Gay Leaders in Technology

http://mashable.com/2013/02/21/gay-leaders-tech/

I recently stumbled upon an article that claimed to list the “9 Gay Leaders Making A Difference in Technology.” Have personal and academic ties to the matter, I chose to explore the article and learn about some of these innovators. Before I clicked on the article, I assumed that I would be seeing a eclectic mix of LGBT identified individuals from varying backgrounds and experiences. However, As I browsed through the article and read the names and saw pictures of the faces in this article, I noticed something extremely linear about the profiles I was reading. 7 of the 9 leaders mentioned on the list were men, and more shocking, not a single one of the mentioned innovators was a person of color. Almost instantly, I began to question the relationship technology has with access and power. Even within a group that is socially disadvantaged itself, hierarchies and power relations dictate who can and cannot “lead” and “make a difference”. Why are women not emerging as leaders in technology, especially since women today make up half of the tech savvy millennials conquering the job market tomorrow? Furthermore, why does the face of innovative technology and leadership lack any color and what does it say about the deeper racial and historical factors at play? This ideological system is exactly what Donna Haraway references in her analysis of the cyborg painting by Lynn Randolph. She argues, the racially ambiguous central figure is strikingly significant because  “she embodies the still oxymoronic simultaneous statuses of woman, ‘third world’ person, human….”. The relationship technology has to gender is intrinsically tied to the relationship it has with race, along with the various other identities that we embody.