Asus Comment on Twitter Sparks A Controversy; Is There Rampant Sexism in Tech?

[TisMyDroid]

I don't think anyone is assuming that women aren't tech savvy. I DO think the majority of early adopters in tech are male. That's not sexist or derogatory, that's just fact. You'll note in the picture there's about 15 men and 2 women, including the model.

And let's be bluntly honest....The 3-in-1 transformer is cutting edge - what % of early adopters will be women?

Just saying sometimes these incidents are unintentional, other times they are carefully orchestrated.

Your own post is making that assumption. And the reason there are only two women in that pic is because it was taken in asia... Where women are not allowed and are discouraged to advance themselves.

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[dgstorm]

Your own post is making that assumption. And the reason there are only two women in that pic is because it was taken in asia... Where women are not allowed and are discouraged to advance themselves.

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That's a great point! It's easy for folks in the United States to take things for granted, but there are massive cultural differences between us and other areas, including Asia. Women don't have the same choices over there that they do here. We assume that she wanted that job, but we don't know that for sure. How many of us have done jobs we hated because we needed the money. She could be in the same situation. Of course, we don't know that, but until we are all telepathic, all we can do is try to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" and try to be responsible for our own actions. It's not that this particular "moment in time" is that big of a deal, but it draws attention to the fact that there is still gender-bias in the world, and we all need to work together to eradicate prejudice of any kind.

 

[TisMyDroid]

Thank you very much for your thoughtful perspective, TisMyDroid. I was hoping that our female members would share some deeper insights into this interesting topic. Sometimes, in order to look in the mirror and face ourselves, it can be very useful to get the point-of-view of someone else. In many ways we can be the mirror for each other. It seems to me that the final and overall perspective on this event lies somewhere in the middle.

Yes, it wasn't a big deal, and shouldn't have gotten so out of hand in the politically correct department, but it does expose a gender bias tendency that perhaps we should all be a bit more cognizant of. It wasn't that this particular issue was horrible, or even negative at all, but it does inspire us to ask some deeper questions. For example, why were some of the Tweeters so hypersensitive to this issue to begin with? What have they experienced in their lives that created this "allergic reaction," and what needs to be changed in the world and in ourselves to make sure that it doesn't happen again?

It's interesting how one minor little issue, can expose the raw nerve of a bigger societal issue. Ah well... I doubt that we will be able to solve it in this thread, but at least if we are talking about it, then we are thinking about it. Ideas can eventually change anything.

Thank you! I actually tried to refrain from getting involved in this topic because I can see it from both sides but can be sensitive to the larger issue. Believe it or not, I thought kodiak's comment about "one sweet apple" was brilliant and funny. But I think you hit the nail on the head... the hypersensitivity comes from our experiences and our need to be vigilant in protecting ourselves.

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[kodiak799]

Your own post is making that assumption.

I never said anything about women not being tech savvy, I simply said they do not make up the majority of early adopters, which is not an assumption.

Asus knows who their target market is - I doubt that tweet was a mistake.

 

[TisMyDroid]

I never said anything about women not being tech savvy, I simply said they do not make up the majority of early adopters, which is not an assumption.

Asus knows who their target market is - I doubt that tweet was a mistake.

But Asus may be making the wrong assumption and you as well... that men will be the early adopters of the new asus.

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[kodiak799]

But Asus may be making the wrong assumption and you as well... that men will be the early adopters of the new asus.

Or, the assumption you want to make has no basis in reality/empirical data. It's a no-brainer as far as "assumptions" go - early adopters of the IPad were 2:1 in favor of men. 4:1 in Japan.

 

[FoxKat]

I also want to clarify something, because I think there may have been some assumptions here. I personally wasn't being critical of the tweet or pic, again, so much as how it was responded to here. My MAIN concern from the DroidForums perspective was that the dialogue remained as "grade-school" here as I believe the tweet was.

You don't have to turn the TV on or drive down the road for too long before you see something that makes the tweet look like essentially what it was...an immature, grade-school comment about a female body part. I work in Philadelphia and I pass a billboard every day which advertises a "Gentlemen's Club" nearby, and let's just say less is more. Many female (and male) school teachers experience this (mostly) unsolicited "attention" year after year but it's like was said by TisMyDroid, it's physiologically engineered into us.

This reminds me of a skit performed by a certain female comedian, where she joked about testosterone and how it makes men uncontrollable. She said if they had velcro (certain body parts) that could be removed and placed on a mantle when not needed, this world would be a better place, however when it was time to procreate, simply attach and...well you know the rest. What I took from that is that many women feel men are out of control (not necessarily out of control of their women, just out of control in general). The lesson here, I think, is sometimes it's better to be an observer than a commentator.

