In July 2009, after the DEFCON capture-the-flag qualifying round, a comic strip was published online which introduced four characters: three male "hackers" and one female "cheerleader" called Tiffany.
The comic strip is available online at http://hackerschool.org/DefconCTF/17/B300.html
In the strip as it's currently published, Tiffany's role appears to be being pretty but dumb, asking ignorant questions to encourage awkward info-dumps from the other characters, and saying "Wow, cool!" in response to the stuff the guys do.
However, the authors did post a clarification that she would play a more important role in future parts of the strip, as well as an apology for having offended readers with her stereotyped characterization.
Responses
- Female stereotyping in security research
- "Sexism and the religion of hackers" by mubix, criticizing the women who had issue with the comic.
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