Women In Tech Flowchart: Are You A Charlotte Or A Samantha?

At first, you could get excited about a graphic representation of influential women in tech. And then you read the text.

Click to enlarge

The chart was produced by WPromote.com, an online marketer. Its message: Sorry, you can’t be a woman influencer in tech if you went to the AVN (Adult Video News) awards! “Female tech influencers are sure to cross their t’s and their legs. Better luck next year, Jenna Jameson.” Never mind that Internet pornography is a billions-strong industry that presumably involves both influence, women and tech. Or that, you know, women have sex. Even influencers!

Sure, there are references to Wired and handheld devices, but otherwise this chart has almost nothing to do with actually working in tech, except that it randomly involved a few real-life women in the business at the bottom of the page. “What’s your must-have bag?” and “Who is your dream man?” show that we don’t need print lady mags to be regressive.

As Alexia Tsotsis wrote on TechCrunch, “My biggest problem with this is that it makes what must have been years of grueling achievement look so ephemeral,” adding, “From experience, being a woman in this industry means a ton of being passed over for stuff, condescended to and if you are eventually successful, disliked. It’s no Sex And The City. The women who have been highlighted here are smart , driven and have worked hard for their success. They deserve so much more than being reduced to an infographic bobble-head on a cartoon body.”

Which Female Tech Influencer Are You? [WPromote]
The Saddest Pink Infographic About Women In Tech You’ll Ever See [Techcrunch]