IBM angers women in science and tech with #HackAHairdryer campaign

Irish Examiner ^ | 12-7-2015

[Citizen Zed]

IBM seems to have made a bit of a faux pas with a campaign that was supposed to encourage more women to work in science and technology.

But women in the industry are pretty insulted with the computer giant's online campaign asking women to use a hairdyer of all things to experiment with.

They tweeted a video (which has since been deleted) explaining that less than three in ten science and engineering jobs are held by women. So the idea was probably in good faith, but in future they may want to get a second opinion on how best to dispel stereotypes rather than reinforcing them.

It said: "Show the world that work shouldn't be defined by what people think of you, but by the way you think... let's blow away the misconception, dissolve the stigma and blast through the bias, and bring innovation culture into balance. How? Hack a hairdryer - you, a wind blaster, and an idea... Hack heat, reroute airflow, reinvent sound."

Ironically, the aim was to "re-engineer misconceptions about women in tech" Doh.

Cue the mocking...

@IBM shame I don't use a hairdryer. I guess that's the end of my career in STEM. Brb quitting my astrophysics PhD. #HackAHairDryer - Jessica V (@ThatAstroKitten) December 7, 2015

Sorry @IBM i'm too busy working on lipstick chemistry and writing down formulae with little hearts over the i s to #HackAHairDryer - Jennie Rosenbaum (@minxdragon) December 7, 2015

@IBM shame I don't use a hairdryer. I guess that's the end of my career in STEM. Brb quitting my astrophysics PhD. #HackAHairDryer - Jessica V (@ThatAstroKitten) December 7, 2015

Here, @IBM. My lady brain came up with this for #HackAHairDryer. Kuhn would declare it paradigm shifting, surely. pic.twitter.com/QTfWwnFolB - Jo Alabaster (@joalabaster) December 7, 2015

Hey @IBM - Margaret Hamilton was too busy writing code to get us to the moon to f*ck w/ a hairdryer. #HackAHairDryer pic.twitter.com/MCaA7Gh4iV - Trepanning For Gold (@reubenacciano) December 7, 2015

Because for 2015, no one could believe how dated the premise was.

@IBM For a company that prides itself on the future of technology I'm surprised your ideologies are taken from the 1800s #HackAHairDryer - sam price (@s_pricetag) December 7, 2015

How to make progress in equality: start treating women like modern human beings instead of the 1950s housewife trope. #HackAHairDryer - Sage Franch (@theTrendyTechie) December 7, 2015

I'm sure someone at @IBM would have considered and dropped vacuum cleaner before #hackahairdryer - thereby seeing idiocy of their plan! - bcsharland (@hopsbitsphotons) December 7, 2015

FYI @IBM & everyone else - you can promote getting women into science without ALWAYS relating it to cosmetics & hair care. #HackAHairDryer - Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) December 7, 2015

[pepsi_junkie]

I was in a work training event on diversity where white guys like me get lectured to by everyone else that we're all bad. They're just great times. Anyway, the topic of male/female dynamics came up and the example was holding a door for a lady. Females were asked whether it was an appreciated courtesy or a form of microagression/harassment. The result was like 50/50 split. The penalty for offending women with a lack of courtesy is far less than offending them with "microagressions" so you let the door slam in their faces to avoid the 50% that will have you up on charges if you held it.

Nowadays working men simply need to try to avoid all interactions with female peers that aren't robotic and sterile. Here's yet one more example of someone trying to do something that they thought would be viewed as "empowering" females and they get humiliated in response.

[wally_bert]

A “fist of death” quota?

[Bigg Red]

+1

[roamer_1]

Poor geeks... never have been able to talk to chicks... It’s not their fault that they are socially awkward... It’s their fate. : D

[familyop]

[familyop]

Women should do all that they can do, especially after marriage and family structure have been ruined by anti-competition interests (feminists included). If a woman has done enough technical work to be technically inclined, then engineering or technology might be a good way for her to go. No special programs required. American men and women are both needed. Pay attention to safety precautions for doing technical work, and keep on keepin’ on. Oppose regulations that are obstacles against private property rights (owner-building) and new, small manufacturing shops.

[left that other site]

And to encourage more muzzie participation, they say to hack a 1980 Radio Shack Alarm Clock.