Nakkid Nerds is a Boston-based commercial adult site, featuring original photographs of the geeky women we so love. I recently had the chance to interview Nakkid Nerds' webmistress, Cloei, for my own adult site (now defunct). I found the interview very interesting and decided to post it here as well.

What is your history with computers? What do you do during the day?

In high school I was good with programs like Excel and MS Word, the simple basic stuff, but I would be the one preparing my computer teacher's work load and doing the exams and grade stuff. I was actually a 'teacher's aide' for two classes my senior year -- so I would take English and then go to the computer lab and be there the rest of the day. But our school was really small and old, so I didn't get online or anything. I actually didn't learn the internet until after I graduated from high school in 1996, and for awhile I was not scared per se, but more apprehensive. Actually I think it had more to do with the fact that while in high school my boyfriend got a computer and the net and all of a sudden he didn't like girls anymore...heh. But soon after a friend built me a computer and set me up with net access, I was playing around with HTML and other tiny things like VB and DHTML. I never really went to school for anything -- I just learn better by seeing and then doing than listening to someone tell me a bunch of stuff that is outdated by at least a few years. Websites are what I do for a living, but I also have worked full-time as an HTML developer, and I do freelance and contract work when it comes my way. Right now I'm in the process of getting my hands on some JAVA and JSP books to fool around with.

Conversely, what is your history with sexual images? Was it something you were interested in before starting the website?

Again, I actually grew up in a very small town and didn't have a clue as to what a stripper was until after I graduated, or knew anything about porn. They didn't even have them in the movie places where I lived (or at least I never saw them). But before working as an adult web developer I moonlighted as a stripper for a few months, and also as a lingerie model/dominatrix, which was quite fun I have to admit. Then I moved up to working as an online sex operator for one of the first per-minute live-sex-show online places in Florida. That pretty much all but sucked. After a bit I decided I would be better at all of this on my own and started my own site, which has since passed on, but a lot of my members are still with me today from that one.

When you decided to open a commercial adult site, why did you choose to go with all images of "nerd" women?

I think my favorite and most often email I get is, "You guys are not nerds, you're too pretty to be nerds!!!" Which just reiterates why I do this website in the first place. People look too much at stereotypes in today's society -- a "porn star" has big tits, blonde hair, and is having sex 24/7, while a "nerd" is an ugly little girl/guy who is unpopular and only knows how to talk in codes. There ARE those types in each category, but most porn stars I know are great friends of mine who run very normal lives, and most geeks I know are very pretty and know how to have fun as easy as the next person. I am so sick of people thinking that I don't have much of a brain because I am somewhat attractive, and I'm sick of friends thinking they're not all that pretty because they are lumped into that category of being a "nerd." Intelligence is the most sexual thing for a person, IMOP - and I flaunt mine to no extent.

You include nude images of yourself along with your models at the site. Did you do this for a specific emotional or political point, or simply because you want as much content as possible?

Never thought of it that way before...I do it because I want to put my pictures up - or more in the beginning the site was mostly of me, but since then I have actually slowly taken my pictures down. I want to get more into the business side and less of the modeling side of it - but I'm also a full-blown nerd so I feel that they should be up.

How do you find models for your site? Are they generally women who have never done something like this before, or people already in the sex industry?

When I first started I had about 5,000 pictures of myself from my past site, and I did NOT want to start the site on just that - so I asked three of my friends at a Christmas party to please model for me - one was going to Harvard, one was in a computer science program in her school, and one was a legal secretary type. All three said sure, why not - and then another friend heard what I was doing and asked to model as well. Since then it has either been friends, or friends of friends, who met me and thought it would be fun. The majority of these girls have never even thought of doing something like this, and have said that they feel honored that I would even have them on the site.

You are very honest about yourself at your site - not confessional, but certainly more truthful than most webmasters of adult websites. Have you had any problems regarding this in your day-to-day life?

I cannot lie - and I feel that I have no reason to. So I have always been honest on my site about things in my life, and the way I do stuff. But something that I think most people don't get is that this site is my life. I haven't had much trouble, though I do have to admit that it was quite weird to have friends joining the site at first. But most all experiences with either meeting members or something like that have been great.

What are your opinions on pornography, specifically when it comes to the divide between "professional" and "amateur?" Do you feel that sites like yours are redefining these two terms, or do you see yourself firmly in the tradition of one camp over the other?

Actually, that brings up a very good question. I've always been an amateur site, but lately I've been moving over to the professional area. But I still consider myself amateur -- I'm not a big company, just this one girl doing her thing. So I think that in a way there is an in-between...it's just a fine line to walk on. I don't normally have a very high opinion of corporate porn, but I guess if the person is a one man/woman band and doing it on their own...that's different. I actually respect women who run their own stuff more then men.

What have you learned about yourself and your sexuality based on the experience of running this site?

I have learned a lot about myself, my strengths and weaknesses, but I have also learned a lot about human nature in general. It's sad to say, but doing this site has actually turned me more into an introvert over the past years.

What are some of the things within the world of intelligent sexuality that you are a fan of? Are there any specific books, movies, websites or companies out there that you personally recommend when it comes to thoughtful but erotic material?

Um, I'm a fan of Dali, but he's just twisted. I also like nerve.com and get their magazine monthly...also I can suggest toys if you like :)

Copyright 2001, Jason Pettus. All rights reserved.