Man Problem in Technology
Elissa Shevinsky tells New York Times a story about when she felt she didn’t belong in the job she had dreamed of her entire life.
It all started when she was at a friend’s house watching a live stream of the TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon on her laptop and iPhone. Australian entrepreneurs David Boulton and Jethro Batts presented their presentation of an app called Titshare. Boulton described it as “an app where you take photos of yourself staring at tits.” The crowd consisted mostly of young, white, hoodie-wearing men.
Ms. Shevinsky looked at this stream and thought it was proof that the tech industry needed more women. Not only was she upset by the presentation, but many Twitter users posted their opinions about it. She joined the community and wrote a blog-post saying, “I thought that we didn’t need more women in tech. I was wrong.” This sparked her Glimpse Lab partner, Pax Dickinson to post his opinion, defending Titshare.
“It’s not misogyny to tell a sexist joke, or to fail to take women seriously, or to enjoy boobies,” he wrote.
Ms. Shevinsky told NY Times that several days after Dickinson posted his comment on Twitter, she quit Glimpse. However, in an interview with NY Times, she admitted that she still admired Mr. Dickinson’s technical skills and work ethic. She said he was more experienced and serious about work than many other tech types she knew. Not only that, he had treated her with respect.
Two days after the TechCrunch show, NY Times said Mr. Dickinson was forced to resign by Business Insider. The Australian entrepreneurs and TechCrunch both apologized for the Titshare app.
The last comment Ms. Shevinsky told NY Times was, “There was only one thing I wanted to do. Be the C.E.O. of Glimpse.”
To read the full story, go to NYTimes.com.
