Missives

I do not believe this list is sexist, or that anyone who made the list is sexist, or that anyone on the list is sexist (unless someone added Adam Carolla while I wasn’t looking). Also for the record: I love white men! Some of my best friends are white men!

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Rachel Sklar on the Newsweek Daily Beast Digital Power Index’s gender ratio: seven women to 93 men. As a white man, I would prefer to stay out of this particular debate. I am confused, however, as to whether Ms. Sklar objects to the list’s exclusion of women (of any skin color?) or to the tech industry’s exclusion of women (of any skin color?) or both. (via parsely)

Here is your answer (from the article):

I’m not saying the numbers line up perfectly, 50/50 across the board. I’m saying that in the context of this list, 7 percent is a really low number—indicative not of a numbers problem, but of a visibility problem.

It’s actually pretty simple: Either you think all these industries are dominated across the very top levels by predominantly white men because there are numerous deep-seated societal norms and institutional biases that make it more challenging for women and minorities to advance as quickly and as far as their white male counterparts … or you think that these lists merely reflect the fact that white dudes must just be better at everything.