please, Connor, tell me you're joking. did you actually look at any of the slides used in the presentation?

if you aren't joking, the conversation on Sarah Mei's blog about this situation gives several reasons to explain why this is a horribly sexist presentation. please educate yourself.

http://www.sarahmei.com/blog/?p=46

Yeah, it showed half naked women, but it also showed half naked men.
So I still don't understand how that is sexist, they weren't attacking women. Now I agree this buisness presentation was immature and unprofessional, however I don't believe it was sexist.

Maybe I can help to explain... first of all, the conference was made up of predominantly men, so the few women there must have been extremely uncomfortable. 

Have you ever heard of mob mentality?  Sometimes people do things in large groups that they would never normally do. 

Now try to get outside your shell and imagine the feelings of a woman who is one of only a few women in a large group of men (and this is a business presentation where you should be able to feel safe and comfortable).  Suddenly on the screen you see a close-up shot of a woman's butt in a thong, a highly sexualized picture, with a caption related to pornography. 

With the high rates of sexual assault, including gang rape, in male-dominted professions, such as the military, etc., you may begin to feel very uncomfortable and even a little unsafe.  Maybe a little singled out, as one of the few women in the room.  As a woman, you have learned that sexual conversation is not a safe thing for a solitary woman in a group of men.  This is an internalized, almost automatic, pit of the stomach feeling.  Can you imagine how that must feel?  And to feel objectified as a woman in a group of men is humiliating.  You start to wonder if people are looking at the pictures, then sexualizing you.

The men in the room far outnumbered the women, were the ones who designed and approved the presentation, and were not feeling powerless and uncomfortable.

I would also like to point out that not only were the images predominantly of women, but they were in submissive poses, such as clustered around the feet of a man, etc.  This is blatantly sexist as it uses women's bodies to sell a product that has nothing to do with women's bodies.  If the product were nail polish, it would be appropriate to show fingers and toes, but why a butt in a thong?

I think the whole point of the article is that this sort of behavior doesn't exactly make women feel welcome to the profession, especially when it happens at a "professional" conference.  It sends a message that this profession condones the degradation of women.

Even though I do not work in this profession, as a woman and a human being, the whole thing makes me sick.  It is embarrassing and disgusting and I will forever associate this product and group in my mind as insensitive and boorish.

I think this was very unprofessional and never should have been apart of the buisness, however I don't feel that it's sexist.

Now I have seen some movies where they make gay people look kind of bad, more like stupid, and I have been in a movie theater watching these movies with mostly straight men around and straight women. I have felt really uncomfortable (even tho you can't really tell I'm gay from looking at me). I do feel as if what was portrayed in those movies might give people the wrong impression about people in our community and I don't want people to look at me that way because of what they are seeing in the movie, however, nothing in the movies was homophobic. It just was a tad to racey.

I still don't believe this presentation was in any way sexist. I don't see it painting women in a bad light. However it paints the company in a bad light and I think most people would agree with that. This company is unprofessional and honestly immature.

Also if a woman feels unsafe anywere, then she should leave. That's for men as well, get up and leave if you feel that way.

Here's the difference.  People can tell who is a woman by looking at them.  Imagine if people could tell you were gay by some physical distinguishing feature.  Now imagine you are watching this "business" presentation in a room full of straight men, al of whom know you are gay.  They created the presentation, voted on the presentation, and are enjoying it, and it is depicting gays in a very sexual and debasing way.  Would you feel respected and safe?

Yes, if someone feels unsafe, they should get up and leave.  However, that sounds like victim-blaming to me.  It's like the mentality of people who say about a domestic abuse victim "why does she stay?" instead of "why does he think it's okay to hit her?"

How about if the people who are doing things to make other people feel unsafe stop doing them.  That's my point, and that's why this presentation is sexist.

I wouldn't care. Just because they are making fun of gays in the movie doesn't mean I'm the same way. So I wouldn't feel any more uncomfortable. That doesn't mean that I am like that.
However it shows a lack of knowledge on their part.

It's not victim blaming. If everyone got up and left who didn't like the presentation don't you think that would show the company that they screwed up. If you don't like it, say something and change it.

