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RSA Conference Bans "Booth Babes"
netbuzz writes In what may be a first for the technology industry, RSA Conference 2015 next month apparently will be bereft of a long-controversial trade-show attraction: "booth babes." New language in its exhibitor contract, while not using the term 'booth babe," leaves no doubt as to what type of salesmanship RSA wants left out of its event. Says a conference spokeswoman: "We thought this was an important step towards making all security professionals feel comfortable and equally respected during the show." Easier at a venue like RSA; the annual Consumer Electronics Show, not so much.
It's sad when ugly women are allowed to take jobs away from pretty women simply because they are pretty.
"Booth Babes" are sexist (against both men and women, might I add), and is completely inappropriate.
Actually they can still have booth babes they just need to look professional. Personally a beautiful woman tastefully dressed is more of a turn on than the slutty look anyway.
For the conference? If you only go for the women, then you should visit other venues which are better suited for staring at women.
"Slutty"? How dare you prescribe how other people should dress and feel about themselves...
Ezekiel 23:20
I didn't prescribe, I described.
So in otherwords, nothing is going to change and this is just a feel good measure to make bitter women happy.
Actually they can still have booth babes they just need to look professional. Personally a beautiful woman tastefully dressed is more of a turn on than the slutty look anyway.
I know you mean well, but you're completely missing the point.
blog
"Creepy". Isn't that one of those sexist words that misandrists use to describe male sexuality?
The shaming here is particularly amazing because it seems to be coming from men. Good boy. You're going to make your mistress a good little houseboy. Now get back to work and earn her some money. And leave the masculinity to the "creepy" guys.
Yes, the cliche says, "Sex sells", but do they actually generate significant sales? I mainly see them being made fun of and criticized.
Sex sells if you sell Axe, if you want your security solutions to be taken seriously by professionals, not so much. I've gone to an ungodly amount of trade fairs for several decades. My impression is that booth babes do indeed catch the eye of many men, absolutely, but in a way that is not helping the company messaging, at all. If I see a gang of very sexy booth babes I will indeed notice it, and avoid visiting the booth for any serious considerations, and leave wondering why their real message is so bad that they need this dog and pony show instead.
Actually they can still have booth babes they just need to look professional. Personally a beautiful woman tastefully dressed is more of a turn on than the slutty look anyway.
I know you mean well, but you're completely missing the point.
He missed the point, but he did not mean well. That's why we can't have nice things.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
Actually, if you were a gay man, the liberal left would run to defend your sexuality.
Same goes if you're a woman, gay or straight.
Only heterosexual white males have to defend themselves against misandrists.
Maybe he thinks he can change human nature. Women don't really even have to be all that attractive to have an effect on men. Just the right personality and a sweet smile can do wonders to a man. Yes, I know she is not going to blow me but really I'm happy just to be in the same room with someone who's very presence works on the pleasure centers of my brain. I doubt it would cause me to buy a product but it will cause me to listen to what she has to say.
Me neither.
The new solution is still sexist.
It's just that this is the kind of sexism that is culturally acceptable at the moment.
A situation where one person can get a job based on a genetic flip of a coin, followed by a genetic role of the dice that lands one with a fashionable appearance - while others are disregarded based on the genetic flip of the coin alone.
You know... When sex of the person is a disqualifying trait on a job application - and it is not a job opening in a strip-bar.
It's the same exact thing that makes "housewife" an acceptable "career choice" for a woman, while the same "career" choice for a man doesn't even have a noun of its own.
It is instead described with pejorative terms ranging from "henpecked" and "timid" to "pussywhipped".
It's culturally acceptable sexism.
No different than a burka - for women who consider that a part of their culture.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
I suppose if that become too troublesome, they can ... require that contractors be able to talk knowledgeably about the product.
This would be a great idea! Just make the requirement be that anyone staffing a booth be able to describe the contents of the material they're presenting. This wouldn't prevent really smart contracted booth babes, but it would prevent what I've encountered a few times... when I go up to a booth and ask a technical detail and get a panicked look followed by a "let me go find Ted...." or a blank smile and a "I think you'll find the information you need in one of these brochures...."
Personally a beautiful woman tastefully dressed is more of a turn on than the slutty look anyway.
I guess it's different because I pay for conferences out of my own pocket, but I'm not going to go to all the hassle and expense of attending an Expo to waste my time at a vendor booth which spends its marketing dollars on objectifying women. The women may be there of their own free will and the whole arrangement may be perfectly morally straight (for the sake of argument), but the vendor is clearly disrespecting its customers' intelligence, and that itself makes me feel uncomfortable and want to avoid their booth.
Each time I've experienced the 'booth babe' phenomenon, never once did any of them know what an ARP reply was or how many key exchanges TLS modes use. This isn't a matter of nerd-quiz, it's that talking to them serves no purpose for why I go to an expo.
While several I've encountered have been both nice and pretty, I never once imagined that I was going to scurry off to a corner to make out with one or that they might suddenly provide useful product information, so a polite smile, the briefest of small-talk to let them know that I value them as a human being, and a thank-you and I was on to the next booth to talk to a sales engineer. Did the booth-babe vendor have something useful to sell me? Maybe, but I only have so much time, and this wasn't why I was there. I don't care if the sales engineer has a spare tire and a scraggly mustache, because I'm not there to make out with him (or her) either.
