As I read this, I found myself trying to find the bits of text that would inevitably be cherry-picked by others to argue opposing points (or simply to make Steven Wittens look bad for having written this piece).

And, while there are certainly quotes that could be misconstrued, I had a hard time seeing how anyone could take away part of this without at least acknowledging the rest. Yes, the author touches on some uncomfortable topics. Yes, I can see how someone might find parts upsetting, or even offensive. At the very least, not everyone will agree with every point Wittens makes.

But the take-away, at least for me, was how vast the grey area is between the "sides" of these topics, and also how much of what we perceive (about people, sexism, and the tech industry as a whole) happens within a bubble. That there are a ton of related and important issues in the wider context, which fail to get addressed when the discussions are too narrow in scope.

I'm sure there are plenty of other take-aways too, and perhaps I'm missing something that someone else will point out, but overall I found this piece really refreshing, especially after a the other discussions I've read lately, on HN and elsewhere.