Engineer Isis Wenger Started a Social Media Movement With #ILookLikeAnEngineer
By:
Last week, OneLogin engineer Isis Wenger received ample backlash on social media after appearing in her company's promotional ads, which were placed throughout the BART subway system, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
In the ad, Wenger is posing alongside the words, "My team is great. Everyone is smart, creative, and hilarious." Many responded negatively to the campaign and some commented that she does not look like an engineer. This prompted Wenger to write a Medium post about the jarring experience.
.jpeg?auto=format&crop=faces&fit=crop&q=60&w=736&ixlib=js-1.1.0 "OneLogin ad backlash")
Isis Anchalee/Medium - medium.com
In her Medium post, Wenger wrote that she didn't expect the campaign to receive so much negative attention, and she did expect people to question whether she looks like an engineer:
"The negative opinions about this ad that strangers feel so compelled to share illustrate solid examples of the sexism that plagues tech. Some people think I’m not making 'the right face.' Others think that this is unbelievable as to what 'female engineers look like.' News flash: this isn’t by any means an attempt to label 'what female engineers look like.' This is literally just ME, an example of ONE engineer at OneLogin. The ad is supposed to be authentic. My words, my face, and as far as I am concerned it is."
She went on to say it's shocking that her "fully-clothed smiling face with unbrushed hair and minimal makeup on a white wall" would cause more of a stir on the Internet than a sexual Dice ad featuring a man spreading his legs:
Isis Anchalee/Medium - medium.com
Wenger asked readers to use the #ILookLikeAnEngineer hashtag to fight gender stereotypes.
"Do you feel passionately about helping spread awareness about tech gender diversity?" she wrote. "Do you not fit the 'cookie-cutter mold' of what people believe engineers 'should look like?'"
Isis Wenger/Medium - medium.com
Many celebrated her call to action and shared their own #ILookLikeAnEngineer photos on social media. Here are some #ILookLikeAnEngineer and related posts:
