Last week Forbes’ Style File section released an article offering fashion advice for women professionals attending E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) which has since received a flurry of backlash from females and males in social communities. With an ongoing struggle to fight sexism in the gaming industry still close at bay, contributing fashion writer Kristina Moore seemed to unknowingly feed into the problem which had many users thinking (and hoping) the article had to be satire, but alas, this was intended as no joke.
Users’ main qualms with the article were that the author seemed to completely miss the mark on the pulse of the industry.
“How do you convey credibility in promoting your game, your studio and yourself at the convention in a room full of guys gawking at larger-than-life, theme-park-like attractions and scantily clad ‘booth babes,’ “asked the Moore, which seemed to imply that appearance was the sure fire way to garner that validity. The intended rhetorical question was answered in two fold across social.
“Let me get this straight — not only are women being told that they need to dress a certain way to have any credibility at E3 (definitely not like one of those booth babes! nothing below a scoop neck!), they’re also being told to later dress themselves in a completely ridiculous outfit to fit in,” user Jessy Ellenberger said in the comment thread.
In fact, so many disgruntled users took to social media channels to vent, that Forbes social media manager Kashmir Hill took to the comment thread to offer an explanation. “This article is getting negative feedback in the comments and on social channels. (I manage Forbes social media team, and we’ve alerted the editor of this page.) I think part of the problem here is contextual. The Forbes Style File is a page on Forbes that offers fashion advice to women, mainly in professional settings. Given that filter, it’s on topic to provide clothing suggestions for women attending a male-dominated conference while acknowledging the continuing debate over ‘booth babes’ and the discomfort that results for women in attendance.”
But Hill’s #1reasonwhy the article was topical still could not make up for one commentary in the piece that sent users to vent on social. At one point in the text the author completely misses the mark on the post-apocalyptic term, steam punk, for the genre of style and music, punk. Although, the article has since been updated and that was the first faux pas edited out.
In her defense Moore took to the comment thread to offer her response to the community, “I am a staunch defender of women being all they can be in the professional and business world, and because I am passionate about style, I see it as a tool for empowerment for women. It should be totally their choice of whatever they wear, just as long as it lets them feel self-confident in every situation they find themselves. If they don’t need it as a tool, then that’s their choice. I just see style as a dynamic introductory tool for women (and men).”
All controversy aside, the [a]list daily attended the event (interviews to come!) and did not see too “many bright blazers and neon cross body bags” in attendance.
Source: Forbes
