticks, I’d bet there are quite a few others that will be just fine without a man’s help.

As a female in technology, the lack of women in my field is something I am reminded of every day. And it’s misconceptions such as that women are not good with technology that contribute to the problem.

When positive female role models like yourself propagate these stereotypes, you worsen the problem.

Thanks for listening, and enjoy your HD Pro Stick! Let me know if you need any help setting it up.
Cheers,

jenn

2 Responses to “An open letter to Rachael Ray”

  1. Reshma Says:

    did you mail it?

  2. jenn Says:

    emailed it… i should probably snail mail it too…

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