Your iPhone is always in your hand, right? You stream Netflix on your laptop in bed so much you’re a bit paranoid about the heat from your MAC burning your ovaries, yeah?
But, despite the fact that we’re a generation addicted to the internet, the number of women working in coding is actually staggeringly low – just 17%. (One reason, perhaps, why the government recently announced plans to invest £500,000 into coding classes in schools.)
So if finding a female coder is hard, imagine what’s it’s like to find a female coding supermodel. Well, that’s what the geniuses behind ASOS have managed to do, interviewing Lyndsey Scott for their latest magazine.
Whilst Lyndsey has walked the catwalk for Victoria Secret’s she’s just as intent on building her career as a computer programmer – something she insists isn’t as crazy a dual-life as it sounds.
‘I have trouble endorsing modeling as a career,’ she tells ASOS. ‘I love it so much but you basically have to be a genetic freak in order to do it and most people aren’t. Some of the most beautiful girls I’ve ever seen in my life don’t get lucky. It’s the sort of career where you have absolutely no control, whereas you have complete control with programming, which I really appreciate.’
That’s not to say she hasn’t experienced sexism. ‘People are so quick to attach stereotypes to this sort of profession. I’m fine with being called a geek or a nerd if that means I’m smart, but there’s a negative connotation to that sort of word and there’s an assumption about who you are as a person if you like technology.’
Determined to show more women that computer programming isn’t hard – and certainly isn’t geeky – Lyndsey has teamed up with ASOS to create an app that’ll teach you to code – via fantasy scenarios with Ryan Gosling.
Code Made Cool is available to download from the App store from Monday 31st March and talks you through how to code with the encouragement that you’ll get to snog Ryan at the end. Ah, ASOS. Not just ace clothes providers (PS; thisdress, yes please) but making your fantasies come true too, eh? On screen at least, anyway.
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.