

Replacing Lena GIF with Fabio GIF - ALee
http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/news/every-picture-tells-a-story/

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flootch
_“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...](http://www.amazon.com/Survival-Prettiest-Science-Nancy-
Etcoff/dp/0385479425)

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.)

~~~
clicks
> 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.

~~~
Terretta
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...](https://www.google.com/search?q=lena+image+processing&safe=off)

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...](http://opticalengineering.spiedigitallibrary.org/data/Journals/OPTICE/24272/OE_51_10_100901_f010.png)

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

------
georgemcbay
I can't believe it's not bilinear!

