Sexism and Affiliate Marketing
Why is our industry so unabashedly sexist?
“Sex sells! We are targeting affiliate marketers who happen to be mostly men. So what?”
It’s the “so what” factor that is the most disturbing. We sit by and allow companies to hire out “booth babes” or prominently place and display young women who we deem as “eye candy” in our booths to draw in traffic at industry conferences. Then we glorify this on industry blogs and laugh and play along while stroking our delicate and insecure self images.
Sickening.
And, even worse, God forbid a female speak out against something as perverse as Shoemoney’s “Booth Babe” contest from this year’s AdTech. Lauren Kolodisner spoke up about the portrayl of one of her employees and is currently being ridiculed by Shoemoney himself and his merry band of blog commenters.
Disugsting.
I was told not to post this from many good friends because it would “start a firestorm.” I don’t care. I’m sick and tired of this incessant and accepted blatant sexism that pervades our industry.
My wife is pregnant and this sort of thing turns my stomach for our son or daughter (we find out the sex next week). If it’s a girl, I want the child to be able to look up to the industry and business that her dad participates in, since it provides so much for our family. However, the presence of booth babes, “so what?” attitudes and ridicule against those who speak up about how horrible sexism is for the bright and professional young women in our industry makes me filled with shame.
Ironically, it’s the men in our industry who are the biggest fools for falling for the lame marketing of booth babes and the bloggers who draw in traffic by promoting them.
It’s no wonder affiliate marketing (and online marketing as evidenced at AdTech) have such an image problem.
