Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!genrad!decvax!harpo!floyd!whuxlb!pyuxll!eisx!pd From: pd@eisx.UUCP Newsgroups: net.women Subject: Sexism in Consumer Electronics Shows - A Dialogue. Message-ID: <553@eisx.UUCP> Date: Thu, 16-Jun-83 10:15:40 EDT Article-I.D.: eisx.553 Posted: Thu Jun 16 10:15:40 1983 Date-Received: Thu, 16-Jun-83 23:20:10 EDT Lines: 40 Has anyone been to the consumer electronics show in Chicago ? From what I understand, scantily clad women adorning Booths and handing out literature were de rigeur. I just had a long discussion on this with my office mate, Carol the Weiss Man, and basically had to agree to disagree. I would like to hear how other men & women feel about this issue. I definitely enjoy looking at scantily clad, attractive women However, the implicit message here is, "Look at these Sexy women. All they are is T. & A. They look nice standing over here, parading our (and their) wares, dont they ? It's OK to look at them and feel like you want to jump on them, because that's what women are there for, anyway. Come buy our stuff, won't you ?". Lot of men go for this sort of thing. I have to conciously resist such pandering to my baser instincts. The attitude that this engenders in men, I feel, is carried over into the workplace, and since we men are in the position to impose our attitudes, will necessarily degrade women. Therefore, if I was a woman, I'd organize a demonstration to call attention to what was going on there. REBUTTAL. (carol) It simply pays to have these women there, because it sells products. The only way to change the state of affairs is to get women into positions that make the buying decisions, and by influencing management. When 50% of EE's of women, then things will change. I am strongly comitted to changing sexist attitudes in the workplace, and to me, this does fall into that category. End of REBUTTAL Opinions ?? Prem