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

[TisMyDroid]

Had this been a muscular dude in briefs or tight jeans, then... well... um... I am not without estrogen and I'm not dead yet! But the ad would have been targeted to women and I'm all for ads targeted to women. I don't think many men would object to the "nice hardware" comment but appreciate it instead. Now I am being sexist. Seriously though, I think the sexism comes from the idea that women are not interested in tech and advertising does need to market to women more.

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[kodiak799]

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.

Yes. I thought this was common knowledge, but apparently not. I never expected a factual statement to be so controversial.

 

[TisMyDroid]

But it is not factual nor impirical data. In my world if you are going to claim something as factual than you should be able to verify it.

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[kodiak799]

But it is not factual nor impirical data. In my world if you are going to claim something as factual than you should be able to verify it.

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Or if you think I'm wrong - a statement which is generally accepted if you had actual knowledge of the space - you can also use Google yourself to prove me wrong. I don't generally feel a need to prove something widely accepted as common knowledge.

But since you asked, I'll accept an apology you likely won't give:
Apple iPad User Analysis

 

[nikecar]

Had this been a muscular dude in briefs or tight jeans, then... well... um... I am not without estrogen and I'm not dead yet! But the ad would have been targeted to women and I'm all for ads targeted to women. I don't think many men would object to the "nice hardware" comment but appreciate it instead. Now I am being sexist. Seriously though, I think the sexism comes from the idea that women are not interested in tech and advertising does need to market to women more.

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Yes, let's see what would be said if this was a cooking product convention with a muscular male model in a speedo in a demo kitchen next to a hanging pot/pan rack with the tag "Now that is one well hung rack"


or better yet, a vacuum cleaner display with the same dressed model and the tag "Now available with an extra long hose for those hard to reach places."

 

[dgstorm]

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.

You make a great point that the "harassment" is in the eye of the beholder, and that being sensitive to others can be taken way too far.

You also (maybe unintentionally?) make an entirely different and equally interesting point, that also shows another side to gender-bias. You bring up the relevant point that there are double standards on both sides of the gender divide. It's a double-standard that it is not okay for women to be looked at as sex-objects by men, but it's okay if women do it to men. You are right that probably no one would have batted an eye if the comment was made from a woman about a male model. In fact, men would have laughed and thought it was cool. This brings up a different question. Is it genetically inherent and absolute that men and women will always think differently about things, or is it the way we are brought up and the lessons we learn from society?

Also, I loved what you said in your last paragraph, "...the political correct actions took the long slide down into lunacy quite some time ago..." This was hilarious.

Lastly, I still keep coming back to something... even though this really was silly and got blown way out of proportion, why did it happen this way? What in this situation caused all of these other issues to bubble to the surface? Is this the universe/karma/whatever giving us an opportunity to look at equality as a whole and see where there still needs to be some housecleaning? Yes, there is a danger in over-thinking things, but we also don't want to ignore things just because they immediately seem silly on the surface.

Ultimately, I don't really think the comment made about the model was bad, but I am intrigued that the situation inspired me to think a bit.

 

[TisMyDroid]

Or if you think I'm wrong - a statement which is generally accepted if you had actual knowledge of the space - you can also use Google yourself to prove me wrong. I don't generally feel a need to prove something widely accepted as common knowledge.

But since you asked, I'll accept an apology you likely won't give:
Apple iPad User Analysis

I would not disagree with such a statememt applying to the world because I think we all know that in many parts of the world women are not given the same rights or privileges that men are. I think I alluded to that when I said to not include asia. This is international data.

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[czerdrill]

I would not disagree with such a statememt applying to the world because I think we all know that in many parts of the world women are not given the same rights or privileges that men are. I think I alluded to that when I said to not include asia. This is international data.

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It shows the us too. I think this is silly. Men simply do buy more gadgets then women. This is not sexist, it's fact. Arguing about that is kinda ridiculous when it can be proven time and time again that's it's true.

 

[94lt1]

How accurate are these facts though? I know lots of women that are bigger tech junkies than me.

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[czerdrill]

How accurate are these facts though? I know lots of women that are bigger tech junkies than me.

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!

Well that's anecdotal which is definitely less accurate then these studies. I can't speak to how accurate the studies are because i don't know how they collect data but if we're going to doubt those, we might as well doubt every single study that's released since we probably don't have first hand knowledge of their data gathering method.

I'll still go with research companies who do this often and some are trusted then the old "i know sooo many people..." bit

 

[TisMyDroid]

It shows the us too. I think this is silly. Men simply do buy more gadgets then women. This is not sexist, it's fact. Arguing about that is kinda ridiculous when it can be proven time and time again that's it's true.

