[Publib] Brilliant Database Marketing Campaign

[K.G. Schneider]

I've used humor on another list to comment on the mudflap, since a
serious response would label me as a humorless feminist, blah blah blah,
but having worked in masculine professions, I know what Diedre's talking
about. Relax, girly-girl, can't you take a joke, hardy har har... after
all, if it's ok with the librarians...

I mean, it's not the most terrible thing I've ever encountered, but it
shows a willingness to buy in to the habit of female objectification for
the price of appearing hip-and-cool. Like I've said in other contexts,
we're so uncomfortable with how we are seen (which shares some reality
with who we really are) that at times we go overboard in the wrong
direction, with results that are unintentionally funny. Mostly my
reaction is that there's a subtle but important point being missed here,
like that scene in "Brother from Another Planet" where the aliens try to
blend in but then order beer on the rocks. 

The fact that most posters refer to the image as a "girl" (and in fact,
this is how the file is labeled) when it is clearly a fully-developed
woman underscores my point. Also, the people claiming on various lists
that the woman on the mudflap isn't "nekkid" (to use the word I used)
are simply self-deluding. 

It's not keeping me up at night, or occupying my daytime concerns, but
as a cultural observation on our profession, it's at least interesting. 

K.G. Schneider