MSFT Sorry for Having Bikini Girls at Conference
Oh dear, Microsoft has found itself at the center of a wee bit of controversy for hiring women in gold bikinis to man its recent TechEd event in Australia.
Beautiful women are practically part of the furniture at technology, sports and car shows. The rule of thumb is that if the target demographic is predominantly male, there will be booth babes there to brighten the place up and maybe talk about what they happen to be promoting. At a recent TechEd conference, Microsoft decided to keep things local by hiring some of Gold Coast's Meter Maids. The Meter Maids launched themselves in the sixties as a way to combat the bad image created by parking meters that had been installed on the tourist strip. The girls would stroll up and down the strip, feeding meters with coins and leaving calling cards under drivers' windshield wipers. This would all be done wearing a shiny gold bikini and a tiara.
So, a crowd of these girls was present at TechEd, as Microsoft no doubt tried to bring a little of the Gold Coast to the conference. Unfortunately, not everyone at TechEd was delighted to see the girls and some of the 2,700 attendees at the event complained that their presence was objectifying women. This may or may not have had something to do with the fact that one of the key conferences at TechEd was on 'Women in IT'.
"It seems that there are still marketing and promotional folks in the IT world who consider objectification of women to be ok," the Sydney Morning Herald quotes IT worker Kate Carruthers as saying.
"Sadly this issue has detracted from Microsoft's long history of supporting and encouraging women in IT and from their workshop that is part of the conference today."
While apologizing to attendees and indeed its own staff, Microsoft initially tried to pass off the blunder as ignorance, claiming they didn't know what the girls would be wearing until the day. However, chief meter maid, Roberta Aitchison said this was not the case. In fact, she says Microsoft spent as much as three weeks choosing what outfits they wanted the girls to wear.
"The garments were chosen specifically by them over a period of 2-3 weeks of them looking at photographs of the girls," she told the Sydney Mo.
"They came back to me by email stating which garments they would like the girls to be wearing."
Aitchison added that she didn't know what all the fuss was about, as the Meter Maids were just as attentive to the women as they were the men.
"The meter maids are an icon of Surfer's Paradise and I believe Microsoft knew what they were doing. It would be a very small minority of women I would say that had anything negative to say, because my girls are so polite and attentive towards the females."
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Booth babes are an embarrassment, it makes tech enthusiasts look like drooling virgin nerds (which admittedly a lot of them are, but we don't all want to be tarred with the same brush). It's not the 1970's anymore, some of us have wives and girlfriends and aren't interested in looking at scantily clad tarts with fake tan prancing around the place, and if we were there's strip clubs for that.
people like to have fun and express themselves.
Girls love being booth babes - good pay and fun times
people like going to events where people have made an effort and added a little flair to proceedings.
We a re not all grey collared stiff necked and so miserable we just want something to complain about
Beauty is beauty, having a girlfriend or not and can be appreciated either way.
and you have shown your true colours attacking them as people so nastily with your social paranoia’s. Lighten up bro - these are real people enjoying life
I know my girl friend would enjoy an event with the booth babes more than one without. They add a lighter air to the place with a sense of spirited fun and kind smiles
I think this is a storm in a tea-cup..aka political-correctness. It was after all, a themed event, and if the majority didn't complain how can it even be deemed a "blunder"?
"Sadly this issue has detracted from Microsoft's long history of supporting and encouraging women in IT and from their workshop that is part of the conference today."
Says you. Where is the factual basis for that argument? Maybe you'd care visit countries where such vacuous reasoning is used to force women to cover up in the name of protecting their modesty. Do we need to go into detail regarding what happens when they refuse? Do we need such a moral police force, nit-picking their way through a bit of fun? What's the betting MS will now cow-tow to the minority's needs..
Malphas with respect, I don't really see what your issues is. If you don't like it - just don't look. Does the ref at a football game send the cheer leaders off to the strip joint, on the basis that's the only place they belong? You're saying everyone else doesn't need to look because you might have a girlfriend or wife and not be interested..erm, isn't that a teeny bit selfish?
I am not trying to attack you or be disrespectful Malphas, but I don't find the sight of these women offensive in any way. We are all adults after all, and they agreed to do it, within the context of theme. They like looking the way they do and the majority of attendees didn't seem to have a problem with it, either. And no, I don't think women are just objects, either.
