How Ellen Pao lost her job but survived Reddit’s swamp of trolls
Silicon Valley’s most controversial executive has personified the discrimination and harassment directed at women in technology and on the internet. A look back at her landmark gender lawsuit and her ouster at Reddit reveals how much – and how little – has changed
Losing your job after a few months, following the entire demolition of your legal case against a former employer, is a definition of “survival” that I’ve not come across before.
It’s lecture circuit from now on. Vast audience wanting its prejudices confirmed – open to the message that there is a male conspiracy against women in employment and pretty much every other aspect of life. A couple of years of that and she can retire. Much better than trying to hold down a job (something she clearly has problems with).
How Ellen Pao lost her job but survived Reddit’s swamp of trolls
Troll: (n.) anyone who disagrees with the feminist narrative that White heterosexual males are to blame for everything.
Silicon Valley’s most controversial executive has personified the discrimination and harassment directed at women in technology and on the internet.
You have to admit they are right about that. She did. As there is no discrimination or harassment directed at women in technology in Silicon Valley or on the internet. There are only gender hustlers trying to shake Silicon Valley down for cash and prizes.
A look back at her landmark gender lawsuit and her ouster at Reddit reveals how much – and how little – has changed
Well her job status has changed. The geeks on the internet seem less gentlemanly than, for instance, the City and hence less likely to bend over and take their pegging like the feminists think they should. That seems to have changed a little.
It’s anti-Darwinian…
Bloke in Germany – “It’s lecture circuit from now on. Vast audience wanting its prejudices confirmed”
You, Rusty and PaulB do not make up a vast audience. She will speak at some universities and NGOs will throw some cash her way. But in the real world she probably could not compete. No one is interested.
At least five major Tech companies have female CEOs. Safra Katz is one of the joint-CEOs of Oracle. Marrisa Mayer is CEO of Yahoo. Meg Whitman is CEO of HP. Jayshree V. Ullal is the CEO of Arista Networks. And Sheryl Sandberg is COO of Facebook which is close enough. I wonder if anyone has asked what these companies’ records are on hiring women in tech.
I think I know why they use “survive” in that sense – modern feminism is basically women born in the early 60s. Maybe a little earlier than that in this author’s case. So their feminism is the feminism of the late 70s.
Thus we know what they are thinking:
I can like that because, you know, these young things can’t have all the fun. But you can see why Da Yoof think feminism has all the cool of Gary Glitter.
Meanwhile the Guardian lists Beth Winegarner as an author. Would it be trolling to point out what she has written:
Publications
“Beloved”(Link)
Lulu Press
March 2007
“Read the Music: Essays on Sound”(Link)
Lulu Press
August 2006
“Sacred Sonoma”(Link)
Lulu Press
May 2007
The Columbine Effect: How Five Teen Pastimes Got Caught in the Crossfire and Why Teens are Taking Them Back(Link)
Lulu Press
December 2013
That third one is technically “Sacred Sonoma: Sacred Sites and Alignments in Sonoma County, California”. Oh joy.
She has a vagina and has not expressed in public any liking for the Republican Party, so as far as the Guardian is concerned she can do do wrong. She could shoot up a coach full of schoolchildren and they would pin the blame on ‘trolls’ at Reddit.
But when a tech company CEO has to resign because he donated some money to oppose gay marriage, that’s social justice people power thingy.
“So Ms Pao, you’re here to apply for the job of Reddit CEO.”
“That’s right.”
“You do know that Reddit is largely a swamp of trolls?”
“Yes.”
“Vicious, insulting, mysoginistic trolls?”
“Yes.”
“And that Reddit’s entire income comes from these vicious, insulting, mysoginistic trolls?”
“Yes.”
“So you won’t upset the trolls, will you?”
“Of course not. As if.”
Ian B – “But when a tech company CEO has to resign because he donated some money to oppose gay marriage, that’s social justice people power thingy.”
He donated money to support a cause that was held by both Obama and Hillary Clinton at that time. Still didn’t matter. Because, of course, everyone knows they were lying.
In the meantime, the Leftists prove what charming people they are by regularly going back and taunting Brendan Eich on Twitter. Just because they can. He is still unemployed.
So the SJWs have lost the world a great biologist forced into retirement, a great cancer researcher fired by that joke of an excuse for a university, UCL, and one of the leading tech developers. What need has the revolution for scientists indeed.
Kevin B – “And that Reddit’s entire income comes from these vicious, insulting, mysoginistic trolls?”
Actually I don’t think this is something you can pin on Pao. It looks to me that the owners wanted to commercialise Reddit. Sell it off like Facebook. Billions were at stake. But corporate sponsors are wary of vicious, insulting, misogynistic trolls. They censored Elvis after all. So it looks like the owners brought Pao in to clean up the mess and make Reddit safe for tampon adverts.
Or they knew that she would rattle the troll cages and get them lots of free publicity?
Richard – maybe, but contra the saying, not all publicity is good publicity.
Just ask Gerald Ratner.
She’s not dead. So that would be the original meaning of “survive”.
@Ian B,
If I understand your interpretation of radfem correctly, wouldn’t saying that Pao hasn’t survived be a case of “objectifying women”?