And again there was naked in men in their too.

I respect your opinion on this, and I think we'll have to agree to disagree.  I believe the presentation was extremely sexist and you do not.  Obviously many people agree with me, based on the posts on here.  It would be interesting to see what your female friends think about this.  Or your mom, or sister, or whoever.  I'm not trying to shove my opinion down your throat, but there are reasons this presentation feels very exploitative of women.

I can't speak for every woman, any more than you can speak for every gay person, but I believe most women would feel extremely uncomfortable in this sort of situation.  Throughout history they have been given many reasons to feel that way by the justifications men have made for raping them.

I believe that professional women should not have to get up and leave a business presentation in order to feel safe.  It also appears that they ARE saying something in order to change it.  And hopefully this does change, because in this day and age we shouldn't even be having to have this conversation.

Also you should be aware that women in the adult entertainment industry have a right, a freedom, to choose this line of work. Who are you to judge them for their lifestyle choices? This is no different than judging a gay man for being homosexual and claiming it's "immoral" because it does not fit in with your world view. These women have a right to showoff their beauty and passion for sexual exploration any way they see fit. Some (rather illogical) people on this site have made the assumption that ALL porn is a rersult of "human trafficking". I hate to break it to you, but here in America 99.9% of porn stars are not forced into they industry, they seek the industry themselves. Porn from third-world developing nations may do this, but not so much here in America. And by the way, as much as you may not want to realize this, more women are now watching (and enjoying) pornography than any time in history.

Please don't derail the conversation from the tech industry to the porn industry. That's not the point of this piece. Thanks.

You have a point. I can see where you're coming from, but what about the point of view of the woman shown in the slide? Do you think she would appreciate being ridiculed online for being shown featured in a presentation at a random tech conference, what about HER point of view? Or does a woman's point of view only apply if she is a feminist? I doubt the individuals who created this presentation were trying to belittle women in the industry, or anyone for that matter. Think about THEIR point of view as well, if you will. They're just trying to sell a product. They are not attempting to offend or belittle anyone by doing this, regardless of how poorly it was executed.

Again, this whole issue is being blown out of proportion. I agree that the decision to use sexually explicit material in a tech industry slideshow was a mistake, but for different reasons. Just because some women choose to be and are shown in a sexual context does NOT mean they are implying that ALL women are objects. Porn aside, both men and women commonly do modeling, both of which will typically do bikini or underwear modeling.

Being open to one's sexuality and having an appreciation for the beauty of the human body does not make one sexist. Even going as far as using such imagery to sell a product is not necessarily in itself being sexist. If these individuals in any way stated or even implied that this is the only role women have on the internet, then it would be sexist. This is not even close to what they said or implied. To say that this is what they implied would be taking this entire issue out of context.

Another thing you have realize is that a majority of internet bandwidth is used for the transmission of pornography. Pornography IS relevant to this industry and a common part of the internet, and being as these individuals work in that very field of technology, it is not entirely outrageous that they would use this as a way to get attention to their product. Tasteless, yes. Unnecessary, yes. Sexist, No (unless you're frigid, uptight, and hypersensitive).

i am in no way frigid, uptight, or hypersensitive. i have worked as a nude model, danced in gentlemen's clubs, and have friends that worked in the porn industry. that being said, i still find the above presentation to be very sexist. not just for the pictures, although they are one of the largest problems.

alan (and conner as well), i think you're missing something here. yes, the presentation is both tasteless and unnecessary. but it's also very inappropriate and sexist.

if you're creating a presentation for an industry that has a very small percentage of female workers, and then the only images you put in your presentation portray women in a sexual way, that is sexist. period. there is no balance in the images of sexualized bodies and non sexualized bodies. there is nothing in that presentation that makes a space for female technical industry worker in that slide show--not in image or in language. everything is very gender biased towards males.
even if a female technical worker might be bisexual or lesbian, not 'hypersensitive, frigid, or uptight', and someone who enjoys and appreciates beautiful bodies, there isn't much in this presentation geared for her. it is geared for men by a man who didn't take a moment to think of the women in his industry. that is why it is sexist. period.