Apple and Adobe Slammed for ‘Sexist’ Photoshop Fix Demo That Made a Woman Smile

[rexbobcat]

Apple and Adobe Slammed for 'Sexist' Photoshop Fix Demo That Made a Woman Smile

 

[JacaRanda]

 

[Designer]

I don't get it. Why is there some kind of uproar over this? Who are these people who are complaining? They're selling software, folks! Either you find it useful or you don't, but sexist? I don't understand.

 

[rexbobcat]

They think it reinforces the Western patriarchal power structure in which men feel entitled to women.

IE: Men harassing women on the street by catcalling and telling them to smile

 

[Ysarex]

Really should have used a photo of Saint Steve.

Joe

 

[Designer]

They think it reinforces the Western patriarchal power structure in which men feel entitled to women.

IE: Men harassing women on the street by catcalling and telling them to smile

A stretch at most.

Thanks for the interpretation.

 

[Tuonenlapsi]

Really should have used a photo of Saint Steve.

Joe

View attachment 107949

This is so offensive! YOU ARE OFFENDING THE MEMORY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR STEVE JOBS!

 

[limr]

Okay, here's a question for you guys: How many of you have been approached by a random stranger and told that you would look so much nicer if you just smiled? If so, how many times has it happened? Once? Twice? 1,258?

And I'm not saying that they did anything horribly wrong, but it IS annoying that so much of this technology is being driven by the "need" to make women's faces prettier. As for the more overtly sexist part, the software is a "fix" and using this demo suggests that a woman not smiling needs to be "fixed." There was nothing wrong with the original photo, but apparently the model needed to be "fixed" into someone who was less threatening and more sexually inviting.

They really could have come up with a better demo, a true "fix." How about half-closed eyes, for example? Someone caught saying the "ch" instead of the "eeeese"? I mean, it's an app for selfies and cell phone snaps, after all.

 

[BananaRepublic]

I thought Steve Jobbs refused to allow adobe to be associated with Apple products because they were incompetent but I suppose Jobbs is a corpse and cash is king. Here is something else interesting Apple owes Ireland 19 billion dollars.

 

[Designer]

Okay, here's a question for you guys: How many of you have been approached by a random stranger and told that you would look so much nicer if you just smiled?

Not in so many words, but if someone manipulated my photo and did it artfully, I would have no objection.

 

[The_Traveler]

Okay, here's a question for you guys: How many of you have been approached by a random stranger and told that you would look so much nicer if you just smiled? If so, how many times has it happened? Once? Twice? 1,258?

Just a few times but when I did smile, she smiled back and I really felt so pretty it made my day.
_________________________________________________________________
The genders are unequal in many ways - and interest in the physical attractiveness of whatever one sees as the object of their desire is one of them.
This may be an appropriate issue and Adobe should respond.
But it really seems a meta-response to an issue that is otherwise unmanageable.

The real problem is, in this world as we have it, women make incredible efforts to 'look good', to be 'pretty'. They expend enormous amounts of effort - and money - on that and inevitably men respond to the final result. And because women do these things, men accept that as the way we should see them.

The inevitable response I expect here is that women do it because they are forced to by the male hegemony. Guess what.
Much to my surprise, I get no memos from hegemony-central asking for my approval about women's makeup, clothing, shoes, magazines etc. so that industry and fashion can proceed.
As a individual male, seems to be not my responsibility or problem.

 

[medic2230]

Okay, here's a question for you guys: How many of you have been approached by a random stranger and told that you would look so much nicer if you just smiled? If so, how many times has it happened? Once? Twice? 1,258?

And I'm not saying that they did anything horribly wrong, but it IS annoying that so much of this technology is being driven by the "need" to make women's faces prettier. As for the more overtly sexist part, the software is a "fix" and using this demo suggests that a woman not smiling needs to be "fixed." There was nothing wrong with the original photo, but apparently the model needed to be "fixed" into someone who was less threatening and more sexually inviting.

They really could have come up with a better demo, a true "fix." How about half-closed eyes, for example? Someone caught saying the "ch" instead of the "eeeese"? I mean, it's an app for selfies and cell phone snaps, after all.

Well, it probably doesn't fix the half-closed eyes so they had to make it look like it did something awesome to sell it.

 

[Overread]

Okay, here's a question for you guys: How many of you have been approached by a random stranger and told that you would look so much nicer if you just smiled? If so, how many times has it happened? Once? Twice? 1,258?

I just get called Jesus sometimes



It does seem that this is an example where the individual event is pretty minor; but that its representative of a culmination of little ones that amount to a general direction. However the issue is muddied because whilst you can argue that a lot of technology is driven by sexist desires to "improve" women; many women similarly want to have these technologies developed.

So its a vicious cycle; although at present it does seem to favour the female gender over the male. IT might just be a phase in overall product marketing mantra - ergo put a woman on it and it will sell (rather like in fantasy if you put a dragon on the front cover its said to boost your sales potential). Sometimes its mantra/theory because there is little to counter and once its working it reinforces itself; which makes it very hard to change because there is a lot of evidence to prove that it does "work".

 

[wyogirl]

I get accused of Resting Bi**h Face all the time... I'm ok with it.

 

[jake337]

I'm just trying to figure out why apple was even advertising it like it's something new.

An editing app on my phone called Cymera could do that years ago.