1)
The article “In ‘Brotopia’, Silicon Valley Disrupts Everything but the Boys’ Club”, Jennifer Szalai analyzes Emily Changs book “Breaking up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley” in order to make sense of the privilege men in the technology industry have. She expresses that men in this industry have been able to profit off of their wealth and power so they can indulge in all the things that were previously denied to them which are “mainly stuff, status and sex.”. Szalai mentions a group of men who created a company and rather than hire female engineers, they decided to hire their friends. She attributes this to the idea that “women in leadership will create an environment for more leadership”, which would be a hinderance to the way the men were able to abuse their power and wealth. When men are in power they are able to get away with many things which is what Jennifer concludes from Chang’s book. Men in this industry were able to get away with numerous cases of sexual harassment and online trolling.
This article contributes to Wynn’s article because it supports the claims she has explored in her writing. Wynn says that women only make up “25% of computing jobs and 5% of leadership positions in tech”. Szalai expands on this when she mentions that the men in the tech company did not want to hire women and instead resorted to hiring their male friends. When Wynn mentions the disrespectful treatment of women in the tech industry Szalai’s article supports this because she goes on to mention that the men in these positions had been able to get away with cases of sexual harassment without any consequences.
2)
I think this article would benefit many people because it highlights the flaws in the tech industry. I believe the target audience is people who are in a position of power in this industry and many other male dominated industries. This article tackles the issue of entitlement and unfair practices in the tech industry based on gender which can be very enlightening to people in these positions who may have not thought about it. The sentence from this article that I believe is very significant “From its earliest days the industry has self-selected for men:first, antisocial nerds, then, decades later, self-confident and risk-taking bros”. This would work for this intended audience because it provides an introduction to way the industry has favored men for years and the changes that have emerged in these men.
This article is an important reminder that exclusive systems can be self-replicating–as folks look for others who are ‘like’ themselves, they perpetuate exclusivity. Moving toward inclusion, then, requires proactive measures to do things differently.