Replacing Lena GIF with Fabio GIF

http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/news/every-picture-tells-a-story/

by ALee • 13 years ago

7 6 13 years ago

flootch• 13 years ago

“I was literally the only female in this classroom with 30 men,” says Needell. “They open their textbooks and there’s Lena, and all the men start giggling. You just feel like ‘Oh, my gosh, this woman is being materialized (in a textbook)…’

What does "being materialized" mean? (marginalized? objectified? material-girl-alized?)

What year was it that all the men started giggling at that particular picture of Lena?

In order to draw attention to the sexism inherent in the use of the picture, Needell and co-author Rachel Ward recently published a paper where they rejected the use of Lena.

How is it sexist to use that picture, which is g rated, of Lena? Is it sexist to note that even across species, one sex (not always the female) is often what humans, cross culturally, agree is "prettier"? If it's not, then why would it be sexist to use a picture of an attractive woman in a paper?

http://www.amazon.com/Survival-Prettiest-Science-Nancy-Etcof...

Would it be exploitative of the scientists that write these papers to use their writing talents and skills to draw their readers in? Or to create well designed graphs that clearly and quickly communicate their points and draw the eye?

I have no problem with the authors using a picture of Fabio. I am trying to understand the claim that using a picture of Lena is somehow sexist.

(In my day it was a male baboon with a penis on its face that was the classic image.)

satori99• 13 years ago

> I am trying to understand the claim that using a picture of Lena is somehow sexist.

Probably because it was sourced from a Playboy magazine is all.

clicks• 13 years ago

> I am trying to understand the claim that using a picture of Lena is somehow sexist.

Oh come on, really now? This is the picture: http://www.ee.cityu.edu.hk/~lmpo/lenna/len_full.jpg

You don't think she's posing in a sexually suggestive way? The picture is originally from Playboy as the other comment pointed out.

srean• 13 years ago

The image used in the research papers is a tight crop around the face, and sorry to disappoint I dont find anything suggestive there. Pretty yes, suggestive no. Answers to questions like that depend a lot on the ambient culture. Some conservative cultures might find it provocative, sometimes an just and unveiled face is considered so.

Terretta• 13 years ago

That is not the picture. In two decades of computer science I'd never before seen that picture.

This is the picture: https://www.google.com/search?q=lena+image+processing&sa...

Unless the audience was 12, I'm unable to imagine a single "giggle" or "snicker" in reaction to it. Perhaps this was PR hyperbole or in the mind of the beholder.

That said, if the idea is to add Fabio to this standard set (which includes the mentioned baboon, btw) ...

http://opticalengineering.spiedigitallibrary.org/data/Journa...

... then why not. There's a benefit to a direct face shot that's less of a bonobo.

georgemcbay• 13 years ago

I can't believe it's not bilinear!

Replacing Lena GIF with Fabio GIF

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