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September 26, 2004
I had been wondering why women have felt the need to start up their own gadget blogs. After reading Engadget this morning, I know exactly why. First there were the weak jokes about wanting sexy "nurse bots" instead of functional transportation devices. But what really got my adrenalin racing was the report on the new portable PlayStations, where the tits of the women carrying the devices got more comments than the gadget itself. The reader comments were even worse. I furiously wrote a comment.
I think the problem is that once men get into this locker-room mentality, they forget that there are women present. They can't see us, so they think that the social context is that of a bunch of thirteen-year-old pimply boys who are scared stiff of real women instead of realising that they're speaking to women as well as men.
PlayStation started the sexist banter by choosing to use sexy women to display their new portable console. Engadget confirmed the sexist slant by focussing on the tits more than the gadget and by establishing a tone where sexually coarse jokes are accepted or even assumed to be the norm. The readers simply followed up in the comments to the thread, giving each other plenty of feedback that made things get worse and worse.
Not one women appears to have commented before I did. No wonder, the tone of the initial post makes it clear that Engadget is not addressing women. Not seeing any women, men apparently assume that there are none.
What a unfathomably stupid move on the part of Engadget, on the part of PlayStation, though: to deliberately tell half of the population that they're not interested in our attention or money.
Posted by Jill Walker at 06:28 AM | Permalink
Comments
sexy people have been used for years to advertise products, it's called "sex appeal" and not only women are used, Us men are simple creatures, and we often buy things just because it has a sexy women on the packaging or we saw it on TV or at a show being displayed by a sexy model. One thing I still dont understand about your post, Are you attacking models because they are sometimes used to show off fancy gadgets or expensive cars? Or are you just attacking the _male_oriented_world_of_gadgetry_and_gaming_?
I dont think the reason not alot of women play games or with gadgets is because they are marketed towards men. There is nothing stopping you from buying this stuff. Women consider themselves to be less childish than men, and therefore refrain from buying into the gaming and gadget world. Obviously playstation has done alot of market research, they obviously found that most of their customers are male, so they directed their marketing to the male mind. They arent going to bring out an entire games console for women, or a brand new advertising campeign just so 1 out of every 1000 women who buy their products can feel like they were thought about, It's not going to happen, and you shouldnt blam Playstation or Engadget, because tedious research is done on what demographic they are delivering to, and you just arent in that demographic.
Posted by: Robin at Sep 26, 2004 7:21:06 AM
Women are the right demographic if Sony wants to market to the people actually buying electronics (including consoles and games). Why they would rather titillate with models and risk putting off women instead of addressing them equally is beyond me.
Women actually spend more money on electronics than me do, despite the obviously male-biased marketing campaigns.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/01/16/women.gadgets.ap/
Posted by: MIa at Sep 26, 2004 12:10:02 PM
If what you say is true MIa, then why is Jill complaining, It's not as if marketing is stopping women from buying anything, And if you both are so digusted by the female form, perhaps you are repressing some deep seeded homosexuality.
Posted by: Robin at Sep 26, 2004 12:24:37 PM
I did want to say that I thought Engadget was just reporting on Sony's sexist marketing ploy, and not so much applauding it. Engadget has several women writers and I think for the most part, they manage to be pretty gender neutral in their coverage.
Oh yes Robin, that must be why I care about women getting some respectful attention from an industry that makes most their money from women.
Posted by: Mia at Sep 26, 2004 1:27:08 PM
Yeah, Mia, you may be right, the post itself isn't that bad, but the comments to it are downright disheartening.
And I'm sick to death of it all. I am *so* tired of seeing women treated as nothing but sex objects again and again and again and again. Sure most men are great, but oh, I just get so exhausted.
I want to be able to read about gadgets without feeling like I'm in a locker room full of sniggering immature pimply boys. Damnit.
Posted by: Jill at Sep 26, 2004 4:47:30 PM
I agree wholeheartedly with this post, with the exception of the claims as to PlayStation's sexist guilt...I just cannot see this as anything but the result of a bean counter's calculation that trade show consumers will respond better to cute women with video games strapped to them...I'm reasonably certain if the best selling shill was an unshaven, overweight, gassy, male New York cabdriver, Sony would have done the math, figured it out, and hired out the lower east side for the event...