That booth babes is a thing tells me a few things: 1) target customers don't get to talk to pretty women much unless they're being paid (Jesus people, try being kind and friendly for a change) 2) target customers are mostly there blowing their employers' budgets on a half-assed vacation and don't really care about the cost or value, and 3) they probably play the Lottery and go to strip clubs too, for all their investment is worth (but I guess they have nothing better to do).
There would be no booth babes if they didn't provide value, and that they do is an indictment of the crowd attending. RSA might be putting up a roadblock, but the industry only needs to look itself in the mirror if it wants to find someone to blame. Stop being creepy and get a girlfriend, people.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
"Creepy". Isn't that one of those sexist words that misandrists use to describe male sexuality?
The shaming here is particularly amazing because it seems to be coming from men. Good boy. You're going to make your mistress a good little houseboy. Now get back to work and earn her some money. And leave the masculinity to the "creepy" guys.
Being sexually aroused by a scantily-clad attractive 23-year old model is perfectly normal for a heterosexual man. Believing that it is acceptable for vendors at a conference to pay models to attend events in the hopes that it will benefit the sales of their totally unrelated product is creepy, because it betrays a total ignorance of acceptable social standards in 2015 relating to interactions between men and women at work.
If nothing else, it is an insult to my professionalism to suggest that I would make important purchasing decisions for my employer with my penis. There was a time when "masculinity" meant putting the concepts of honor and duty above seeking gratification of personal desires. Now it seems to involve moaning about how your employer's vendors are no longer allowed to buy strippers for you.
Have you never had the experience of hooking up with someone who was just as into it as you were? Have you never felt someone tremble under your touch? That is powerful stuff. If the best analogy you can come up with is having someone cook for you vs going out to eat, you've clearly missed out on the pleasure that can be had through giving someone else pleasure.
A prostitute may put on a good act, but in reality they just want to get it over with so they can turn the next trick or go home for the night. It is NOT at all the same. The BIGGEST turn on as far as I'm concerned is knowing that the person you are with is as filled with lust as you are.
In rebuttal to your rebuttal:
1) If women perceive your "kind and friendly" behavior as "creepy," then you are not behaving "kind and friendly." You are, in fact, behaving like a "creep."
The LIKELY problem is "kind and friendly" for you probably still involves a lot of white-knight-friendly phrases like:
"you're so beautiful!"
"i can't imagine any guy not wanting to spend time with you!"
"i can't believe how beautiful you are!"
Which is both off-putting to the woman, and serves to make you look creepy. Want to come across as "kind and friendly"? Treat them like you would any other friend who is not female. When you meet them, say "Hey, it's nice to meet you, how are you today?" And don't say anything about their appearance, their luminous blue eyes, their gorgeous smile, their presumed model boyfriend, or their presumed life of ease and luxury... "nice and friendly" involves observing and staying within acceptable social boundaries - and presuming to know too much about the woman, or focusing like a laser on her good looks, or just getting too pushy in terms of trying to learn her life story will all put you into the creep zone.
Oh, and for god's sake: don't tip your fucking fedora and say "m'lady."
He missed the point, but he did not mean well. That's why we can't have nice things.
I think the response unintentionally betrays sexism but at its root merits a direct response. At least to me, the whole "booth babes" thing is pretty simple.
Human beings like the "OOOOH SHINY." It distracts and engages us, even if it is not necessarily going to lead us to buy something as a result, but it does cause us to want to stop and engage our attention. The same is true whether it's a person, a free popcorn machine, a magic show or a huge display TV.
If you are a heterosexual male, an attractive woman is OOOOH SHINY. This is regardless of the state of her (un)dress, technical acumen, or anything else. It could be a stripper draped around a pole or Marissa Mayer in a smart business suit. You will have an involuntary response and may be "turned on." But the real question of how people react to this is one of intent.
Nobody seriously objects to the presence of attractive humans in almost any context. The objection comes from those who are made uncomfortable with the presence of people who are there (and dressed so as to make this obvious) solely for the purpose of eliciting that OOOOH SHINY MUST STARE AT BREASTS reaction.
Some men will ask, so "what is wrong with that?" which, unlike what many progressive/feminist-minded men think, is not an inherently offensive question to ask. To me, the first answer of course is that it is unprofessional unless you are at a swimwear or porn conference. But the issue most people will react to - knee-jerk, positively or negatively - is one of sexism.
Is this something to be offended about or not? For me, the simple test for me is for you - assuming you are a heterosexual male - to imagine walking around a tradeshow where most of the exhibits had buff, oiled-up dudes in speedos standing in front of the booths in Speedos. Would this make you in any way uncomfortable, want to avert your eyes or not want to stand next to them in that booth? If yes, then you need to put yourself in women's shoes and understand the objection to booth babes. If no, then, okay, you can make a straight-faced argument that there's nothing to be offended about. But that still will not prevent others from having a different reaction.
"95% of all Slashdot
... If women en masse knew that they could manipulate most men with a sweet smile and some relevant conversation, many of us would be doomed.
Don't worry, they already know and we are doomed.