I think boothbabes rather tasteless as well. They don't add anything to the product being presented and are just a form of human decoration.
However, this is pure overreacting. If companies want to hire boothbabes and girls want to do it, fine. I thought Australia was a modern, liberal country?
OBJECTIFYING WOMEN either you choose not to understand what this means or you dont care. It is NOT a storm in a tea cup.. its a real issue and until the corporate world is 50/50 men/women then any major company let alone the one that controls the mass majority of the IT world making women wear sex provoking clothing for thier enjoyment is WRONG. If these women were volunteers then it would not be a big deal.. everyone likes to get a bit of kit off at the beach but this was a promotional event that PAID women to HAVE SEX clothes on. Hence the term objectifying women. Can you imagine if it had a booth of men in speedos beside it.. how would you feel??
I think this is a storm in a tea-cup..aka political-correctness. It was after all, a themed event, and if the majority didn't complain how can it even be deemed a "blunder"?Says you. Where is the factual basis for that argument? Maybe you'd care visit countries where such vacuous reasoning is used to force women to cover up in the name of protecting their modesty. Do we need to go into detail regarding what happens when they refuse? Do we need such a moral police force, nit-picking their way through a bit of fun? What's the betting MS will now cow-tow to the minority's needs..Malphas with respect, I don't really see what your issues is. If you don't like it - just don't look. Does the ref at a football game send the cheer leaders off to the strip joint, on the basis that's the only place they belong? You're saying everyone else doesn't need to look because you might have a girlfriend or wife and not be interested..erm, isn't that a teeny bit selfish?I am not trying to attack you or be disrespectful Malphas, but I don't find the sight of these women offensive in any way. We are all adults after all, and they agreed to do it, within the context of theme. They like looking the way they do and the majority of attendees didn't seem to have a problem with it, either. And no, I don't think women are just objects, either.
Can you imagine if it had a booth of men in speedos beside it.. how would you feel??
Would that be objectifying men then? I don't agree with any of this. I think it has more to do with people being overly sensitive in the west (us) towards the subject of sex. What your saying is if a woman (or by implication of your last sentence, men) ware cloths that show off their bodies they are being demeaned, but only if they accept pay to do so. My question then is which is more demeaning, cleaning up other peoples waste (ie: a janitor, oh wait to be pc: maintenance technician) or waring revealing clothing when you have an attractive body? Where is the line?
Does a job become demeaning if only a particular social group does it? A black man with a shoe shine booth, a half naked female waitress at hooters? It's all about satisfying the observer's sensibilities, not the plight, if one even exists, of the person they are observing. If these women wanted to do it, enjoyed it, and, heaven forbid, get paid for it who am I to say they shouldn't?
HAVE SEX clothes on
OH NOES, NOT SEX CLOTHES.
Feminists...
FFS everybody needs to lighten up - how is it possibly objectifying women if they CHOOSE to be there?
So wandering up and down the beach in gold bikinis wasn't objectification until Microsoft came in?
Feminists really need to get laid - you can't have equality AND chivarly y'know. You want to be treated equal? Then you're just as much an object to men as we are to women. It's just sex and base DNA for crying out loud, not a 500,000 year plot for the XY to dominate and suppress the XX.
The IT worker is entitled to her point of view but she shouldn't stop women from earning a living dressing up in pretty clothes and showing off, any more than she should be stopped from working in IT or any other career for which she has talent.
The pure exhibition of beauty and form is in itself art and goes well beyond sex, which is a very limited expression. Women also enjoy doing this in many cases, it appears to be quite close to 'natural' instincts just as many men like to play sport or compete against each other in one way or another.
Can you imagine if it had a booth of men in speedos beside it.. how would you feel??
Actually the Australian opposition leader (and possibly prime minister after the result of the election) wears speedos quite often whilst the current female Prime Minister (who may or may not be prime minister in a few weeks time after the election) only ever is seen in suits. The Australian public at large take the speedos (which are called budgie smugglers here) as a novelty and have a bit of a giggle. Similarly the majority of Australians don't view the Meter Maids as objectifying women, they are merely a novelty and don't go the wrong why in lightening the place up.
Whilst I applaude Microsoft Australia for knowing stuff about where it operates I still question the relevance for bikini clad women at a tech conference, however that is for Microsoft to decide. This isn't really about objectifying women.