Posted by: Christopher Chopin at Sep 27, 2004 2:01:02 AM
You're right to call Engadget on this, Jill. Another one for our collection: The Register's spin on a Q&A SMS service: '10.48pm is best time to pull women: official'
Posted by: Foe at Sep 28, 2004 1:23:20 PM
Gizmodo are seemingly living in a world of sweet heterosexist oblivion today. Check out this peon to the joys of stalking: Cyclops R/C Car with Wireless Camera
Posted by: Josie Fraser at Sep 29, 2004 4:51:00 AM
Just a bad habit. Video game companies have been using women on all trade shows (ECTS in London / CES in Vegas and other places) for the past 20 years to sell their games. And here I'm talking about almost half naked women standing on a booth 8 hours a day allowing geeks to be photographed in their - not too charming but definitely plastic - company.
The fact that Sony is running out of idea of ways to create any hype around their "new" portable console probably doesn't help.
Reading the article from cnn above, and knowing that there's big money involve, there's no doubt they (i.e. Sony) will change their behavior real soon...as usual, people will follow.
Humble two cents from a French engineer...
Posted by: David Fernandes at Sep 30, 2004 7:59:31 PM
I certainly don't want to taint the debate, but in the business world the ends - money - is only thing that matters. I might be wrong about this, but women are NOT the ones who buy more electroncis than men. Pardon me if I'm wrong, MIa, but I doubt I am. Go to any electronics stores and look around and you'll see what I mean. The women who are there are simply following their boyfiends or husbands. They are also outnumbered. Mostly they're uninterested, like me when I was accompanying my mother on one of her shopping excursions. Getting back to the original debate, they are simply playing towards the better odds. The better odds are that boys/men are the ones who demand these items. The moment that tilts towards women, they'll respond in kind, but only if you voice it. You might not even have to do that with a Japanese company. Japanese companies have a knack for listening to their pocket books.
Posted by: Loi Tran at Oct 3, 2004 1:01:19 PM
Nope, you've got it wrong too. Read this: http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/ptech/01/16/women.gadgets.ap/, before you put your foot any further down your throat.
Posted by: catinglasses at Oct 3, 2004 6:49:13 PM
Thanks for the link, Catinglasses.
Actually, Loi Tran pinpoints the problem exactly. He interprets the women in electronic shops as simply accompanying their husbands and boyfriends, and that's exactly how sales people interpret it too. Which drives women crazy and gets us lousy service and sexist advertising.
As Loi Tran wrote:
Go to any electronics stores and look around and you'll see what I mean. The women who are there are simply following their boyfiends or husbands. They are also outnumbered.
CNN wrote:
Nearly three-quarters of women surveyed by the industry group complained about being ignored, patronized or offended by sales people when shopping for electronics. Forty percent of the women said they were treated better when accompanied by a man.
Posted by: Jill at Oct 4, 2004 10:04:03 AM
Ugh! Robin's comments especially annoy me. What if the shoe were on the other foot and men's genitalia were flaunted to sell gadgets? Anyway, I'm one of those women who go into technology stores--without and with my husband. I almost always get weird looks when I'm able to explain exactly what I'm looking for (because I've spec-ed it out beforehand). I think the assumptions about what would sell and what wouldn't sell a product are based somewhat on assumptions about what women would be interested in. Because women represent a minority of consumers who purchase one person shooters, people assume that they must not like them. But what if they targeted women in their marketing of these products (or creation)? What if the main character could be either a man or a woman? What if they marketed it on shows that women watch--like Oprah. I don't know. I tend to think marketers are pretty narrow-minded and follow what some charts say rather than thinking outside the box in ways that might actually change the culture.
Posted by: Laura Blankenship at Oct 9, 2004 11:00:07 PM
At the risk of being perceived as sexist; Have you ever had to hire staff for a trade-show? Not subject matter experts, but basically foot-soldiers to come in on time, stay the whole time and perform relatively menial tasks? Well, I have, and personally I would hire a women rather than men based on my experience.
And, no, not because they're cuter or because they themselves attract the target audience. Noooo, I don't do booth bunnies. But because they're more dependable, have less of an attitude problem than do the guys I've had working on these things, and make my job a whole lot easier. So if it's sexist to have extra staff running around in the same t-shirts/polo shirts/corporate shirts as the other regular staff, and hiring them because they do a better job than their male counterparts, then I'm guilty. But I actually thought I was discriminating against the other half.
Having said that, I agree with the general stupidity of marketing gadgets and tech stuff towards guys. Our company has successfully marketed tech solutions towards women of all ages and we're generating a lot of business out of it. Without losing the guy segment. But, hey, if my competition continues to actively drive away 50% of the target audience, I'm not gonna complain : )
Posted by: Toti at Oct 11, 2004 10:44:21 AM
