Original photo by jsc
The other day, my colleague, Liz, told me about an experience she had in an electronics store. The products were positioned so high up, that she, a petite woman, couldn’t see them properly. That got us talking about how consumer technology is marketed to women. Is it appealing to women to have pink phones and iPods, or is it patronizing? When a man and a woman walk into an electronics store, do they get the same treatment from the salesperson? If men and women are marketed to differently, is that a legitimate reflection of a difference in tastes, interests, and approach, or is it blanket sexism? For instance, a lot of women I talk to, even ones who are really into tech, say they tend to be interested in the way technology fits into the overall context of their lives, and they’re not as interested in “specs” and sitting down with a manual as men seem to be. It’s a generalization, but does it hold water?
What do you think? Is the way consumer technology is marketed to women condescending? We’d particularly love to hear your direct experiences in shopping for gear.
I have stopped counting the number of time I get a male tech/sales person in a electronics store who says something along the lines of “You know a lot about computers, for a girl/woman”. Truly. This happens to me at least once a year.
That’s why I shop for my electronics online now.
Plus, I hate pink.
I don’t quite understand the way you began this post. Your friend had a problem with reaching the products up at the top because she was short not because she’s a woman. Surely a petite man would have the same problem. I’m always weary when these kind of topics get brought up, it’s way to generalized a statement to say that “Yes Pink phones/iPods/etc. are patronizing to women” or vice versa. Some women hate pink others love it.
Cute (or any other “feminine” adjective) pieces of technology aren’t marketed to women, they’re marketed to women who like the way those things look. I doubt that anyone one would consider someone less of a woman because she got a black iPod instead of the pink one. And in any case if the majority of women found this kind of marketing patronizing then pink iPods wouldn’t be sold, the fact that they are shows that there’s a market for them.
@Tournevis
It’s interesting that you would take a comment like that as a slight instead of a compliment. Let’s face it, the technology area is traditionally male dominated (I’m not saying that’s good or bad, just making an observation) . The fact that you, a woman, is knowledgeable in an area where most women are under represented is indeed impressive. When someone is noticing that it’s a good thing, is it not?
This often happens to me in video game stores as well.
@Dan: If the sales person had simply said, “You know a lot about computers,” that would have been a compliment. It’s the “for a girl/woman” addendum (particularly “girl”) that I consider insulting. To me, it creates this divide between males and females, with the former as the benchmark, thus rendering the “girl/woman” substandard. I probably didn’t phrase that as eloquently as I could have, but consider a similar phrase, but with race: “You’re pretty good at hockey, for an asian guy.” Does that still sound like a compliment?
(That question is neither rhetorical nor meant to be snarky, might I add!)
It’s not at all snarky, in fact I think this is an important issue. I can understand how the “girl/woman” part can be upsetting, but at the same time it speaks to reality. The comment itself doesn’t create the divide, it simply reflects it. Once again, I don’t want to be insulting, but it is in fact true that men tend to be generally more technologically inclined (I could provide examples but I think that this opinion is commonplace). So why pretend that it’s not the case? The way I view a comment like that, as well as the hockey one, is that it’s saying “You are unique because you have a certain skill/knowledge that is usually not found in your group.”
Getting back to the topic at hand, I don’t think that we should be afraid to recognize the differences that exist between us, pretending that everyone wants/needs the same thing is a bit foolish. To re-iterate my earlier point, pink iPods, or other such devices for women, wouldn’t be sold if they weren’t popular. The fact that they’re on the shelves proves that there’s a market for them.
Absolutely not! My daughter who is in her early 20′s and pursuing a career in the military loves anything pink. My friends young daughter loves anything pink.
Don’t ask me the science behind it because I couldn’t come up with an answer if I tried, but there is a definite link between gender and what gets your attention.
Why are the politically correct Nazi’s always trying to make the difference between genders so androgynous??
That would be a pretty boring world.
I say “Vive La Differance!!
Reminds me of how clothing stores have 2 square metres of mens clothing and 70 square kilometres of women’s clothing.
Pink reminds me of my mother, who is a breast cancer survivor. As a tomboy, I did not wear white, pastel colors or dresses when I was growing up – too hard to get clean. However, as a professional in a mainly male field, I love wearing pink, in part to demonstrate “up yours, I can be successful in this blue suit world”, and in part because I CAN – other than a few brave cowboys who wear pink once a year at rodeos, I have seen very few male professionals sport more than a small pink accent, if anything.
