A woman's smile
being "fixed" using software leads to accusations of sexism against
Apple and other tech firms - who still employ more men than women
The world heard earlier this week about how
Apple is launching
new products, such as the iPad Pro and a new Apple TV. At the event, to
illustrate some of the features and quirks of the new iPad Pro, Eric
Snowden, Adobe's director of mobile design, showcased Adobe's updated
suite of editing apps. Snowden proceeded to edit an image of a woman,
digitally manipulating, or "fixing", her mouth so that she appeared to
be smiling.
Snowden told the crowd, "I wish she had a little bit
more of a smile. I think it would warm up the design quite a bit.
Luckily we have an app for that."
Despite applause filling the
auditorium afterwards, accusations of sexism immediately emerged on
Twitter. Disappointed users questioned Snowden's use of language,
asking "how did someone at Apple OR Adobe not think through the optics of a dude "fixing" a woman's smile?"
Another
wrote, "Now Adobe can literally "Fix" pouty women for you. Way to go guys!"
Many
found the demonstration too reminiscent of men, often strangers, asking
women to smile - a demand many women find demeaning and rude. ("Putting
on a fake smile doesn't benefit me, and therefore the benefit is purely
for the seemingly well-meaning smile requester. They are telling you to
smile so that they have something prettier to look at whilst they go
about their day,"
Daisy Lindlar wrote last year on the Huffington Post.)
Carolyn
Leighton, Founder and CEO of Women in Technology International, told
BBC Trending that although it was unlikely that anything malicious was
intended, the photo subject was "a poor choice."
"It just triggers
this feeling that so many people have," says Leighton. "It's just like
when these companies put men in front of the camera instead of women.
People are out of touch with the fact that women are equal partners in
the field."
The criticism didn't end there. As the event unfolded,
spectators pointed out that only three women were featured in
Wednesday's presentation. Of the three, only one was an Apple employee.
One user
wrote:
"only 3 women so far have graced the Apple event stage compared to the
10+ men. And of course, a woman is talking about shopping. Hmm."
And
yet, this figure is in fact the largest number of women presenting in a
single recent Apple event. In June 2014 - where the Apple Watch and
iPhone 6 were launched - no women presented.
Lisa Maatz, Vice
President of Government Relations at the American Association of
University Women (AAUW), said that the lack of female representation was
a "sad commentary" on the wider industry.
"We need role models.
To have Apple's big launch only featuring a few women, doesn't give
girls an encouraging message about technology being a future career."
Although
Apple CEO Tim Cook has admitted that greater diversity was required, in
an interview earlier this summer he said the fault lies with the tech
industry as a whole failing to reach out to women. According to a report
by the AAUW, only 26 percent of science, technology, engineering and
mathematics jobs are held by women, falling from 35 percent in 1990.
Since
a report last year found that seven out of every ten employees at Apple
was male, it appears Apple has taken strides to improve. In August, it
was announced that
Apple has hired 11,000 women over the past year, a 65% increase from the year before.