Carry on...:biggrin:

 

[TisMyDroid]

Or, the assumption you want to make has no basis in reality/empirical data. It's a no-brainer as far as "assumptions" go - early adopters of the IPad were 2:1 in favor of men. 4:1 in Japan.

And your empirical data comes from? And lets not talk about japan where women are not equal citizens nor even 50% of the population.

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[akhenax]

Ummm, the problem is nothing that's been stated thus far. The real issue is that the model actually has a full beard, but the focus was on her backside. I think this should be the topic of discussion. Put that in your tweet!

 

[nikecar]

That would totally depend on her contract and largely, who represents her. It varies from person and agency... and pictures of an expected nature can come into play. The thing about the law is that its not black and white. Its open to interpretation. And in lawsuits, the winner is the lawyer who made the judge, or jury or both, see things from their prospective.

Open and shut cases get lost all the time do to just that, the other lawyer was more convincing, was able to play to the sympathies of the jury, and even situations where the jury or judge didn't like how the other side looked or conducted themselves.. the law isn't about what's written, its supposed to be..

The side that wins, is the side that's the most prepared.. thats a fact. That's why a large part of many cases is to off balance the other side, same as in a fight of any kind,, the element of surprise is a powerful weapon in any situation.


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I somehow doubt that the balance of this in court would shift to the model, considering the legal power that HTC would wield (tons of lawyers). That also leads to below...

That's a great point! It's easy for folks in the United States to take things for granted, but there are massive cultural differences between us and other areas, including Asia. Women don't have the same choices over there that they do here. We assume that she wanted that job, but we don't know that for sure. How many of us have done jobs we hated because we needed the money. She could be in the same situation. Of course, we don't know that, but until we are all telepathic, all we can do is try to "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" and try to be responsible for our own actions. It's not that this particular "moment in time" is that big of a deal, but it draws attention to the fact that there is still gender-bias in the world, and we all need to work together to eradicate prejudice of any kind.

Beat me to the cultural bit.

Since this is Asia, the courts and culture overall have been slanted towards the male dominated culture in business and such. IF this was the US, sure, she may have a leg to stand on, or a rear to sit on, but probably not there. I'm sure she'd get blacklisted fairly quickly from any other jobs in the industry there.

 

[dgstorm]

ummm, the problem is nothing that's been stated thus far. The real issue is that the model actually has a full beard, but the focus was on her backside. I think this should be the topic of discussion. Put that in your tweet!

lmao!!!!!

 

[huskur]

I have to agree with the original tweet Nice rear

 

[MissionImprobable]

So seriously, had this been a muscular dude in a super tight t-shirt and jeans that need to be cut off and someone had Tweeted "that's some nice hardware and the phone isn't bad either" or said the same as originally "that's a nice rear" would this have even been a footnote anywhere? I'm sorry but to comment on someone's figure when they dress in a way that shows it off is not sexism or harassment. Unless the commentary is overtly sexual in nature or suggests that the model in question is nothing but an object this is a non-story. The tweeter didn't use inappropriate language like "can" or "rack" or "sweater puppies" or anything else that shows the mentality of a 4th grader so there's no need for this to blow up. This is just silly.

Something is either sexist or it's not, and I'm certainly not going to kid myself and pretend like this would have remotely been an issue had the person making the commentary been a) a woman saying this about a man or the female model in question or b) a gay male or female making the same comment. This is about political correctness and not proper sensitivity to the feelings of others, and the political correct actions took the long slide down into lunacy quite some time ago and don't show any signs of correcting themselves.

 

[MissionImprobable]

And your empirical data comes from? And lets not talk about japan where women are not equal citizens nor even 50% of the population.

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Feel free to google yourself. I know this wasn't directed at me, but it's easy to find all the data you need, even from research studies. Women tend to be early adopters of digital tech more so then men, i.e. social networking, etc, but men are still more likely to grab up new hardware.

 

[94lt1]

I somehow doubt that the balance of this in court would shift to the model, considering the legal power that HTC would wield (tons of lawyers). That also leads to below...

Beat me to the cultural bit.

Since this is Asia, the courts and culture overall have been slanted towards the male dominated culture in business and such. IF this was the US, sure, she may have a leg to stand on, or a rear to sit on, but probably not there. I'm sure she'd get blacklisted fairly quickly from any other jobs in the industry there.

Lmao, the comment was made with American courts in mind.

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