People are outraged over a casting call for the 'girlfriends of Silicon Valley'
A casting flier for a new reality show set in Silicon Valley has some people in tech scratching their heads.
With a headline of "Calling all girlfriends of Silicon Valley," the flier asks, "Are you a confident, glamorous and outgoing woman who's dating or married to someone working in the tech industry? Do you have a fabulous lifestyle, a great group of friends, and live life to the full?"
London-based production company The Connected Set will be creating a documentary-style series profiling the Silicon Valley social scene. According to creative director Jason Mitchell, the "girlfriends of Silicon Valley" is just one social group the show will follow.
"The flier campaign we're running is part of a wider campaign for a new show that is in development," Mitchell told Business Insider. "We also have many successful female entrepreneurs involved, although we are not primarily focusing on work-life for this particular project."
The casting flier seemed to strike a nerve with a community still reeling from Friday's decision in the Ellen Pao sex discrimination law suit and other discussions of gender imbalance in the tech industry.
attn ladies: are you dating a tech bro and living a fabulous lifestyle full of gossip and intrigue??? #barf pic.twitter.com/avJyPOSfFy
- morgan with an e (@morgane_santos) March 27, 2015
Shoot me "@DanRaile: I've never wanted to dress in drag so bad just to get invite pic.twitter.com/yEO9GMUupr""
- jason (@Jason) March 28, 2015
Everything that's wrong with our society, packed into one tiny flyer. RT @BenedictEvans pic.twitter.com/EIKYgkaDK5 Adverse selection
- Lavanya Shukla (@lavanyashukla) March 28, 2015
Would be more interesting to watch women (not girlfriends) in tech MT @Jason: women of Silicon Valley, Hollywood ... pic.twitter.com/oKP70KOM4R
- Daphne Zohar (@daphnezohar) March 28, 2015
Last week, digitalundivided founder Kathryn Finney wrote a Medium post about a casting call she had received for a reality show focused on black women in tech. "We are looking to connect with stylish, hard-working women in the tech industry who want to showcase their fabulous lives both in and out of work, and show what being a boss is really all about," the casting call read.
"There is no black woman who fits this description. If this show happens, there probably never will be," Finney wrote.
The Connected Set is also producing a show called "How to Be a Young Billionaire," which follows three British entrepreneurs as they set out to find success in Silicon Valley. One of the startup founders, Mitchell notes, is a woman.
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