Grossly Sexist ad in a high-tech magazine...

[Triana]

...is it NO wonder women don't stay in high-tech. After all they get such RESPECT there - Pffft! :sarcasm:




Oh. And lookie here - isn't this thus the picture of female technical competence from our sexist "buddies" over at Linux Journal:

http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/9452

...featuring the braindead wo-man named Laverta Voyd who "don't know nothing about computers" - and says: "my husband is the smart one".

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Warpy]

3. Gee thanks, bet you're a real hit with the ladies with that line

Men have no idea how sickening this stuff is to us.

[begin_within]

4. sorry, forgot to add the sarcasm smilie.

[Triana]

9. don't be a woman in high-tech - you'll get hit with it daily...

...and it's getting worse.

Armchair apologists and "Ohhh, you're too sensitive!"/"You're over-reacting!" excuses soon to follow this post. Hide and watch.

The techie mysogenists need to get over themselves and cop some clues. We did - a long time ago. Sheesh.

[Warpy]

13. I was in engineering school in the mid 60s

They slapped a coat of paint on a condemned building and called it a women's dorm. They didn't even remove the urinals, obviously considering us a temporary problem.

Trust me, it doesn't get a whole lot worse than what I went through then.

It still nauseates me that men are so hostile and so clueless.

[Triana]

25. Jeeeeeeeze. I'm sorry warpy...

...I wish we could day it's improved, but it obviously hasn't.

:mad:

[hedgehog]

2. This is worse than anything from the past.

At least the models on the old tool calendars were in on the joke.

[Demoiselle]

5. Would it make any difference if the pic was of a man?

Just asking.

[MADem]

8. The ad wouldn't target the desired audience in that instance.

Unless all tech geeks are females or gay guys. And they're not.

In this case, though, they're trying to evoke Monica Lewinsky in not-so-subtle fashion, as well.

[Triana]

12. ALL tech geeks are not guys either - THAT is the problem...

...the attitude that they are (or should be) is just SO clueless and sexist.

[MADem]

14. I didn't say they were, but the preponderance of geeks are male.

That's why they felt they could get away with that ghastly ad.

I'd write to the company, and gripe. And post the thing everywhere, especially in forums that specialize in equal opportunity and women's issues. If you have an email address to complain, put that up, too.

Heck, send it to Olbermann--maybe he'll do a short bit on it. That's tailor made for WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, IMO.

[Triana]

24. They've received letters - and they didn't pull the ad but decided not to rerun it...

...at least.

But the thing is, that it was run in the first place and there were and will be others. And I think the attitudes behind that decision are faulty and damaging to men and women in technical fields.

If the preponderance of geeks are male, does anyone doubt that this type of attitude - that is behind ads like this, might be partially (at least) why?

[MADem]

28. If you're a female in the industry, you've got to step up and be a role model and a mentor

to other females in the biz. That's what happened in the Senate, with Margaret Chase Smith, Barbara Milkulski, etc.. it's what happened in the military, and in other outfits where there was limited representation of women in the workforce.

Maybe you can persuade your bosses to formalize the effort, with internships and formal mentoring programs?

My experience is that females are more reliable employees--they're sick less, don't go out and get drunk and not show up for work, fewer accidents, and even with pregnancies factored in, they lose less time on the job than males...

[Triana]

29. Yep. Well said....It really irks me to see other women in high-tech

....stab their peers in the back. Some of the women themselves are sexist! I know one who told me once "Well, I think MEN are better at that stuff anyway and I'd rather work with them!".

I had to point out to her that it was because women have so few MENTORS and mentoring can make a LOT of difference in a person's career. This woman, who said this, was the manager of some female techies - here she was complaining about this - making these comments without realizing that SHE was part of the problem!

THAT ain't how you mentor people -- by running them down like that. :wtf: There is/was SO much this woman could do for those women - but she doesn't.

UNbelievable.

Guaaaaaaaaaachhhh!

I wanted to smack her!

[MADem]

30. Don't smack--SHAME. Write her a letter and tell her what an opportunity she wasted.

Tell her how she reinforced a hideous and false stereotype about clawing, catfighting women. Tell her how disappointed you were in her behavior, and how sorry you are for her because she was apparently so insecure that she couldn't lift up her juniors and become an example to be remembered and admired.

Lay it on with a trowel, make her feel like whaleshit!!! That's what I'd do! Then, send the letter, with her name stripped out, to a tech magazine or ten, and either fold it into a letter to the editor, or ask them to do a story on the need for female mentors in the industry.

[Triana]

31. GREAT Idea...

...I know of some magazines who would be interested too...at least one or two.

