Recently in Products Category
*Possible trigger warning*
While we haven't been the biggest fans of Amazon as of late and their history of selling a rape simulation game (which they did end up banning), it looks like another game involving violence against women seems to have"slipped" past their radar. "Stockholm: An Exploration of True Love" is a game that allows the user to experience,
"...a terrifyingly vivid exploration of Stockholm Syndrome, a psychological condition in which a captive falls in love with her kidnapper. And you play the part of the kidnapper. With a limited number of options, you must figure out how to make her fall in love with you."
This includes using poison gas on the victim, sexually assaulting her and using psychological abuse against her in efforts to make her "love" you. Unbelievable.
Contact Amazon and let them know that profiting off of sexual and psychological abuse is completely unacceptable.
h/t to Jennifer for the heads up.
And voilà! A women's laptop is born.
This isn't the first time we've seen Dell market their products to women in a ridiculously cliché and sexist way, but their newest product was worth noting. Meet Della, the new Dell mini netbook that is being pitched to women as cute, compact and in colors with lady adjectives like Promise Pink (which actually donates $5 of your purchase to the Susan G. Komen Foundation - a good thing) and Cherry Red.
As Kristen Shoemaker at Liliputing says, it's not so much the references to everything cute to draw women that's so insulting, but when the "Tech Tips" section suggests you use the Della to manage your diet and exercise program, we have a wee problem. What's interesting is the note at the top of this section saying that editors have changed the article in response to some "feedback," which I believe (and hope) may be because of some of the complaints that women tech bloggers like Kristen and Nicole Price Fasig have made.
But regardless of what they've omitted, marketing a product to a woman by dumbing down the language and making it cutesy and fashionable isn't good marketing - it's insulting. The very pitch on Dell's homepage website featuring Della says, "Find out how technology fits your lifestyle." I guess in this case, "lifestyle" seems to be your gender.
This is not to say that there's anything wrong with accessorizing your laptop or finding a netbook adorable - it's when you assume that only women will have interest in it is when a line is crossed.
Not just want. Need.
Having an Iphone has made these last few days in Austin a lot easier. Between the GPS and the scheduling function that SXSW has set up, I haven't been lost (unless I don't have service.) I understand I am very, very lucky to have an Iphone. I saved up for it and didn't splurge on other things, along with having a phone with an antenna (!) until a few months ago. Needless to say, similar to Nezua, I really love my Iphone.
If you are a nerd, like me, you have heard that the Iphone has released a new version of their Iphone software. It is going to add a whole new list of features that the current software fails to have. I am really excited about these new features. But as much as I love my Iphone, I have never thought seriously about having sex with my Iphone. I am going to be totally honest with you. Sometimes I want to make-out with my Iphone-it is just simply a divine piece of technology-but I haven't personally thought about using it as a vibrator or as device to have phone sex with someone.
These authors disagree. Both, My Sexy Professor and Gizmodo are discussing different ways you can have sex with your Iphone. Last year at SXSW I wrote about a panel that discussed the ways that humans interact with technology to have sex. I think this brings up really interesting questions about the role of technology in our sex lives. Generally, discussions of the role of technology (and by this I mean in the geek world, not dildonics) is generally skewed towards male sexuality (teledildonics, pornography, etc) but does the Iphone allow for a new more female centric form of sex via technology that the geek world has ignored until now?
Who knew there could actually be more than one set of boob-related speakers?!
I forgot to cover this after seeing its commercial, but luckily reader Saira reminded me today. One A Day vitamins are marketing their new product, Teen Advantage for Him and Her, and it ain't pretty.
It's not even the gendering of vitamins in general or even the pink and blue bottles they come in that really get me, but their contention of what's important for teen boys' and girls' growth:
Complete Multivitamins for Teen Boys & Girls to Support:** Healthy muscle function with Magnesium (for Him)
* Healthy skin with Vitamins A and C, Copper, and Iron (for Her)
That's right ladies. Who needs muscle function when you have the clear skin to attract strong boys to pick stuff up for you?
