I am not a woman in tech. I’m a writer (of the female gender) and my chosen beat happens to be tech. I work in the technology space. Ironically my day job (yes, I have one) is at a specialised engineering company where I handle their communications portfolio as well as their product development and funding. The company develops and manufactures a host of specialised product relating directly to fixed fire suppression systems and fire engineering. The company has international subsidiaries and is the only one of its kind in Africa. I work with some of the leading fire engineering and “tech” brains in the country.
I still do not consider myself a “woman in tech”.
While I work in the space I’d never dare consider myself on a par with some of the incredible women I’ve had the opportunity to come in to contact with – coders, developers, CEOs, engineers and the like. In my time at my day job I’ve experienced sexism but then, I’ve experienced it trying to do a transaction at a bank too. Sexism exists. More so in male dominated technology related fields. There is a gender gap and I’m not ignoring it.
But I don’t want to talk about gender gaps in male dominated fields. I want to talk about the media, marketing and the general consumer.
When you develop a product part of the process is determining who your target market is. Not everything can be sold to everyone. Target markets can be gender specific. When it comes to consumer goods they generally are. This is not sexist. This is business.
Women and men love gadgets but they want different things from them. It’s why I felt MTN needed a woman on their judging panel for the app awards. Not because we’re the same and should be treated as such but because for the general consumer, our gender sometimes dictates we want different things from an app or a gadget.
LG Mobile South Africa recently launched the G3 Beat to the local media. It’s the “smaller” version of the LG G3. It’s a gorgeous phone and, you know what, it is ideally suited to a female. It is not “a phone for girls” but, if one looks at its price point and its offerings it would be easy to pigeon box it as the ideal phone for a 20 something female. I have no issue saying that. In the same way I have no issue saying that I think a Blackberry Z3 is ideally suited for a male varsity student.
It’s not sexist.
LG decided to launch the phone to the media with two separate events. The first was a high tea with a considerable number of female media. Mixed in among the female tech media were ladies from mainstream lifestyle media publications. We were not “spared” the tech talk as has been insinuated by some on social media (who were not in attendance). At no time was the event condescending or discriminatory. It was informative and it was also a fun networking opportunity. We enjoyed a high tea, discussed the phone and got a chance to have one on one meetings with the relative LG bigwigs. I also loved that lifestyle media were invited and not just “tech”. Something I believe should have happened long ago at these things.
The phone is marketed at twenty something women. So what better way to promote this then to put your twenty something female media in a room together and engage with them?
Later that evening LG hosted a small dinner for a very select group of male tech media to introduce them to the phone. In all fairness I believe this was an attempt by the brand to be inclusive and ensure no male media felt “left out”. It was made very clear from the get go who the target market was and the reasoning behind the separate events. I’m yet to hear one female who attended announce that she felt it was sexist or exclusionary.
LG has a product and they’ve identified a target market. They then hosted an event to introduce the product to the media that talks to said target market. That media happens to be primarily female, so they decided to host a gender specific event.
It was the same presentation used at both the events, which were just hosted separately. It covered the same content, and there was no “dumbing down” of content shared at the ladies only event, as LG covered the technical aspects of the phone too, for the “techies” in the room.
How is this any different from female exclusive talks such as Wired Women? The conference’s aim may be to empower women, but at a cost of more than 2.5k a ticket – this is also a product being sold. Said product is marketed by various media who communicate with the target market. Tech Girl has even promoted it! The product is the conference, the opportunity to network and listen to well-known female speakers discuss female focused issues (a bit like a phone that solves a few female specific problems). It also happens to be a female only event.
I see zero difference. Both have a target market of primarily females and both are exclusively for females to discuss issues that affect females, be it phone related or industry related.
Would I be upset if a smartphone brand held a men’s only event? Not at all. Remember that engineering company I mentioned before? Well we have a product aimed at a certain sector and decision makers in said sector happen to primarily be males over the age of 40. I’ve been the brainchild behind Whiskey tasting evenings and golf days that made a point of promoting a “boys’ day out “ type feel.
Does this mean I’m increasing the gender gap? No. I’m marketing a product to the target market, which is my job. Sometimes I do my job well. At my company they commend us when we do a good job. It’s a great way to build morale and spirit.
It’s also something I think we need to do more of. In the tech space, hell in the female space. Let’s start focusing on the positive, on the good, on how brands are being more inclusive and incorporating female focused plans in to their business practices. Let’s celebrate all female teams behind tech brands, female thought leaders in the field and females in general.
Let’s celebrate. Let’s promote. Let’s do something positive.
There isn’t anything sexist about the comment “all women do is moan” if it is true.
