Men Didn't Believe This Victoria's Secret Model Was an Engineer – Until She Said This
Contrary to popular belief, engineers come in all shapes, sizes, genders, races and types of people. And Lyndsey Scott, a software engineer, a tutor on Apple's iOS team, and a Victoria's Secret model proves it. Recently, sexist Reddit trolls questioned the 31-year-old's qualifications, but she called their bluff.
An Instagram post titled "This Victoria’s Secret model can program code in Python, C++, Java, MIPS, and Objective-C" started trending on a Reddit forum when a few anonymous users began questions Scott's credentials, mansplaining why she couldn't possibly be a "real" coder.
One user said that she probably "programmed" the words "Hello, world." And another said, “Anyone can write code, not many people can write code well though. Languages are easy to learn, but scalable, readable, maintainable, efficient code is not.”
While Scott typically chooses not to engage with trolls, she felt that, this time, her response was important.
"I have 27481 points on StackOverflow; I’m on the iOS tutorial team for RayWendelich.com; I’m the Lead iOS software engineer for @RallyBound, the 841st fastest growing company in the US according to @incmagazine, I have a Bachelor’s degree from Amherst where I double majored in computer science and theater, and I’m able to live my life doing everything I love," she responded. "Looking at these comments I wonder why 41% of women in technical careers drop out because of a hostile work environment ? #gofigure"
In a follow-up post on her own Instagram account and on Twitter, she also wrote that she's not bragging; rather, she's only stating the facts.
"Not trying to brag lol, just stating facts in the hope I’ll convince at least one negative commenter that programmers can come in all shapes, sizes, genders, races, etc. so they’ll think twice before doubting other women and girls they encounter in tech," she shared.
Her message was welcomed and reiterated by tons of women in tech who helped her shut down sexist trolls.
One woman tweeted in response to keep on keeping on.
Scott's response, and the responses of all the women chiming in, are important for the nearly 74 percent of young girls who express interest in STEM fields and computer science but are deterred by non-believers, or who go on but quit at a rate more than twice as high (41 percent) than it is for men (17 percent).
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AnnaMarie Houlis is a multimedia journalist and an adventure aficionado with a keen cultural curiosity and an affinity for solo travel. She's an editor by day and a travel blogger at HerReport.org by night.
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