Trigger Warning: graphic sexual content, racism, sexual harassment
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These messages are infuriating, disgusting, and awful.
I admire your strength for pushing on and inspiring so many others despite this constant stream of harassment. 💜
Thank you for sharing the ugly truth about what it means to be a prominent woman in tech. It's an important (if not disturbing) wake-up call to anyone out there who refuses to recognize that this sort of awful harassment goes on every single day.
💜
This was such a difficult thing to read as a woman who has dealt with sexual harassment as well.
What makes me really upset is the screenshots are from essentially every platform (Twitter, Gmail, LinkedIn, etc.). A woman isn't safe from a man's unwanted passes on anything nowadays. It's ridiculous and I'm sorry that you have to deal with this nonsense. I applaud you for being so strong and continuing to create amazing content for those of us who love hearing and learning from you despite all this unwanted attention year after year. You are an amazing person, Ali. Don't let anyone ever let you think otherwise.
❤️
Love you for posting this!
❤️
Wow, I'm so sorry that all of this happened to you. These messages are appalling 😞 Nevertheless, you coded.... and you're doing amazingly!
❤️
Did I just witness a
seizurestroke amidst erotic role play? All of this is terrible, but I can't get that one out of my head. Not only is it absolutely disgusting to send that unsolicited, but I'm seriously concerned for the brain that strung those words together.He sent a different version of the erotica to one of my close friends too, so bizarre.
can we raise money to get all of these guys an intro to grammar book?
more like an "intro to how to be a decent human being" book
Ahh, the annual rogue's gallery of terrible comments. Thanks for posting this, as always. It's terrible that so many bigots exist...but at least you're able to turn them around and use them to educate the rest of the world that gender discrimination DOES exist today in tech.
This is a seriously disappointing collection of disrespectful, demeaning, and downright gross comments. 😞
Thanks for bringing this up and sharing your experience!
People really need to be reminded about the reality of what it's all too frequently like to work in this industry as a female developer. Thanks for persevering through this hate.
😭😩😡😡😢😢🤢🤮😡😭😭😭😢🤬🤬
Such an important thing to share. Why do people think this is okay?! I hope this will help show people this is a real thing that happens. I’m so sorry it happened at all.
Well well well.
If I was the author of one of those shameful messages, I would be really grateful that you took the time to blurry my name when you had the option to show my cowardice to the world. And I would contact you to say that I'm sorry and will try hard to not be stupid in the future.
And to the dudes working at Twitter, Reddit and other fake "social" platforms where this shit is endemic:
Appreciate you sharing this ❤️
❤️
OMG!
The ugly side of humans... or non-humans 😶
I wish this never kills your motivation or (your why) to keep excelling.
More power to you Ali 🙌🏼💪🏻
common decency seems to be missing in the world of social media. sry to hear you and other people have to put up with these kinds of messages.
I hope you continue being you and don't let these people get at you.
It just goes on and on 😢
Holy potatoes. As a cis dude, I hear about that stuff and read a few examples here and there, which are already puzzling/disgusting/worrisome, but seeing such a volume laid out is something else.
I don't know how I would deal with this without seizures. Kudos for the resilience and managing to keep some faith in humanity.
I have no words for how disgusting humans are and how glad I am that you are still here, coding, teaching, and inspiring. Keep up the great work and keep calling out trash humans!
I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to continue putting yourself out there, helping others learn, and being a positive voice in the dev community!
All of this in spite of the garbage and harassment you have to deal with regularly.
Thank for sharing your experiences and thanks for what you do, Ali! 🙏🙏🙏👍👍👍💪💪💪
Reading the entire thread of messages, 98% which are about unwarranted and extremely annoying sexual advances just left me shocked and disgusted at how low people can get. The other 2% which borders on doubting your knowledge/expertise, best exemplified by the guy who asked if you can explain OOP in Python well, is even worse because while the bulk of messages you receive are awkward sexual comments from sexual predators, a far larger number of people, have this unconscious bias of doubting women's ability and competence even when they aren't predators themselves which is really sad. But I'm most impressed by your resolve to keep going. If that huge gang of human degenerates can't break your spirit, definitely, nothing else can.
These messages are brutal to read, one of them far more graphic than what is typically shared publicly. I can't even imagine reading them as the targeted recipient. Nobody deserves this.
Thank you for opening up and sharing.
