Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!aero-c!nadel From: bcp@CS.CMU.EDU (Benjamin Pierce) Newsgroups: soc.feminism Subject: Re: Viewing Gifs Message-ID: Date: 12 Jun 91 00:22:28 GMT References: <1991Jun11.155757.17816@aero.org> Sender: USENET News Group Software Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University Lines: 30 Approved: nadel@aerospace.aero.org Status: R Originator: nadel@aerospace.aero.org | Does anyone know why people display these pictures at the office? I | have seen a few women displaying pictures, too, so it is not only men | who do this (although men seem to be in the majority and their | pictures seem to be more, uh, graphic). I don't want to discuss | whether it is morally "right" or "wrong" (although there may be legal | consequences, as I mentioned above, if it is perceived as sexual | harassment). I just don't understand the benefit. It would seem to | be more enjoyable, and would lead to more productive work, to get your | turn-ons in private. Note that I am not asking why people enjoy these | pictures, I am asking why they enjoy them *at work*. | | On the other hand, the motive may be something else. For example, men | may do it to intimidate women (perhaps to claim their personal | territory?), and women may do it as "revenge" or to show men how it | feels to be displayed (or even for the same reasons as men, I don't | know). Perhaps these pictures are displayed for "artistic" reasons? My guess is that they're mostly for effect on folks passing through the office... not necessarily to intimidate, but to tell passersby something about the person that works there -- that he's a certain kind of cool, that he lives fast and loose, gets into bucking square company/university policy, or whatever. Two prominient occupants of my bookshelves are a bright yellow teddy bear and two long rows of math books with obscure-sounding titles. The intention behind this display doesn't seem much different, except that I'm working to present a different picture than the guy with the pinup. Benjamin Pierce