Summary:
Women in tech forced to disguise their identity – and even quit the industry – after facing threats online, study finds. But women in tech, such as games developer Zoe Quinn, had told me about being terrorised, made homeless, or “screamed at by a Nazi” down the phone at night. Quinn was targeted by groups – mostly of young men – who saw her as a symbol of socially aware critiques of misogyny in gaming to which they objected. Abuse is now “a job hazard for all female writers”, according to US journalist and author, Nina Burleigh, who’s been “threatened and trolled”.What comes across in the hundreds of anonymous comments is a chilling normality: “Insults about my knowledge, rape threats, the usual,” writes one. The 100 respondents also describe a plague of face-to-face incidents, from “sexist views” in the newsroom, to being “hit on” and “stalked”. Nevertheless, an overwhelming 86% surveyed agreed that “more should be done to stop sexist abuse”. One wonders how long women will have to go on clamouring for change, many hiding their gender as they do so.
- Research I conducted for Nottingham Trent University found one in five female journalists covering technology has disguised her gender to avoid sexist abuse, and nearly 40% have changed working practices for fear of being targeted.
- Female writers disguising their gender is not new. “We had a vague impression that authoresses are likely to be looked on with prejudice,” wrote Charlotte Brontë in 1846 to explain why she and her sisters (aka Currer, Acton and Ellis Bell) had used male noms de plume.
- But of the female technology journalists who replied to the survey, 62% said they had experienced sexist abuse, compared with 50% of female journalists who reported similar attacks to the Women’s Media Foundation.
- Four out of 10 said fear of being attacked has affected their work or altered their writing.
- 20% are disguising the fact they are female by writing anonymously or using a non-gender-specific name.
- Just 35% of tech journalists are female, according to a Colombia Journalism Review report.
- To put it in some context, 73% of US male science and technology journalists surveyed by University of Wisconsin-Madison students last year reported “no gender-related experiences”, compared with 19% of females
What's my view?
I think it is a shame that women are scared to admit what gender they are in the tech industry. Its sad to hear that threats are being made just because a women is passionate about gaming. It's such a sexist view and i'm not sure if things will get better in the near future or the future at all.
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