Lady Curie's Finishing School for Cybernetic Ladies
February 19, 2014 5:37 AM Subscribe
Myself and a group of like-minded ladies are in the throes of creating a feminist hackerspace in DC. We're at the point where we need to name ourselves, and haven't been able to get too far off the ground with brainstorming.
MetaFilter is usually great at naming things, so I figured I'd throw this to the hivemind. Some ideas we've come up with so far:
Spanning Tree
Full Duplex
Backplane
Mutual Recursion
f(air gap)
After mulling over this initial group of names, concerns have been raised that they are perhaps a bit too tech geeky. We are aiming to make this group inclusive/un-intimidating to artists and all walks of creators/makers, so should probably go with something that has a bit more mass appeal. The group is open to pun-type names, so feel free to lob those out there as well.
MetaFilter is usually great at naming things, so I figured I'd throw this to the hivemind. Some ideas we've come up with so far:
Spanning Tree
Full Duplex
Backplane
Mutual Recursion
f(air gap)
After mulling over this initial group of names, concerns have been raised that they are perhaps a bit too tech geeky. We are aiming to make this group inclusive/un-intimidating to artists and all walks of creators/makers, so should probably go with something that has a bit more mass appeal. The group is open to pun-type names, so feel free to lob those out there as well.
Intersections - has attributes of intersectional feminism, and various engineering and hacking applications. .
posted by Mistress at 5:48 AM on February 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Mistress at 5:48 AM on February 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Complementary Angles
(Neighborhood Name) Hackspace
Creative Types
Egalitarian Arts & Engineering
posted by Rob Rockets at 6:19 AM on February 19, 2014
(Neighborhood Name) Hackspace
Creative Types
Egalitarian Arts & Engineering
posted by Rob Rockets at 6:19 AM on February 19, 2014
I really like your title. Cybernetic Ladies has a great ring to it. Why not that?
posted by 3491again at 6:28 AM on February 19, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by 3491again at 6:28 AM on February 19, 2014 [4 favorites]
Ada's Arts
I also like the post title. Maybe "Lady Curie's Finishing School" (which could be called "Lady Curie's" for short).
posted by nangar at 6:45 AM on February 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
I also like the post title. Maybe "Lady Curie's Finishing School" (which could be called "Lady Curie's" for short).
posted by nangar at 6:45 AM on February 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ada's Loom?
posted by nangar at 6:46 AM on February 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by nangar at 6:46 AM on February 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
A play on the title: Lady Ada's Finishing School for the Cybernetic Arts
posted by evoque at 6:54 AM on February 19, 2014 [7 favorites]
posted by evoque at 6:54 AM on February 19, 2014 [7 favorites]
Response by poster: These are great! Keep 'em coming!
[I should note that the "Lady Curie's..." idea is attributed to one of my group-mates, to give credit where credit is due.]
posted by Gonestarfishing at 7:51 AM on February 19, 2014
[I should note that the "Lady Curie's..." idea is attributed to one of my group-mates, to give credit where credit is due.]
posted by Gonestarfishing at 7:51 AM on February 19, 2014
I'm glad you and your group are taking the initiative to make in inclusive hackerspace. That said, as a member of your target audience, I would be a bit (or a lot) put off by a name that was flamboyantly girly (Lady... anything, Pink... anything, you get the idea). Further, if you *really* want to be inclusive, your audience is broader than "just" women. Of the ones above, I like the suggestions involving intersections, complementary, creative ..., and composite.
posted by whatzit at 8:14 AM on February 19, 2014
posted by whatzit at 8:14 AM on February 19, 2014
The reason why lots of folks base project/community names on Ada rather than Lovelace is because of this connection. Something to keep in mind, even if your directly targeted audience would know the difference.
posted by barnone at 8:22 AM on February 19, 2014
posted by barnone at 8:22 AM on February 19, 2014
FemLabs (a.k.a. The Court of Bea Arthur)
D:staff
The Athenium (for the goddess & the transuranic element)
and depending on the sense of humor/thumb-your-nose spirit of the group:
The Kitchen
posted by psoas at 8:26 AM on February 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
D:staff
The Athenium (for the goddess & the transuranic element)
and depending on the sense of humor/thumb-your-nose spirit of the group:
The Kitchen
posted by psoas at 8:26 AM on February 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
"(place name) Creative Laboratory"
"Ada Lovelace Creative Laboratory"
I think that calling it anything that even vaguely implies being women-only is risky. Firstly you will never hear the end of all the arguments about how sexist this is, and secondly there are people of both genders who will assume that the place is orientated around beginners and that Proper Nerds are not welcome.
"(place name) Works" - this one sounds more inclusive of traditional crafts and skills as well as nerdy stuff, and one hopes the feminist part will speak for itself.
Name it after a local well known sciency/nerdy lady?
posted by emilyw at 8:30 AM on February 19, 2014
"Ada Lovelace Creative Laboratory"
I think that calling it anything that even vaguely implies being women-only is risky. Firstly you will never hear the end of all the arguments about how sexist this is, and secondly there are people of both genders who will assume that the place is orientated around beginners and that Proper Nerds are not welcome.
"(place name) Works" - this one sounds more inclusive of traditional crafts and skills as well as nerdy stuff, and one hopes the feminist part will speak for itself.
Name it after a local well known sciency/nerdy lady?
posted by emilyw at 8:30 AM on February 19, 2014
"The Mary and Benjamin Banneker Hackerspace." This name is inclusive of men, women, people of color, and has a local connection.
posted by Rob Rockets at 8:38 AM on February 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Rob Rockets at 8:38 AM on February 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Hackherspace.
posted by MuffinMan at 8:50 AM on February 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by MuffinMan at 8:50 AM on February 19, 2014 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I should clarify at this point that our working policy is to reserve membership for female-identified folks. This does not exclude men from participating, just limits them to doing so as guests of members. Our working definition of woman/female is broad, and inclusive of those who are queer, trans etc.
Though this hasn't yet been voiced by the rest of our group, I do think it best to steer away from overtly girly or cutesy names. That being said, I don't think that (empowering, respectful) names implying a women-only group should be off the table.
For the record: this question is solely about brainstorming names for our group, and for fear of derail, I am explicitly *not* interested in discussing the dynamics/windfalls/pitfalls of starting such a group.
posted by Gonestarfishing at 9:06 AM on February 19, 2014
Though this hasn't yet been voiced by the rest of our group, I do think it best to steer away from overtly girly or cutesy names. That being said, I don't think that (empowering, respectful) names implying a women-only group should be off the table.
For the record: this question is solely about brainstorming names for our group, and for fear of derail, I am explicitly *not* interested in discussing the dynamics/windfalls/pitfalls of starting such a group.
posted by Gonestarfishing at 9:06 AM on February 19, 2014
Is Lady Bits too raunchy and/or digital?
What about DC|DIY?
posted by rada at 9:27 AM on February 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
What about DC|DIY?
posted by rada at 9:27 AM on February 19, 2014 [3 favorites]
A Hackerspace of Our Own
V Woolf Creative Laboratory
Equality Lab
= Space, equal space, =_
Couple of Tech Chicks Sitting Around Hacking
posted by theora55 at 9:28 AM on February 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
V Woolf Creative Laboratory
Equality Lab
= Space, equal space, =_
Couple of Tech Chicks Sitting Around Hacking
posted by theora55 at 9:28 AM on February 19, 2014 [1 favorite]
Rob Rockets for the win. I am not interested in this particular area but I know many women of color who are and I know they'd feel welcome with a title like that. Good luck. This sounds awesome.
posted by nubianinthedesert at 9:58 AM on February 19, 2014
posted by nubianinthedesert at 9:58 AM on February 19, 2014
DC Feminist Hackerspace
Spanning Tree sounds pretty awesome to me! Mathy ! networky! Could be lots of playful or pretty logos.
posted by geeklizzard at 2:57 PM on February 20, 2014
Spanning Tree sounds pretty awesome to me! Mathy ! networky! Could be lots of playful or pretty logos.
posted by geeklizzard at 2:57 PM on February 20, 2014
Columbine
Columbia's Fury
Crafty Hackers
Firebee Fortress
posted by geeklizzard at 3:02 PM on February 20, 2014
Columbia's Fury
Crafty Hackers
Firebee Fortress
posted by geeklizzard at 3:02 PM on February 20, 2014
Double DC
posted by geeklizzard at 3:02 PM on February 20, 2014
posted by geeklizzard at 3:02 PM on February 20, 2014
Euphemia's Loom
posted by geeklizzard at 3:03 PM on February 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by geeklizzard at 3:03 PM on February 20, 2014 [1 favorite]
Ok, maybe Euphemia's Slide Rule
posted by geeklizzard at 3:04 PM on February 20, 2014
posted by geeklizzard at 3:04 PM on February 20, 2014
Hacky Crafters
Secret Lair
Volcano Matrix
Symmetric Correspondence (after Euphemia's thesis topic)
posted by geeklizzard at 3:05 PM on February 20, 2014
Secret Lair
Volcano Matrix
Symmetric Correspondence (after Euphemia's thesis topic)
posted by geeklizzard at 3:05 PM on February 20, 2014
Response by poster: For anyone interested, we decided to go with Spanning Tree. Thanks for all the options though! Provided for some lively debate :)
posted by Gonestarfishing at 6:38 AM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Gonestarfishing at 6:38 AM on April 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by bfranklin at 5:42 AM on February 19, 2014