On: Female Founder Secrets: Men Clamming Up

[quicklime]

For that particular situation, I'd stay silent. I agree there's a risk, and that this is a problem.

Longer term though, I'd make sure we hire female investors into my VC fund. I'd take them along the journey of investing with this startup, and if I felt a female CEO needed to be replaced with a man, I'd discuss this with my investment partners. Any harsh feedback, if given, would be coming from all of us, and a mixed panel would be harder to accuse of sexism.

[protomyth → quicklime]

Any harsh feedback, if given, would be coming from all of us, and a mixed panel would be harder to accuse of sexism.

Nope, a hostile founder/CEO will pick the men out of the panel and sick the mob on them. The women on the panel are either oppressed or anti-feminism. The mob doesn't care and won't hear the whole story.

[viro → protomyth]

> The women on the panel are either oppressed or anti-feminism.

"internalized misogyny" is the term you are looking for.

[quicklime → protomyth]

Yep, that's why I used the word "harder" instead of "impossible". At that point, the situation would be within my threshold of acceptable risk.

[yakshaving_jgt → quicklime]

> a mixed panel would be harder to accuse of sexism

That's not how this works. People eager to engage in this kind of ideological battle always have Internalised Misogyny as an argument to fall back on in this situation.

[imtringued → quicklime]

Use another woman as a shield? Damned if you do, damned if you don't...