Oops, my bad... I apologize. I targeted on "international" and jumped on that without looking at the details. But then there are these stats, not a remarkable difference especially when advertising is directed to men...

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire...phics-of-tablet-and-ereader-owners-in-the-us/

http://www.newmediatrendwatch.com/markets-by-country/17-usa/855-mobile-devices?start=1


Percentage of smartphone, ereader, and tablet owners who are female:
- Third quarter of 2010: 47%(smartphone) / 46% (ereader) / 39% (tablet)
- First quarter of 2011: 48% / 56% / 42%
- Second quarter of 2011: 50% / 61% /43%
(nielsenwire, August 2011)

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[kodiak799]

I would not disagree with such a statememt applying to the world because I think we all know that in many parts of the world women are not given the same rights or privileges that men are. I think I alluded to that when I said to not include asia. This is international data.

You do realize that there is a whole world market outside of the US? Besides, your efforts to explain the data do not change what the data says.

 

[94lt1]

Well that's anecdotal which is definitely less accurate then these studies. I can't speak to how accurate the studies are because i don't know how they collect data but if we're going to doubt those, we might as well doubt every single study that's released since we probably don't have first hand knowledge of their data gathering method.

I'll still go with research companies who do this often and some are trusted then the old "i know sooo many people..." bit

Lol point taken.. but what if!!! Lol

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[kodiak799]

Oops, my bad... I apologize. I targeted on "international" and jumped on that without looking at the details. But then there are these stats, not a remarkable difference especially when advertising is directed to men...

LOL, do I now have to explain what "early adopter" means? Maybe advertising is directed to men in the early stages of products because they are the most likely buyers? Or does that sound unreasonable?

But since you brought up smartphones, here's an interesting tidbit from 2007 regarding the IPhone....Men outnumbering the women nearly 3:1.
profiles of early adopters to buy iphone for 499$: US online survey | Trendsspotting

 

[MissionImprobable]

Yes, let's see what would be said if this was a cooking product convention with a muscular male model in a speedo in a demo kitchen next to a hanging pot/pan rack with the tag "Now that is one well hung rack"


or better yet, a vacuum cleaner display with the same dressed model and the tag "Now available with an extra long hose for those hard to reach places."

You make a great point that the "harassment" is in the eye of the beholder, and that being sensitive to others can be taken way too far.

You also (maybe unintentionally?) make an entirely different and equally interesting point, that also shows another side to gender-bias. You bring up the relevant point that there are double standards on both sides of the gender divide. It's a double-standard that it is not okay for women to be looked at as sex-objects by men, but it's okay if women do it to men. You are right that probably no one would have batted an eye if the comment was made from a woman about a male model. In fact, men would have laughed and thought it was cool. This brings up a different question. Is it genetically inherent and absolute that men and women will always think differently about things, or is it the way we are brought up and the lessons we learn from society?

Also, I loved what you said in your last paragraph, "...the political correct actions took the long slide down into lunacy quite some time ago..." This was hilarious.

Lastly, I still keep coming back to something... even though this really was silly and got blown way out of proportion, why did it happen this way? What in this situation caused all of these other issues to bubble to the surface? Is this the universe/karma/whatever giving us an opportunity to look at equality as a whole and see where there still needs to be some housecleaning? Yes, there is a danger in over-thinking things, but we also don't want to ignore things just because they immediately seem silly on the surface.

Ultimately, I don't really think the comment made about the model was bad, but I am intrigued that the situation inspired me to think a bit.

I'll keep this to one response as I think it hits what both of you have said. The other thing to me that I think is important is that it's only here in the U.S. that "mild" sexually-driven statements receive this kind of attention. In pretty much any other country in the world it isn't unusual for entire ad campaigns to use a woman's cleavage or a man's physique or double entendres that imply a couple engaging in what some couples do to be common place, let alone a small comment like this to pop up on a twitter account. There certainly are extremes and the Italian Opera critic who specializes in twit pics up women's skirts is beyond questionable to say the least, but something like what we're presently discussing would only cause a stir in the U.S.

That said, despite the more open sexual stances in other countries, I think the U.S. is one of the few places where someone like Rush Limbaugh can go on a radio show and call a woman with multiple degrees and no history a promiscuity a whore and a slut as well as suggesting women who want birth control should be required to post pornographic videos of themselves engaged in sex and receive what is in essence less than a slap on the wrist for it. America is the the land of the free, the home of the brave, and the cauldron of ambiguity. Better believe I love this place in spite of its shortcomings though.