It all started just like any viral internet phenomenon; Mean tweets at Twitter. This attractive, smart girl named Isis Wenger was ridiculed in social media especially Twitter after OneLogin, a Cloud-based service provider’s Human Resource drive featured her in a OneLogin t-shirt and over-sized lopsided glasses. Since she was pretty and well-toned, many followers thought she was just a model who was appearing for OneLogin’s campaign and not an actual employee when in fact she is a good software engineer for the company. A little blame also goes to the poster editor who used a lot of photoshop inadvertently to make her look good, but in the end, it appeared all fake and blossoms.
Here is what the Twitter Trolls had to say about her:
The bottom line is that the testosterone junkies think whenever ad like this appears on the media, it is a cheap way of attracting the male audience and nothing more. While it is true that many of these ads are like that, in this particular case, Isis is an actual software engineer, and it was unfair to treat her like that just because she appeared in a certain way. The trolls kept saying that the marketing is such a fail because no way she looks like an actual engineer.
We know how stereotypes in any profession go and with engineers I guess nerdy looks or overalls are a must, or you won’t be called an engineer. Isis wrote that almost every female engineer had to tolerate mild to extreme offenses based on their genders while working as an engineer as it continues to be a male-dominated profession. But still, she is proud of her job and her capabilities. Many women also leave these kinds of jobs because of sexist behavior or blunt cultures regarding females.
So, Isis started a hashtag in Twitter to raise awareness about the women in technology. It was #iLookLikAnEngineer, and scores of women joined in with their tweets and raised the issue along with her. Here is Isis herself:
Then there are other tweets:
At 30, started a tech career spanning programming, UX and product management – all self-taught. #ILookLikeAnEngineerpic.twitter.com/ZQ0jKzmasQ
— Shannon Hale (@shannonsans) August 4, 2015
#ILookLikeAnEngineer, despite often being mistaken for a marketer, designer, recruiter, or my fav—a girlfriend. pic.twitter.com/fNzhzSQCOr
— glitterwitchstardust (@TessaHarmon) August 4, 2015
I’m from Benin, West Africa. I’m Black. I have short hair, and I smile a LOT. #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/3g0osIQxZ8
— Pamela Assogba (@pam_yam) August 4, 2015
Self-taught iOS dev, got a dev degree (1st in class), spoke @ WWDC & more, co-founded @tutulab #iLookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/qSeAuo90Lh
— Natalia Berdys (@batalia) August 4, 2015
I was one of the earliest engs @Pinterest; I’ve worked on infra, api, web, ads, homefeed & more #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/vn0aS58JIv
— Tracy Chou (@triketora) August 4, 2015
I love Android development, deleting pointless code and I love working at Twitter! #ILookLikeAnEngineer pic.twitter.com/YW7zVvMhYE
— Jan Chong (@lessachu) August 4, 2015
Engineering degrees from @MIT #ILookLikeAnEngineer (read: https://t.co/tZpuMu5fwT) pic.twitter.com/kKNEQqd5kq
— Emily Calandrelli (@TheSpaceGal) August 3, 2015
