Boston Herald

‘Brotopia’ looks at sex parties of Silicon Valley

- By LEVI SUMAGAYSAY

Just how bad is it for women who work in Silicon Valley, the land of disruption and the tech capital of the world?

Think sex parties at mansions where there are two women for every man in attendance, with alcohol aplenty and drugs “molded into the logos of some of the hottest tech companies.” Or “cuddle puddles” that later lead to more than just cuddling.

In “Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley,” a book by Bloomberg TV journalist Emily Chang scheduled to come out next month, Chang gives us a glimpse into the sex parties based on interviews with nearly two dozen (mostly anonymous) people, according to an excerpt in Vanity Fair.

The book, which will be released Feb. 6, isn’t the first we’ve heard about sex practices and drug use in Silicon Valley.

But the book’s release comes in the wake of #MeToo — as the tech world is grappling with sexual harassment scandals, plus lawsuits alleging systemic gender pay gaps and as all the talk about diversifyi­ng the valley’s workforce yields little or no progress.

It’s no wonder progress has been slow. After all, accord- ing to Chang’s reporting, the “tech bros” who put on and go to such sex parties feel special and entitled. Sometimes they’re late bloomers who feel they’re entitled to catch up on the sex they didn’t get back in the day.

Some of the men think that their behavior is not predatory, and that some of the women are actually taking advantage of them because they’re wealthy, according to the excerpt. They call those kinds of women “founder hounders,” Chang writes.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States