@SMBS, there is no hope when you can’t even agree politely.
“So the SJWs have lost the world a great biologist forced into retirement, a great cancer researcher fired by that joke of an excuse for a university, UCL, ”
Hang on, let’s not rewrite history. Tim Hunt resigned an entirely honorary position that involved no research at all. He’s still in his research positions. The amount of time he devotes to research has, if anything, increased slightly.
Or they knew that she would rattle the troll cages and get them lots of free publicity?
weev claims it was an appointment made for the following reasons:
When Ellen Pao arrived at Reddit, her resume consisted of no accomplishments. She was filing a frivolous lawsuit against her former employer, private equity firm Kleiner Perkins, for sexual harassment. The only reason she had the job at all was because Reddit investor and rival firm Andreessen Horowitz wanted to lend credence to that lawsuit. In the highly competitive world of private equity dealings, Andreessen Horowitz viewed a cowed, demoralized Kleiner as a less capable bidder for funding deals. They cared little about how she managed Reddit and Imgur. They just wanted her to look like executive material in front of a jury.
Which seems plausible, tho bear in mind weev is a notorious troll and convicted felon.
Matthew,
> let’s not rewrite history. Tim Hunt resigned
Ironically, your use of the word “resigned” is rewriting history.
BiG-
By the Mackinnon definition, any use of the objective view is objectification, yes, if that’s what you mean. Objectivity is an underhanded system devised by man to silence woman’s inner voice of subjective truth, you see.
Fair enough Squander, but saying that he’s lost to the world of research is a gross untruth.
SMFS-
Regarding I Will Survive, it’s worth noting that because it was sung by a woman, it is considered a feminist song, but in fact the lyrics could apply to anyone, male or female (or trans-Neptunian or whatever) who has got over a heartbreaking relationship with somebody they now consider to have been bad for them.
Late 70s Academic Feminism by the way is not very much Gloria Gaynor, and rather predominantly Cath Mackinnon, Susan Brownmiller, Andrea Dworkin etc. As I’ve often pointed out, the modern feminist discourse is (despite the feeble “3rd Wave” rebranding), pure 2nd Wave Academic Feminism. Objectification, patriarchy, sexual harrassment, etc.
Ordinary 70s women who thought feminism was about equality were standing on their own two feet and getting on with life, not collapsing in a sobbing heap because they’ve been triggered.
Regarding I Will Survive, it’s worth noting that because it was sung by a woman, it is considered a feminist song
Christ no! Gay anthem through and through, up there with Erasure’s respect. Incidentally, Gloria Gaynor was singing about a chronic back condition, not some lost love.
Ian B – “Regarding I Will Survive, it’s worth noting that because it was sung by a woman, it is considered a feminist song, but in fact the lyrics could apply to anyone, male or female (or trans-Neptunian or whatever) who has got over a heartbreaking relationship with somebody they now consider to have been bad for them.”
I am not so sure. If a son came to me, crying like that, because he got dumped, I would be tempted to show him the back side of my hand. A girl can do that. It is, as TimN says, a very Gay song.
“Ordinary 70s women who thought feminism was about equality were standing on their own two feet and getting on with life, not collapsing in a sobbing heap because they’ve been triggered.”
Because, of course, sensible girls distance themselves from the feminist movement given Andrea Dworkin et al. Which leaves the weird ones. Or to put it simply, the movement has been taken over by the mentally ill. And for a long time.
Tim Newman – “Christ no! Gay anthem through and through, up there with Erasure’s respect.”
Hey, they don’t create, they appropriate. Well, OK, they do create. But in this case it did not start out as a Gay anthem.
“Incidentally, Gloria Gaynor was singing about a chronic back condition, not some lost love.”
I find it hard to reconcile the lyrics with that interpretation.
> saying that he’s lost to the world of research is a gross untruth.
Hmm. The comment I’ve seen most is that he’s lost to the world of teaching. A lot of his former students have been saying how valuable he was to building their careers.
> I find it hard to reconcile the lyrics with that interpretation.
Tim didn’t mention the lyrics. The song was not written about back pain, but Gaynor was indeed singing about back pain in her performance.
Matthew L – “Hang on, let’s not rewrite history. Tim Hunt resigned an entirely honorary position that involved no research at all. He’s still in his research positions. The amount of time he devotes to research has, if anything, increased slightly.”
He seems to have lost all ties to UCL. He has been thrown off a series of bodies that decide funding. He may retain his position at a separate Cancer research institute.
So I accept that I was not strictly accurate. A pity about the teaching.
Squander Two – “The comment I’ve seen most is that he’s lost to the world of teaching.”
Which is nothing compared to what UCL has lost. Tenure? Don’t care. Past service? Nope. Intellectual integrity? No, don’t care. Due process? The actual facts? A hearing? No, no and no. This is a national scandal.
Squander Two – “Tim didn’t mention the lyrics. The song was not written about back pain, but Gaynor was indeed singing about back pain in her performance.”
Or a more accurate interpretation of your source would be that the writing of the song had nothing whatsoever to do with Gaynor’s back pain, but that it came along at about the same time and Gaynor interpreted it as a sign from God?