Repeat after me: Tech does not have a gender problem.
Is San Francisco's startup culture inherently, necessarily sexist? No. Is it, in its current manifestation, a difficult place for women to work and find work? Yes. Does it, for the same reasons, attract an inordinate number of flamboyantly piggish men? Probably!
Here's an invitation posted by hacker house/startup mansion/co-working space Hacker Hideout. It's perfectly symptomatic of a larger problem: Men are hackers, women are hookers; beer, food trucks, "shots bars," and girls are attractions.
Here's how Hacker Hideout describes itself:
Hacker Hideout is a member based community center in San Francisco for thinkers and builders; tech lovers and business moguls; students and teachers alike. We are and like to think of our facility as a co-working space, micro incubator, socialecotechnological (yes we made this up) think-tank, and social event center for Hackers, Builders, Designers, and Shakers of San Francisco.
Now, here's how Twitter has been describing Hacker Hideout's party:
