Feminism and Sexism

In Uncanny Valley, Anna Wiener exposes various instances and examples of sexism in Silicon Valley that are reflective of larger patriarchal values in society and which highlight the necessity for feminist social justice movements. Anna’s discussion of sexism and misogyny in the workplace escalates as the book goes on. This is likely an authorial technique that reflects how her own awareness of this issue escalated the longer she worked in tech as she experienced increasing incidents of sexist microaggressions and misogyny. At first, she notes the lack of female employees in the industry but as the data-analytics startup grows, she experiences more overt sexism and notes that the company culture is likely to make many women uncomfortable.

The theme of feminism and sexism is addressed more directly in the book’s second chapter “Scale”. This is not only because of Anna’s escalating approach to...