“ BARDOT SMITH CALLS herself a “corporate finance escapee.” Petite and exuding intellect, she looks the part, but for the past 10 years she’s been involved in a

“ BARDOT SMITH CALLS herself a “corporate finance escapee.” Petite and exuding intellect, she looks the part, but for the past 10 years she’s been involved in a different industry: the precarious world of sex work. She is also, alongside a growing community of sex workers, actively challenging Silicon Valley’s status quo through research and activism. I first encountered her work in the form of an essay she wrote for the critical Silicon Valley publication Model View Culture in 2014. In it, she argued that “[t]he increasing presence of women’s skill and success represents a challenge to tech culture” and that “[w]omen’s success and agency are in direct conflict with an industry culture that caters to the priorities—and egos—of males.” Her words resonated and stuck with me.” Is this satire?