I shared in the author’s note at the end of the The Exit Strategy that although the book is fiction, the backdrop I used of the continued sexist climate in the tech industry is not.
Many moments, drawn from real life, were toned down for credibility, but getting excluded from meetings, being pushed to smile more, different performance standards, cougar night, even being invited to ‘bond with the team’ at strip clubs, are experiences I lived as a female senior executive.
I promised in that same note to share a list with ideas for future reading.
Find all of these titles in Lainey’s Recommended Reads on Bookshop.org (profits supports indie bookstores)
Alpha Girls by Julian Guthrie
The Women Upstarts Who Took On Silicon Valley's Male Culture and Made the Deals of a Lifetime
In Alpha Girls, award-winning journalist Julian Guthrie takes readers behind the closed doors of venture capital, an industry that transforms economies and shapes how we live. We follow the lives and careers of four women who were largely written out of history - until now.
5 Lessons I Learned From the ‘Alpha Girls’ of Silicon Valley
This is an article by Julian Guthrie, the author of Alpha Girls, in Fortune Magazine.
I’m a particular fan of the second lesson which has also served me well - ‘humor works wonders’.
Reset by Ellen Pao
My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change
Ellen Pao is one of my real life heroines. In 2015, she sued a powerhouse Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Kleiner Perkins, for workplace retaliation aond discrimination against minority groups.
As the book’s own description says, “Her suit rocked the tech world—and exposed its toxic culture and its homogeneity”. This book walks you through her heroism and the repercussions.
Pretty Bitches
On Being Called Crazy, Angry, Bossy, Frumpy, Feisty, and All the Other Words That Are Used to Undermine Women
This book isn’t only about the tech industry, but you may notice reading my novel that I talk about all the “B words” Ryn has been called over her career.
I’ve been reading this and it’s truly thought-provoking, about the power of language to punish women for being “aggressive”, “bossy”, or “too” anything (that’s one of my favorite essays - about how being “too” something is rarely applied to men).
I thoroughly recommend it on audio book, where the essays are read by their individual writers.
Crash Override
How Gamergate (Nearly) Destroyed My Life, and How We Can Win the Fight Against Online Hate
Gamergate exposed the toxic masculinity lying, barely hidden not far below the surface in the gaming industry and among fans, but it’s a phenomenon that is equally scary in all of tech. Imagine wondering whether that person sitting at the desk next to you could be the same person online sending hateful messages about how they want you dead- or raped.
Gamergate sat at the intersection of questions around how free should we allow hate speech to become, the reach of cyber bullying into real physical danger, in an age of free-flow of information, and the backlash from men in industries where women are “not welcome here”.
Brotopia
Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley
Bloomberg TV journalist Emily Chang reveals how Silicon Valley got so sexist despite its utopian ideals, and why bro culture endures despite decades of companies claiming the moral high ground.
Feminist Fight Club
A Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace
This book is more light-hearted and not only about tech, but in general how women can work to uplift each other in the fight against sexism.
I enjoyed the snarky, irreverent tone, and the ideas on how the sisterhood can avoid inadvertently undermining their colleagues.
Drawing on her deep network of Silicon Valley insiders, Chang opens the boardroom doors of male-dominated venture capital firms like Kleiner Perkins, and Sequoia, where a partner once famously said they "won't lower their standards" just to hire women.