The women of DefCon, a (no, the) hacker conference in Vegas, divide into two camps: hackers (duh) and "scene whores," infosec groupies without any particular technical skill, but with a finely honed appreciation of the royal treatment that an attentive, scantily clad woman at the mostly male event can garner. Wired News reports from the con:
"I came for fun and freedom. There's no place else I've ever been where being a woman is such a plus," explained Loreli, 22, from New Paltz, New York. "Flash a bit of nip at a Defcon vendor and you can basically get whatever you want for free. I think it's so weird that some chicks have a problem with that."…
"Hackers are into intelligence, and it doesn't much matter what kind of body houses your brain," Toronto systems analyst Tamara Jovell said. "Frankly, I find it refreshing to be in a place where men get truly and totally turned on by how I think."…
"The problems are caused by some women who will date a well-known hacker in order to become elite just by association," Nartian said. "The scene whores aren't respected for what they do but for who they are doing. And it leads to men thinking we're all clueless and creates a real schism between us women and the girls."…
"I'm here to have fun, and me and my friends don't much care what the other chicks think," Kat said. "So get over your worries about being mistaken for a real woman and just lighten up, ladies."
Kat said Defcon is a single woman's "dream holiday" and insisted that with a flash of flesh she could have anything she wanted or needed.
"I don't pay for food, my room, T-shirts, anything," she said complacently. "The guys just give me stuff."
