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Comment by hlurhhh | Hacker News Reader

I wrote this somewhere else in this thread, but I like her because she's one of the few (current) 'well known' women in tech that's successful and stylish. She's exactly the kind of representation I need and want.

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She's not successful, she's wealthy. There's a difference. She got a lottery ticket at Google and cashed in, then proceeded to run Yahoo into the ground. She's widely considered a failure in tech and business circles, and for good reason (I was with her at Yahoo and can testify to her strategic incompetence). If Marissa is the role model you want - stylish but incompetent - then I feel bad for you. Much like Elizabeth Holmes (another destroyer of billions), Marissa should be considered an anti-hero for women in business.

Don't feel bad for me, I'm twenty-something years old and having Marissa as my tech woman icon is just some fun. I'm sorry you don't like her, but the choices for role models as a woman in tech are limited. (And yeah I know about Hopper and Hamilton and Borg, the difference is that Mayer is a current kinda-household name and in Vogue, literally.)

Also don't lump Marissa in with Elizabeth Holmes, Holmes could never be iconic with that hair.

Maybe you'd find more role models if you didn't segregate by gender (that's sexist, after all). If you can only look up to people who share your genitalia then I think that's pretty limiting.

I don't think I'm asking for too much by wanting a woman in tech to look up to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it's not sexist dude, I just want some representation in my role models.

I mean, apart from everything else in this thread, Marissa Mayer doesn't really seem to have done much: a good management role in Google, tanking a former internet giant and getting a lot of money for it, and setting up a company that doesn't seem to have produced anything so far.

Even if you look for women role model in tech, is it possible there aren't any more successful ones?

DELETED: Unnecessary ad hominem.

It certainly seems like her looks and stylishness are major factors in her popularity (especially when compared to a more accomplished woman like Lisa Su), but you think that is a good thing?

Absolutely - as I said elsewhere in this thread, I hate the typical tech uniform of jeans, t-shirts, and hoodies, but felt I wouldn't get taken seriously if I looked 'pretty'. Marissa made that ok for me.

I find someone like Susan Fowler much more inspirational, in just about every respect. (Not that I have anything against Marissa Mayer per se.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Fowler

https://www.ft.com/content/b4bc2a68-dc4f-11e7-a039-c64b1c09b...

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