[Triana]

10. To ME - yes, it's just as bad (n/t)

[Katherine Brengle]

21. It would still be ridiculous. But it would never be of a man.

That right there is the problem.

There is no equivalent mass objectification of men in patriarchal culture.

[Iris]

33. So, a lot of guys want other guys to go down on them?

[MADem]

6. That is astounding. And so fucking TONE DEAF it isn't funny.

Of course, the classic stereotype of a computer geek is either a skinny little fucker with massive, festering pimples, or a morbidly obese, smelly guy with massive festering pimples.

Whoever came up with that ad was thinking like an ugly fucker with massive pimples. It's quite pathetic. But unsurprising, I guess...

[dmallind]

7. Yep that's pretty bad

However stacked up against almost every single sit com, ad and romatic comedy genre movie that nigh-unanimously make men out to be stupid, bumbling, selfish and subordinate to women who are vastly more intelligent, sensible, patient and decent, it's far from alone in that.

[noamnety]

35. It's true that they do that.

When we addressed media bias in my classroom, one of my students pointed that out. I went home and I swear like 5 commercials in a row followed exactly that pattern of the incompetent white male.

I think the reason they do that (and can get away with it) is that minority groups and women actually do suffer real consequences of discrimination when they reinforce those stereotypes. When they do it to white males, it's not really reinforcing anything, because our culture already perceives, and continues to perceive, white males as most competent, and they are still most likely to get callbacks from resumes and to get hired for technical jobs. If they continually showed black females as incompetent, well, you can see the problem.

Some types of mocking reinforce power structures and bigotry, and some don't. Mocking of white males generally doesn't.

I would still prefer to see ads that discuss the product itself, though. If they can't come up with an actual reason why their product is better, no matter what the commercial is about, it leaves me thinking hmmm, I'll just buy generic. I guess I'm too cynical for the "our branding as your identity" game.

[Triana]

36. lwfern - DARN good point about reinforcement...

...in a tech field, I can tell you that white males are seen as most competent and given worship-level kudos for tasks or jobs well done while others (women, blacks) hardly get noticed when they do a great job or complete a major task.

AND in addition to that and to reinforce THAT too, the most 'visible' projects/tasks go to the white males while the more mundane day to day stuff gets assigned to others - easier to ignore the 'less visible' stuff that they do.

The whole thing is quite systematic.

[poverlay]

11. I think it's bullshit to portray woman as knowing less about computer issues t han men, but I don't

have a problem with them adding an attractive lady into an advert. Men are 70% visual and it's useless to pretend otherwise. NOT saying, however, that gives anyone a right to degrade or disrespect.

[MADem]

15. When the ad compares a woman who WON'T give you a blowjob to your server, though

that's not just "visual." That's, as those fuckers at GE say, IMAGINATION AT WORK.

It's OTT, IMO.

[Triana]

26. EXACTLY what MADem said....

...OTT duJour

[Ilsa]

16. As my husband, a software engineer says, "I don't do hardware."

That means if the hardware stuff is going to get done, I have to do it. Well, most of the time, anyway.

[Captain Hilts]

17. It's sexist and vulgar. Let's find their web address and complain. nt

[noamnety]

18. Thanks for posting this

as the multimedia person for my school district, it's always nice to see who doesn't want my business.

[Captain Hilts]

19. Write: [e-mail] and complain! nt

[noamnety]

32. I emailed this:

"I saw the “don’t feel bad, our servers won’t go down on you either” ad online today.

I really dislike seeing women portrayed as mindless sex toys for men in order to sell products. That endless and ubiquitous message that THIS is what women exist for, THIS is what women are reduced to, is mind-numbing, if you actually are female. If your ads don’t work in a gender neutral way, so that the person depicted in the ad could be either gender, that’s a clue that you probably are running a sexist campaign.

Please make an attempt to sell your product, instead of selling women. That’s not what we’re here for.

Thank you."

[Triana]

34. Bwah! Excellent! They didn't re-run the ad but IMO they STILL need to hear about this crap...

...I'm writing them one myself - along with a few other people who need their noses rubbed in these types of attitudes per MADem's suggestion.

If we don't call it out, call them on it every time we see it, they'll NEVER get a clue. Of course they haven't been to swift in getting any even at that but we have to do what we can.

Great letter!

[Katherine Brengle]

20. I'm going to puke on my keyboard.

[deadmessengers]

22. good grief are they STILL running that ad?

I saw that ad (or one damn near identical to it) back in 99? 00?

[MADem]

27. It evokes Monica, you see--they thought they were being so Gee Oh Pee, too! nt

[soothsayer]

23. ewwwwww.