Do you want to know what's sexist? THIS.

[sibelian]

THIS is sexist.

http://www.dailydot.com/society/epad-femme-tablet-for-women/

"Finding difficulty using that iPad or Kindle? Don't worry, ladies. There's finally an easy-to-use tablet just for us.

It's called the ePad Femme, and the Middle East–based Eurostar Group, who developed the product, are describing it as the "world's first tablet made exclusively for women..."

Not sure whether I would regard it as "benevolent" although I'm sure the manufacturers think it is...



Are you fucking kidding me? I saw this exact idea parodied on a British TV show called "Look Around You" not more than 6 years ago....

[kdmorris]

1. Oh, good, we can use it with the pens designed for us!!!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/bic-pen-for-her-amazon-reviews_n_1842991.html

[sibelian]

2. LOL! Yeah, saw them...

A stupidity of such exquisite COMPLETENESS! WHO thought they would be a good idea...? Cos, you know, women have never used pens.

[The Straight Story]

3. Women oppressing women by making products for women

Next thing you know they will have tampons made especially for women. WTF?

Don't these ass masters know that there are no differences culturally/mentally/societally/etc between men and women (I think the only difference I ever noted was most women have larger breasts than most men and one other thing I can't think of at the moment).

And where the fuck is the app for making sammichs and how to properly chill my damn beer? And one for mixology so she can make me some good drinks?

And I see middle east and arabic recipes - but none for jews? Anti-semitic women hating bastards.

There is also a clothing size converter I see there. Why don't we all measure burkas in metric? Do they think women are so stupid that they need an app probably made by some cheeto eating keyboard commander to pick out a veil that fits?

And what the hell is a women's log? Is that some sort of sick bathroom reference for #pooptweet ?

[sibelian]

6. It's incredible, isn't it?

I can barely believe it's real. There still some part of me waiting to find out that it's all satire. I'm vary happy to look REALLY stupid and find out that it's satire...!

[alphafemale]

7. The mayonnaise goes on the....inside?

Shit.

I was wondering why I got "that" look.

[cartach]

22. A woman's log?

Would that be a male appendage maybe?

[CheapShotArtist]

45. Isn't the women's log supposed to be like a diary or something?

[eShirl]

4. I think we ladies already have enough "feminine pads."

[sibelian]

12. ...

!

[progressoid]

43. From 2006...

[randome]

5. Well, it comes from a Middle Eastern-based company so what would anyone expect?

I'm surprised they even mention the word 'women' in the app titles.

[sibelian]

9. Well, there's a Saudi feminist blogger who isn't terribly impressed, at least...

Last edited Sun Mar 17, 2013, 09:50 AM - Edit history (1)

However, Eman Al Nafjan, a Saudi feminist blogger, feels that this is just another way to give women information targeted at pleasing their husband. She explained that many women are tech-savvy, and in countries like Saudi Arabia, women spend a lot of time online since they are not allowed to drive or travel without a male relative.

"Whoever made this tablet doesn't understand us very well," Al Nafjan said. "We are home all the time and we are extremely tech-savvy."

Anyhoo, never got why Middle Eastern sexism gets this strange kind of "free pass" from some (clearly not all) liberals in the West...

[Spitfire of ATJ]

39. Ann Coulter is the one who started that crap...

Back in the days when Right Wingers were claiming Liberals were on the side of the Terrorists.

It was an attempt to show hypocrisy where there was none. One of the justifications for invading Iraq used by the Right at the time was the way women are oppressed in the Middle East. Since we were against the invasion of a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 then that meant we MUST be in favor of oppressing women.

[sibelian]

40. then I retract...

although (my memory may be poor on this) I recall seeing an article suggesting something similar from a liberal blogger. There's probably no way I could track it down now... I'll be wrong...

[Coyotl]

34. Let's not go racist with this.

[Honeycombe8]

8. Now that IS patronizing.

No shortcuts for me for news, politics, finances? I DO use my computer for exercise, health, shopping, fashion, but just as much for news, politics, and finances.

[sibelian]

11. Yeah but my god, isn't it nonsensical that you might need any kind of "female" version of ANY tech?

I think the basic premise is just screwed. Seriously, this idea was a piece of satire on the TV in my home country not many years ago! I can't find a youtube clip, unfortunately, the show was called "Look Around You" ... at the time I thought it was a stroke of genius, they called the "first computer for women" the "Petticoat 5"...

[Honeycombe8]

21. Yes, that was my point exactly. Guess I wasn't clear. I'm a full fledged human being!

I have a wide variety of interests, and I don't want my computer to be pink! (altho I'd take a pink one, if it were on a great sale. But I'd use it only in private.)

[sibelian]

29. Lol!

You had me worried!

[Spitfire of ATJ]

41. You could always paint it with nail polish....

[Bluenorthwest]

27. From the Beeb: a photo gallery

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/lookaroundyou/programmes/computers/gallery1.shtml

And this link says it has a clip, I did not actually watch it, my system is on the verge...
http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=16797

[Honeycombe8]

46. That is hysterical! nt

[GoCubsGo]

10. And, of course, the dominant colors are pink and purple.

Because all of us women just ADORE the color pink and purple. Bleech.

