Does Matt Mullenweg Have a Problem with Women?

With WordPress version 4.0 being named for clarinet great Benny Goodman, one has to ask, what exactly is Matt Mullenweg ’s problem with women?

I’ve written on topic of jazz naming before and I know he’s read my criticisms. He even wrote me an email saying he “would think about” naming another version after a woman.

And yet again, he missed the opportunity to name a WordPress version after a woman and show he’s in touch with WordPress users.

The last time a WordPress version was named for a women was in 2009 for Carman McRae, v.2.9. The first time was Ella Fitzgerald in 2007, v2.1. That’s it! 

In the history of jazz, only two women musicians rate memorializing, according to the mighty Mullenweg.

All The Things You Aren’t

And we know that it’s all Mullenweg’s doing. This is not a decision made by committee. 

At a recent Vancouver WordPress Meetup, Morten Rand-Hendriksen surmised that perhaps Mullenweg waits until the last minute before release when he looks at the album he’s currently listening to and says, that’s it!

Indeed, his choice of jazz musicians are random, unconnected with status or accomplishment. After all, who has ever heard of Ronan Boran (v.2.0.5)? Not even my husband, and he knows everybody!

However, according to this Inc Magazine interview, we know he likes Beyonce! 

Yet, despite this current climate of rape culture awareness and #Yesallwomen hashtags, Matt Mullenweg remains intransigent. He’s not going to make a statement of solidarity just because women’s accomplishments get ignored all the time. Oh, no. 

Even in his hiring, he’s cool on women. Of the roughly 270 Automattic staffers worldwide, only 50 are women, 5% less than the tech industry average of 25%.

And, these are employees who work at home!

I Only Have Eyes For Dudes

Since nothing has been written on the subject, it’s hard to imagine Matt Mullenweg ’s logic when deciding what jazz musician to name a WordPress version for. All we know is that he and he alone makes the decision, and 99.9% of the time he picks a dude.

And talk about bad timing, WordPress 4.0 “Benny” was released on the day Joan Rivers died!

She was the funniest woman on the planet and an inspiration to women everywhere, and on the day she passes Automattic honours another dead white guy! I mean, can we talk? 

On that sad day, think of the lift it would have given to women bloggers if 4.0 had been named Billie instead of Benny! 

When, oh, when is Matt Mullenweg ever going to lighten up and start seeing women as people worth remembering?

Why don’t he do right, like some other men do?

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