Calling it sexist and homophobic, for reasons I can not comprehend.

Via Feministing:

Last week, Isis Wenger wrote about her experience with sexism as a woman tech engineer, particularly the backlash she encountered as the literal face of her company. Thousands of engineers from underrepresented backgrounds were inspired to share their stories with #ILookLikeAnEngineer, and soon, they’ll be on a billboard near you.

In Silicon Valley, major highways and transit centers in the area are filled with tech related ads, sometimes in regards to products, but also in regards to recruiting. For example, a prominent ad series include images like this:

The whole premise of this ad series “Find the hottest tech talent” is that engineers are goofy-looking nerdy guys (majority white) that look ridiculous when they pose as overtly-sexualized women in mainstream advertising culture. According to the “joke,” “hottest” refers to their abilities as engineers, not their identity.

Did Dice run this ad with a woman or trans engineer in a similar position? Nope! And let’s not pretend that it was to prevent folks from even more objectification. Dice fully played into the stereotype that only men are elite tech talent. They literally spread this message all across Silicon Valley, from MUNI along the 101.