Sure, there are those who will mention “Marketing Hypocrisy and Breast Cancer” by Peggy Orenstein as proof that we are being manipulated by pink stuff plastered with the ribbon – perhaps there is some truth to this claim. I buy pink clothes because I love thinking about my mom while I wear them. Pink is also a color I wear to defend myself against all of the testosterone in the house with three males!!
Do I find pink whatevers patronizing? I might, if that was all that was available, or all that I was allowed to buy, but since I was able to get my MP3 player in fire-engine red (and my Sony Reader as well), I have no problem with it. Besides, my sister will buy just about anything in pink.
Where I find it annoying is trying to buy gift clothes for my nieces. At times, finding something I like that *isn’t* pink can be difficult, but I’m trying to counter the obscene amounts of pink clothes they already have, so I keep looking.
As a woman who predominately dresses in black. I recently (ahem) degraded myself in purchasing a pink phone.
It was my choice – there were other choices- and I like it. It is..feminine.. a blatant yet subtle statement of femininity. I chose it because it was the antithesis of me in a way. As for men pre-conceptually talking to women as if they don’t know anything- I find that it happens to me often and in all sorts of situations to do with gadgets, tools, technology , and skill based games. Its redundantly annoying and should be pointedly noted to the offending man at once..eventually he’ll figure it out..
The CNET podcast Gadgettes (which although mostly BY women isn’t really only FOR women despite their writeup on the site http://reviews.cnet.com/gadgettes/) has a weekly segment called “pink watch” where the hosts complain about some gadget or other that’s produced in a couple of sensible colors + pink.
Dan,
You say that his comments merely reflect reality, but I’m going to have to go the way of wikipedia and say [citation needed]. You offer no evidence that women are actually in the minority; you only show that you buy into that view. My wife and I are treated very differently when we go out to buy electronics from any number of stores, even though we both generally know exactly what we want when we get there.
It’s not enough to say that it’s true that men and women have different levels of knowledge when it comes to technology. If it’s true, please show us some evidence. In the meantime, it seems to me that it’s just an unconfirmed generalisation that casts judgement on a group’s abilities. Another word for this is “prejudice.”
I must add that I personally don’t see anything wrong with having pink products, as many people I know like the colour pink and do own pink phones, etc. Where I take issue is the fact that there are often no other colours to chose from. Sure, black, white, and pink are fine colours, but where are the blues, the reds, or, my personal favourite, the greens? Here’s where the sexism comes out–the only non-standard colour that is available is designed to appeal to a specific gender or perceived market. There’s nothing wrong with women who like pink technology; the real problem is with companies who only make those products because they’re generalising the preferences of women without any regard to consumers in general.
I would argue that this is more a case of the technology market responding to society’s gender biases rather than the technology market being biased in and of itself. How many couples, no matter how equally their views of genders, buy blue items for their baby boy and pink items for their baby girl? The fictitious colour dichotomy is one of the most insidious biases and starts quite early.
Sure, some women don’t like pink, and some men do. But when one starts seeing polls indicating more women like pink phones, why should it be surprising when pink has traditionally been a “girl’s colour”?
That being said, I think it is the right idea to address gender biases in technology marketing–we have to work toward gender equality in all facets of society.
Quote: "If men and women are marketed to differently, is that a legitimate reflection of a difference in tastes, interests, and approach, or is it blanket sexism?"
It depends. I market very specifically to women…based on what I think is a very legitimate difference in the ways men and women communicate. If that makes me sexist…then that's OK with me!
In my experience in the SEO industry, firms run by men tend to do the work, tell you they're done, and move on to the next job. Women want to know what exactly was done, where their money went, and what to expect as far as results. They want to know short and long term strategy; not just that a series of tasks were completed.
I believe there are definitely different strategies in marketing to women and advertisers would be well advised to take note. However, to stereotype all women into a pink loving, glitter toting, giggling girls is like regressing 50 years of progress. Personally, I and both my daughters have never like anything pink. I don't think it's anything that was taught, but just personal taste.
Research showed that when Porsche released a sport-utility vehicle designed for women, sales temporarily grew, but men started to move away from the brand, on the basis that it had compromised its masculine image. But in this recession, having a tarnished brand is better than having no brand at all.
So, how do brands keep everyone happy? I suppose it would have been fine if Porsche had only released pink SUV's with glitter steering wheels.
it sometimes difficult to select the right kind of mens clothing but there are helpful buying guides on the internet **,
I don' t think that it is sexism. I do not feel like technology promoted to men only. But also there is something to be said about knowing your audience. I know a lot of women don't want to deal with technology, a lot of them are older women, so why spend money on promoting something they don't want.