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List:       kde-promo
Subject:    RE: re [kde-promo] re: attention Andreas
From:       "Case" <case () rpoptions ! com>
Date:       2001-06-21 19:16:41
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Before I jump in, a disclaimer: I haven't seen the picture (although I tried
on several separate occasions to view it).  My understanding of the picture
is that it portrays a beautiful woman wearing little clothing, and looks
similar to a cartoon version of Laura Croft.

In my opinion, this is probably not "sexist" (according to the dictionary
definition provided), but could result in a decision of people in some
cultures not to buy or pick up the magazine.  It is possible to imagine what
kinds of things people might think about while making the decision to pick
up the magazine:

1) "What will I get from this magazine"
2) "What will other people think I am getting from this magazine"

If the person is embarassed by the answer to 2, they might not pick up the
magazine at all.  If the answer to 1 isn't correct, then the magazine either
has to pull a bait-'n-switch tactic (you got the magazine because of the
pretty girl, but now that you're here don't you love the articles?) or the
customer will just put the magazine down and reach for another.

Based on these questions, and my own personal experience, I think that a
cover such as this would probably sell more copies to women than men, since
men might be reluctant to seem like they are reaching for the one computer
magazine that shows a picture of a woman rather than the technology, and
women do not (as often) share this inhibition.

Case

PS. As an aside, imo, while it might be inaccurate to describe this as
"sexist", it does tend towards the objectification of women because the
portrayal of perfectly proportioned females overamplifies the importance of
a woman's physical condition over other attributes of her personality or
character.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: kde-promo-admin@max.tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de
> [mailto:kde-promo-admin@max.tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de]On Behalf Of
> Christopher Lee Fleck
> Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 11:30 AM
> To: kde-promo@max.tat.physik.uni-tuebingen.de
> Subject: Re: re [kde-promo] re: attention Andreas
> 
> 
> > From Mariam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary:
> 
> Main Entry: sex·ism
> Pronunciation: 'sek-"si-z&m
> Function: noun
> Etymology: 1sex + -ism (as in racism)
> Date: 1968
> 1 : prejudice or discrimination based on sex; especially : discrimination
> against women
> 2 : behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social
> roles based on sex
> 
> By very definition, putting this photo on the cover of the Zine is not
> sexist.  The photo does not discriminate against women, and it does not
> "foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex".  We're not showing her
> cleaning up a living room or cooking dinner, are we?
> 
> The only thing here that I can see as possibly being sexist is
> _not_ putting
> her on the cover of the Zine because she's a female.  Depicting women
> artistically is certainly not sexist.  If anything, it glorifies women.
> 
> I hope that this e-mail sheds a little light on where I was
> coming from in my
> previous post to this mailing list.
> ----
> Christopher Lee Fleck
> 
> On Thursday 21 June 2001 06:23 am, Eva Brucherseifer wrote:
> > > Also, the issue of the proposed cover being sexist has been
> dealt with in
> > > this list already.  The fact that the cover was created by a female
> > > without any prompting from other males is enough to shield us from any
> > > possibly damaging criticism directed at us by the community.
> > 
> > That is a good one - take one person who is part of a minority
> and who is
> > on your side and that gives you the right to ignore the rest of the
> > minority. Very fair :-(
> > 
> > Actually I like to appologize for being honest in my answer to
> the request
> > for comments. I didn't expect it to be a rhetorical question.
> Next time I
> > will know.
> > 
> > I am only wondering why certain people where so concerened
> about men being
> > offended by what we publish in kde-women (such as the presentation of
> > kde-women I did in Brazil). Strange contradiction...
> > 
> > eva
> > 
> > > ----
> > > Christopher Lee Fleck
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
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> > 
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