[valerief]

13. Truly sexist. Not as severe as restricting abortion rights or limiting pay, because

no one has to buy this shit. Restricting abortion rights and limiting pay totally alter lives.

[sibelian]

14. Indeed not,

it's probably not the malevolent strain, but there's been a lot of DU talk recently of benevolent sexism using the totally dim-witted example of holding doors open and I wanted to find an example that expanded on the concept in some useful way... I thought this seemed pretty good...

[Squinch]

17. And how far of a leap of logic is it to go from saying, "she can't figure out an iPad" to "she

is too dumb to make decisions about her own body or the running of a company."

This is a very good example of benevolent sexism.

Also, really stupid marketing.

[valerief]

18. Understood. There's no such thing as benevolent sexism. That's an oxymoron.

There are genuine differences between men and women that aren't all explained from nurturing. People who've studied various animal species can cite what these differences are. Using technology is certainly not one of those differences.

[sibelian]

23. Do you think it's worth making a distinction between the two kinds that some clearly see?

I'd be entirely delighted with the idea of chucking away the "benevolent" descriptor, if it was down to me, the word just causes confusion, but I think it does need to be isolated somehow. Really it's referring to a kind of sexism that masquerades as benevolence by seeming to offer support, but carrying elaborate, slightly shadowy conditions of perception to the support on which the supposed benefit rests. I think I'd like it clearly identified it seperately from the overt misogyny of things like anti-abortion politics as its insidiousness needs to be discussed, as Squinch indicates elsewhere in this thread it helps to legitimise more hostile forms of sexism. I think it helps to clarify different versions of bigotry by naming them accurately.

Truthfully it isn't down to me, arguably not even partially... I'm not female...

[valerief]

24. I dunno. Chivalry, maybe? nt

[sibelian]

28. hmm... positive connotations...

Also, it's being a medieval term, there were a lot of tenets to do with God and how you treated other knights. It was supposed to be about defending the defenceless and I see its sexism as an inescapable adjunct rather than its primary goal which was perceived at the time to be more wide ranging than pertaining only to relations betwen knights and women. I'd prefer something that reveals covert sexism rather than mixes it up inadvertantly with something else...

But then, I'm colossal pedant...

[FlaGranny]

42. I love having

the door held for me and I always hold the door for whoever's behind me. Shouldn't let the door smack anyone in the face - male or female. Car doors are a different story as I'm perfectly capable of opening and closing them and there is little danger of them slamming into a bystander.

[valerief]

47. Door-holding can be tricky. Has nothing to do with gender either.

Of course, it's only polite to hold a door for someone coming in right behind you. You hold it so they can grab it. They do the same for the person behind them. You don't slam it in someone's face (although that's done to me every so often). However, when you hold the door for someone not quite close enough to grab it, s/he needs to make a decision whether or not to speed up so as not to hold you up. If s/he hurries to get the door, you're forcing that person to hurry up when maybe s/he doesn't want to. OTOH, if the person doesn't speed up, s/he looks like s/he's forcing you to hold the door for him/her, and that's making him/her look like as ass.

Door-holding is an art.

I don't hold the door open behind me if the person is several (more than 5?) seconds of a normal walking pace away. It's not because I'm not considerate. It's because I am considerate.

[Squinch]

15. I'm remembering the short lived Barbie doll who said, "Math is hard" when you pulled her string.

[sibelian]

16. ...

I didn't know about that.

(head-desk)

[Squinch]

19. Yeah. Came and went pretty quickly.

[valerief]

20. Here

[sibelian]

25. I'd say "another illusion shattered"...

Had there been any shattering of illusions.

Profit depends on stereotypes.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

36. now if they had her say, "Math sucks but I'll ace it anyway and kick your ass!"

That's a message I would have appreciated.

Also, for those who LIKE math...."Math? Psshh. Cakewalk. But you can go stick cheerleading up ur butt."

[Mockingjay]

26. Really????

Now I'm really grossed out!!!! That's just the beginning on how I feel!

[GoneOffShore]

30. I want an "Old Fart's Tablet".

I hate Mrs GoS's iPad.

[sibelian]

31. Well I want a gay one, then.

And a gay car.

And a gay Monster Truck... How cool would that be?!?!

Or this...

[Cleita]

32. I guess they think women spend all their time at the gym or shopping. n/t

[Buzz Clik]

33. How deep does one have to dig to find that ad?

[sibelian]

35. Google "epad femme"...?

Even the Daily Mail thinks it's sexist. Articles on the Graun and HuffPo.

[Buzz Clik]

37. It's horrid.

[AsahinaKimi]

38. "Middle East–based"

A very large clue.

[Apophis]

44. Seriously?

Wow.

I can't believe someone would make something like that! That is blatant sexism.