The Web

Tech bunny

by Michelle Chihara

"Geek brains in goddess bodies," boasts Playboy.com's latest tech-grrl photo spread. One of those bodies belongs to Gillian Bonner, Playboy.com's newest columnist. Bonner, a former playmate who's now president of an entertainment-software company called Black Dragon, just launched a "Women and Technology" column on Playboy.com; the column kicked off with a party at the Playboy mansion, broadcast over the Web. Bonner spoke with the Phoenix from her home near Santa Barbara, California.

Q: Your current column profiles strong women who work in technology. Who's the target audience here?

A: Well, it is Playboy, and their primary readership is men. So I would say, yes, it's for men. But I'm writing the articles for anyone.

Q: Why is it sexy for women to answer questions about where they see technology going in the next two, five, 10 years?

A: It's exciting for me to see women who have excelled in tech. Technology has been a really male-dominated field, and now there are women who are making waves and breaking the norm, changing the way society sees women as a whole. It's exciting in many ways -- not necessarily sexy, literally, but exciting.

Q: Do you worry that you're risking turning brains into just another accessory, like a great pair of boobs?

A: That's probably true. But what I would like to see is for men to appreciate women for everything. Sometimes I hate men in general because they only see a woman's sexuality. And if they saw the brain or the intellect or everything else a woman has going prior to her sexuality . . . I could go on a male-bashing spree, but that's probably because I have a cold.

Q: You realize there's a certain irony in your choosing to put ideas like that forward on the Playboy site.

A: Yeah, but I totally appreciate -- maybe because I was an art student -- but I totally appreciate the female form as one of the most beautiful forms on earth. That's how I look at Playboy, as a sensual and sexual dis-cussion. But I know that compared to a lot of the men that read Playboy, my opinion of Playboy and the way I see it is probably very different.

Q: So how do you see the "Women of the Internet" video clip that accompanies your column?

A: I haven't looked at it, actually. What's it like?

Q: Well, it's your basic Playboy strip show, but in a loft space with a computer in the background.

A: You know, in a way a lot of the Internet is driven by sex, so I guess there's a connection there. But that doesn't really hit what I'm trying to say or do with technology and the Internet.

Q: I couldn't find a link for your pictorial as Miss April 1996. Is it online with the column?

A: No, I wanted to keep it separate from the column.

Q: Why?

A: The same reasons we were talking about before. I wanted to be taken seriously as a columnist. I certainly have no regrets.