I met several Perl gurus at TPC 5. Of those, very few fit any stereotype. There is great diversity in age, habits, experience, hobbies, body types, and marital status.

Questions as to why there are so few female programmers (especially in the Perl world!) are worth entertaining. So also are suggestions on how regular exercise, healthy diet, and an improved sleep schedule improve memory, mental clarity, and the ability to perform work.

As for the rest, the debate of Nature versus Nurture will not be solved here. It's worth discussing ways in which the Perl and general programming communities do (or do not) encourage people (not just women) to join. I find the implicit assumption a little insulting. "If you want women, you lazy slobs will have to shape up and stop drooling over them."

I, for one, want programmers who write programs that don't suck. There are men and women fully capable of doing that right now, and there are many more who can reach that point. I fail to see how skipping my workout today will change that.