I hate to be a downer, but this is not enough. "It feels so flat that that’s the only way we can represent women working in a man’s field." She's portrayed almost cartoonishly, mockingly, in the style of a female entering 'a man's world,' as Rosie was, instead of posing like she already belonged there. Also, notice that the cover mentions NOTHING about the female artist/engineer (not even a measly tagline) besides her name, which is in the smallest print. That said, at least there's progress in the fact that she's not portrayed as two separate body parts (I'll let you guess which ones).
A quick google search of her name finds a lot of information. In todays world, a name is enough, and having not actually opened that issue, I can't say if they didn't include a blurb about her or not somewhere in the magazine itself. What I did find out though, is that she is known to the internet as "Lady Ada." She is an engineer, and she creates things. http://www.ladyada.net/ That is her website, and it is extremely well designed. She is a big hit to the net, in the engineering circles at least, and they are all celebrating, which brings me to my next point. Why is this "not enough?" Why is this taken to be a falling short by "WIRED" (and I put that in quotes, because I really feel like this isn't so much blamed on WIRED as it is on MEN)? This issue is about making things. Inventing things. Taking nothing and turning it into something. Throughot the history of humanity, men have been the majority holder in inventions. Men have created more tangible, mechanical works than women. This isn't to say men are better at it, just that they've done it more (which, do you blame them? They had a good couple centuries head start where they didn't have to worry about being put down every day of their life). So why not choose any of the great male inventors, engineers, or creators to grace the cover? Especially when WIRED has an 18 year track record of not having a female engineer there (which, another fact check, she isn't the first woman on WIRED, she is just the first female engineer on WIRED). It isn't because she is female, its because she is Limor Fried, "maker hero" and she is extremely good at what she does. She is praised in the engineering communities online as fantastic. The things she makes are amazing. As for her appearance, sure, it draws to her femininity, but somehow I feel the bloggers who are outraged at this might be just as outraged if they made her appear more masculine (ie: "What, isn't she good enough to be a woman, she has to look like a man to be an engineer?). She herself had this to say about her appearance -- "The cover is stylized but that is really what I looked like. I was not 'plasticized' or 'heavily photoshopped'. if I take off my glasses, have my hair done, and wear make-up its what I look like. [sic]" Its funny actually, this whole situation, and this blog post, because during my search I found a lot of blog posts about this. It is apparently a big deal, but though a good chunk of them were people saying how upset they were about it (pretty much the same arguments you made) an even bigger chunk was celebrating, and that chunk was mostly made of engineering/hacker/etc forums/communities/blogs. They love it! One of their own got on WIRED, and a popular one of their own, a talented one of their own! They're cheering her on, congratulating her. Her work got recognition, she has made it. So while you and other bloggers are bemoaning the situation, the people she belongs to (not women, ENGINEERS) are cheering her on. Limor Fried is a woman second, and engineer first (in her field at least). THAT is how we should view her, and that is what equality is about. This shouldn't be an issue, and it isn't being made an issue by anyone but bloggers unaffiliated with her actual field. The outrage is mostly from bloggers like yourself, feminists. Why, I have no idea. Maybe its confirmation bias. Maybe they want to see a woman on a magazine cover and expect her to be portrayed cartoonishly, like some sex symbol on parade (like a majority of magazines do), but that isn't happening here. Wired has put her on with dignity, in an image she is ok with (if not proud of) and in which the community she belongs to is excited about. This should be something you, as a feminist, celebrate. A female engineer just beat a lot of men who were probably in the running to be on this cover for their work, and she didn't do it as a woman, she did it as a damn well respected engineer.
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