Netbooks for Wymyn
Dell has launched a web site targeted to women called “Della.” It pretty much shows thin, attractive, racially diverse, empowered women giggling over their Lattes while surfing the Internet in their stylish new computers. Under Technical Advice the web site informs these empowered women that computers can be used for more than e-mail. You can use your computer to find fabulous recipes! And you can buy a computer with a color that matches your shoes! OMG!!!!
http://content.dell.com/us/en/home/della-products.aspx
I checked with my daughter who is a Chemical Engineering major and she agrees that such a web site is offensive on many levels.
I suddenly want to burn my bra!
ReplyDeleteNice one Paul!
ReplyDeleteFabulous! I love seeing capitalism at work. I support their every right to buy an over-expensive laptop that matches their style. Wish I'd thought of it first.
ReplyDeleteAnd the complaints are rolling in already, like this article from msnbc: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30709961
ReplyDeleteTo me, this website is humorous in that it does have some stereotypes there, but at the same time I can't see how it portrays women as if it were 1959. I think the tone and organization, color scheme and so on of the site is similar to what you see at sites of women clothiers, for example, so I guess I'm not that excited about it. Women do prefer smaller and lighter PCs for obvious reasons, generally speaking, as well as "cuter" devices -- look at cell phones, for example.
So while some aspects of the site are silly ("it does more than check your email" .. lol), overall the idea of marketing to women separately is not an inherently silly one, particularly right now where women are the ones who have not been laid off.
Correcto. BTW, I often find engineering-type women hate getting lumped in with the girly-girls.
ReplyDelete