Controversy ensues after Make Magazine founder Dale Dougherty accuses maker Naomi “SexyCyborg” Wu of being a “persona, not a real person”.

For those who are heavily involved with the maker community, it’s highly likely that you know who Naomi Wu is. The dashing female engineer and maker, who goes by the pseudonym “SexyCyborg”, has amassed over 30,000 Twitter followers and nearly 140,000 Youtube subscribers.

Based out of Shenzhen, China, Wu is known across the internet for her outlandishly fun DIY projects and provocative, tech-savvy outfits. You can find her doing anything from walking around with a wearable 3D printer on her back to touring some of China’s robust 3D printing factories.

However, she believes that her hard-earned reputation has been put on the line after Make Magazine founder Dale Dougherty accused her of being “a persona, not a real person” in a tweet this past Sunday. The head of the popular tech magazine claimed to have evidence to back up his harsh statement, but said he would only share it privately (this so-called evidence has yet to publicly surface).

Not long after, his tweets were deleted, but the controversial words had already brewed a storm of criticism that has been blowing at full force ever since.

Make Magazine Founder Issues Apology, But Naomi Wu is Not Convinced

A couple of days after the disparaging comments were made, the backlash seems to have prompted Dougherty to issue an apology on the Make Magazine website, stating:

Naomi, I apologize for my recent tweets questioning your identity. I was wrong, and I’m sorry.

The invitation that we had previously issued for you to speak on the main stage at the upcoming Maker Faire Shenzhen is still very much in place.  Let me know if you’d like to present, and I will get you scheduled. I invite you to discuss the issues you have raised and your own journey and work as a Maker.

To Naomi and everyone in the community, I want to say as strongly as I can that we want Make: to be inclusive and provide an arena for all Makers to share their projects, values, challenges, and humanity in a safe and supportive environment. If we fail at that, we take it seriously. I failed on Sunday and learned a valuable lesson from all of you about that. I can do better — and I will.

—Dale

However, Wu has been reluctant to accept the apology, and has stated that Dougherty’s baseless accusations have already impacted her career negatively, potentially losing her a sponsorship deal. “Your slander is costing me a sponsor who was going to pay for three builds with their product- that’s rent and grocery money asshole.” she writes on Twitter.

The accusations have sparked a relentless retaliation from Wu and her fans, and she has refused to let the debacle blow over even after the apology and invitation to Maker Faire was made. In fact, SexyCyborg feels that Make Magazine has been excluding her from the maker-sphere for a couple of years now. She even updated her Twitter bio (as pictured below) to mock Dougherty’s regrettable claim.

Thankfully, Wu seems to have some fierce support from the maker community, some of whom have since posted pictures with her while jesting about her being “fake”. Even though the Make Magazine founder offered some semblance of an apology, Wu argues that his accusations have already caused irreversible damage to her career. “There’s no avoiding that. Every comments box for every build is now going to be filled with that shit. Nothing I make will be mine again,” she tweets, referring to internet users who will continue to adapt Dougherty’s claims as their own and undermine her work.

The maker herself has held no punches back against Dougherty, and has used the situation as a platform to address the longstanding prejudices held against women in the tech industry. She points to the fact that the upcoming Maker Faire in Shenzhen has a number of white males scheduled to speak, but zero female makers from China. Here are a few of her other statements directed towards the Make Magazine frontman:

Admit to the exclusion
Admit that I was not invited when less qualified men were
Undo the damage you have done. https://t.co/98s8jtMuJZ

— Naomi Wu (@RealSexyCyborg) November 7, 2017

No part of this sends a message to other powerful men in tech that this is not a valid tool to deal with “problematic” women. https://t.co/KxMRQBljtO

— Naomi Wu (@RealSexyCyborg) November 7, 2017

Yes, this is NOT progress, this is the gameplan. The casual, insincere apology without consequences is a primary tool of abusive men in tech https://t.co/IHHcO1tngy

— Naomi Wu (@RealSexyCyborg) November 7, 2017

Even before the war of words started with Make Magazine, Wu expressed that she has long struggled with making herself known as a maker, engineer, and designer, rather than a cosplay girl. Now, she fears that Dougherty has opened the floodgates of doubt in an industry where many women must already fight an uphill battle to gain respect from their male counterparts.

However, it seems like her plight is now reaching the mainstream, as publications like Newsweek have swept in to share Wu’s side of the story. While SexyCyborg may now have to ward off even more naysayers and misogynists, her unpleasant exchange with Dougherty seems to have at least placed the conspicuous issues regarding sexism and gender bias in the tech world into the spotlight of the expansive maker community.