Thank you for compiling this list again this year! Same as last year, I was amused at first, then I questioned the education of certain countries and then I got upset by the fact how demanding it must be as woman to get those kind of messages in this frequency.
Keep going and stay strong 💪🏾 😊
I’ve dealt with messages like yours recently on some coding chat sites. It usually scares them away when I reveal how old (or I should say young) I am. It’s the ones who keep at it after that which worries me.
Sounds like you can handle them well and I should take lessons from you.
I am so sorry you have to put up with this. Reading through these was infuriating and I'm just an outside observer. My wife was the most talented programmer I knew, but after working at three different companies where she repeatedly had to keep proving she was a damn good at what she did while also being a woman, she switched to a less male dominated industry. It is absolute bullshit that this still happena in 2020. You are far too kind to redact their names. Please keep up the good work, and don't let these socially inept chuckleheads get you down.
Thank you for posting this. I can't imagine how horrible the ones are that you declined to add here. Don't let these folks discourage you! For every creepy creeper there are folks who also just want to build cool things using code and I hope you keep posting great content. I have a daughter who's trying to get into a tech related field as well and I cringe when I think about the kinds of things she will face as well. Seeing posts like this fighting back gives me hope for her as well.
I ...
I am just sorry.
I had a discussion a year ago with friends about how women are strategically and intentionally abused and pushed away from the field by men. I agreed to some extent but I could never guess it is that bad.
I am really sorry for you.
I sincerely appreciate your decision to voice your experiences out.
It saddens me deeply to realize what women go through just for being in a certain profession. It is truly unfortunate for such events to happen. Such behavior stands as a manifestation of disgust and filth.
The lack of respect their actions display is a lot disturbing. Such people should be evicted from social media platforms. I think they've confused free speech with personal vandalism and disrespect. I truly long for a time in which legislative provisions are made in favor of protection of personal dignity on social media platforms.
I must again salute the courage you and other women going through similar experiences show on a daily basis. Thank you for bringing it to public knowledge. We, men can never understand what women go through everyday but your expression has really made us realize how far we have fallen as a society that personal objectification has now become free real estate.
I hope everything stops one day, I will be trying my best for that day to come soon.
Thank you Ali.
Damn, sick and scary af.
And nevertheless, she coded. You inspire many others to keep going, to keep writing, keep learning, even with all that shit, so thank you for that. ♥️
Absolutely disgusting, I actually feel like I'm going to be sick. Absolutely nobody should have to put up with this kind of disgusting behaviour.
Keep on being awesome Ali! You're an inspiration to many!
WomenAreAwesome #TreatWomenWithRespect
Oh Ali, I can't hardly believe such poor attitudes exist. Thank you for putting up with such garbage and being an encouragement to the coding community. Thanks for the help you have been for me in getting started in coding this year after surviving cancer. I have a copy of your book here, and have been using it as a guide. All the best!
What a horrible collection of messages! I had no idea that could happen on such a big scale, so sorry you have to put up with that.
You must be a very resilient person to keep doing what you do in spite of it. Thanks ❤️ we appreciate you.
Thank you for sharing! I admire your courage and resilience.
Oh good god.
Thank you for sharing, happy you're still coding.
Despite being blocked on Twitter, I do feel that even though you get way more disconcerting messages than any other female I know in tech (either because you're transparent or because you're you), you are appreciated very much by your carefully curated community. Anyone who isn't harassing you is very much appreciative of your easygoing twitter and hope that you don't let these men stop you from success.
I feel soiled now...
Thank you so much for posting this!
I hope I have never been that guy towards someone else. It makes me really think about how we choose to interact with other people.
... also, I'm sorry, but "your dress is the floor" made me go wtf?! and chuckle unbelievingly.
Ali, I’m so so sorry all this has happened to you!!! I kept waiting for the screenshots to end but they kept going and I’m just devastated. I wish things weren’t this way. Thank you for continuing to code and teach and write despite all this horribleness!!
Well done for keeping your head up in spite of such a disgusting deluge of awfulness. I certainly would have decided it is not worth it long ago, so it really speaks to the strength of your character. Keep making the tech industry better the way you are doing right now.
Reading this was sad and felt inhuman. I never really thought this happened or at least to this extent.
I hope you're in a better place now. Thanks for exposing me to this.
I don't know how but I hope I to assist the world in correcting some of these acts.
I admire your strength and courage.
