Much has been said about sexism and harassment faced by women in tech, but are the men in tech listening?
When 18-year-old entrepreneur Lydia Jones contacted a fellow entrepreneur for advise, the conversation got pretty awkward. And Jones decided to call him out on Twitter by posting screenshots of the conversation.
Jones’ original tweet was retweeted over four thousand times, and many users have called his action “inappropriate.”
Here’s how the conversation went:
The Quint got in touch with Jones, who was overwhelmed at the traction her post received.
Overall, I don’t, for one second, believe all men are like this (with my co-founder Danny being male) but I do believe there is a disadvantage for women in tech currently.Lydia Jones
Her advice to new women entrepreneurs is to “go for it as things are changing even if the progress is slow.”
I would encourage people to speak out when an issue like this happens, to highlight where things are going wrong too!
She had contacted the entrepreneur after seeing his “numerous” posts in the London Startup and Entrepreneurs Facebook group, Jones told Mashable.
Mashable also got in touch with the man involved. He defended his behaviour after confirming that he did, in fact, send the messages. “I asked her if she was open about her sexuality and she said ‘yes.’ So I asked her a question if she still finds men attractive. In the end I didn't say much else because I found out that it wasn't appropriate to ask her even though she said she was open.”
The Quint has independently contacted the man involved. This story will be updated after his response.