Seriously!.... 🤦 All these morons really exist?... What a good time to be alive.... Anyway just ignoring them is the best thing you can do. TBH I had seen sveral messages like this even in my mom's account, she's less tech savy so i manage her account sometimes. I usually block these s**** h*****.
I can certainly understand how receiving inappropriate messages like that would be extremely uncomfortable and unsettling. As a victim of sextortion myself, I know firsthand how violating and traumatic it can be to have your personal boundaries violated in such a way. It's important to consider that we all have the right to feel safe in our online interactions, and it's never okay for someone to send inappropriate or harassing messages. It's understandable to feel upset and frustrated in a situation like this, and it's important to know that there are resources available to help support and protect you. If you ever feel unsafe or threatened online, don't hesitate to reach out to trusted friends, family, or organizations like the Digital Investigation and seek help.
I literally couldn't get myself to read every message, and I guess these are only some of them. I'm really sorry that you have to go through this.
Ugh, I admire your strength in putting up with that. I truly hope the positive experiences have outweighed the negatives, but wow... This doesn't speak well of my gender.
This is an awful, yet a very real and true thing that women have to deal with online. I've received a tiny fraction of messages like these.
Thank you for bringing this to light ❤️.
You are amazing Ali Spittel. More power to you.
I want to join the ranks of all the ranks of all well surprised and angered men about the different levels of harassment here, but being 'in the game' for 20 years, I find more of the young me in some of these postings than I probably would want to admit in every day life.
As with all issues of these regards (in short *isms) there is one point of view I want more men to take: Just don't declare yourself out of the problem, but try to find out how much of a problem you are (causing). If the answer is Zero: Think harder fellow Techbros. It is a very much more useful way of thinking than just declaring the problem is out of our hemisphere. Only then we have a chance to get over the 'all men are trash' meme (that exists for a obvious reason reiterated here).
Thanks for posting this and sorry you have to go through this.
Yikes. I am so sorry for all this. :(
Omg.
What.
This is so gross.
Thank you for publishing this & shining a light into the shadows.
Ali, thank you for sharing these & you're incredible and I hope you continue to write about coding online 💕
You're a very brave coder, Ali, to withstand all these vile messages.
The tech world needed something like this. ❤
Thank you for sharing, and I'm so glad you've continued coding and writing about it online even with all those horrible things.
Gotta love the Christian one lol...
WTF is wrong with people :S
Just keep coding
Absolute lowbreeds. Keep on keeping on.
No men or women in code deserves this.
Strange people....
OMG, Too much fame, just because you have pretty face! Thank God i am not in the list
It’s a lot 😞
strong and brave girl. keep up
holy moly! Why are some men so 'agh' sometimes? I admire your dedication to programming despite all the crap you've received. You keep doing what you're doing cause you're doing awesome!! >:V
These comments are terrible! I'm so sorry you have to deal with these. Thank you for sharing; as someone who hasn't experienced this firsthand, it's eye opening to see what it's like.
I'm really sorry that you receive such messages.
Much love and respect to you for staying motivated!
I don't see why we're censoring the names of these people.
lmao what are some of those comments, straight from 2005 like. Sorry you have to go through with this type of harassment.
I expected it to end but it just didn't...and it kept getting worse the more I read.
Unfortunately, it would just as likely (and probably more likely) to put a target on her back for worse harassment and retaliation from these people as it would improve anything.
OMG...this is awful. I can't even imagine how difficult it would've been for you.
Keep coding...n more power to you!
Reading this I can't help but admire your strength!
Keep on! 🤗🤗🤗
Is it me or is this all getting worse as time goes on??
Load o bullsh.
So sorry you had to be the recipient of all that trash.
Great mental strength - overcoming all odds and making a name for yourself. Go Ali (y)
Wow, this was a depressing read. You shouldn't be getting these messages at all. Stay strong and keep coding.
These messages are really disgusting.
Thanks for posting this and making all of us aware of it. All this needs to stop, more power to you! 👍
These messages are disgusting.
Keep being strong and continue being amazing.
To be fair, most seems off of Twitter that has driven grown men away in tears, so kudos for still being strong in that medium.
Yeah ignore the garbage and just keep on working and posting!!!
:((((((
f*cked up world we are living in...
I am sorry for all the women than need to fight with this crap and harassment everyday...
Don't let it - block and report asap
As always, your bravery and resilience are so admirable.
Yikes!
People are strange 😔