Dustin, you would be so happy in 'Taliban land', Saudi Arabia, or in Iran, among the places where booth babes would be unthinkable and never tolerated, at least not in any way that might offend you. Me, I am so happy to suffer the exposure to those lovely ladies at Siggraph and other shows or at car shows, or even highlighted by the Tom's Hardware crew at each of their show visits all around the world. When I go to any of the gyms, be they in Japan, the US, France, England, Spain, Italy, HK, Singapore, or Germany, I feel motivated by the ladies of all ages who seem to enjoy the gym as a place to not just build and tone their bodies, but also show them off in the most delightful ways. No one forces them to do that, and there are certainly a few who don't. When in Amman, Jordan, I was told that there are now many gyms in town, and while I enjoy spending time in gyms, I had absolutely no desire to be in a place populated entirely by swarthy males ogling each others pecs and bi's. It's the nature of the beast, and neither your grousing about it, nor the decade long attacks by feminists manage to stop males from being cheerfully exploited by lovely women placed strategically around show and exhibition floors. None of them ever changed minds on a particular product, but all of them raise the spirits and friendly atmosphere wherever they show up. I recall chatting with one of the ladies at some Siggraph show: Her sweater read "Nice Rack". She and her fellow babes happily accepted to pose with or for visitors, something that surely was not in their contract. I chatted at one of the LA Auto shows with one of the women and she said that she and her friends are excited about each new show, not just for the money involved, but because of the new products they got to learn about and briefly represent, as well as the many interesting people she would meet.
If I had my choice to live in a culture that has booth babes or one that does not, there is not even a split second's hesitation in my mind where my preferences lie.

Our culture has been strongly patriarchal for hundreds of years; if the "women as sex objects" facet of our culture is to decline it'll take a while. Ancient tribes all seem to have a strong core of women surrounded by leeching, warring, sperm-and-infrequent-animal-carcass-contributing menfolk. Despite all our progress things remain largely the same. If this extra-vague analogy is at least somewhat accurate, it's easy to think that there's a sort of "chauvinism" wired into men and a tolerance thereof wired into women (an often-begrudging tolerance, to be sure). You can leap from there to the suggestion that booth babes are an indirect outgrowth of our early social-evolutionary heritage (testosterone and gender roles and all that). I'm no evolutionary biologist or anthropoligist, mind, so take that all with a grain of salt.

I've taken photos ranging in "tameness" from advertising material to artful nude and non-intercourse erotic publications with models from untrained newbies to decades-experienced veterans. The vast majority are completely comfortable with their work — the men and women alike. There are plenty of youngins who get in over their heads, sure, but the veterans are very frank — they know exactly what they're doing and why, and they enjoy it. Even if our man-dominated, religiousness-permeated society is inherently oppressive and unjustly restrictive, people at least have ample opportunity to rise above their surroundings.

I tend to react negatively to any suggestion that sensuality, sexuality or nudity are inherently bad or shameful. I've been taught that none of those things are inherently distasteful and I work in an industry that often celebrates the intrinsic beauty of the human form. I get asked all the time by glib, self-assured, socially-conservative asshats, "So would you be okay around a fat, old naked dude, then?" I tend to answer quickly, "Yep, so long as he was hygienic. A thousand extra folds of skin will surely increase the sweat & stankiness, but that goes with being fat and old, eh? He'd just have to clean himself more often, or load up on deodorizers." Nakedness really doesn't bother me.

Ask a booth babe sometime what she thinks of her job. If she doesn't give you a rehearsed, intentionally-vague spiel about her "time with her employer" or a full-on admission that she's only in the gig for some quick cash, you'll likely find that she truly enjoys it. Apart from from the infrequent creepy gropish stalkerish stuff, mind — unfortunately that comes with the territory.

All this said, I'm supportive of most feminist causes when they make sense. When they get so crazy that they think a man offering to hold a door open for a gal is offensive, though, something's wrong. In that same token I'm a man, and when I see a sexy gal I fixate on her curvy bits —lips, chest, hips, bum and thighs— and I like it... in my pants. But I'm in my early twenties and I probably have enough testosterone for two guys my size, like all other males my age... and women realize that this is the case just as well as men do. In fact, I'd wager most women realize this fact about men long before said men are ever willing to admit it, and most of 'em seem to deal just fine with us regardless.

You're probably overreacting just a tad, but that doesn't mean there isn't some validity to your observations. In any case, I'll again assert that wide-scale change isn't going to happen quickly, if indeed it happens at all. You can't legislate women out of being able to flaunt their bodies around. Well, you can, but you'd be clearly in the wrong, I think.

BOO! I am sorry, but...this is one article I just have to comment on. Hey, I have respect for women but this is just too much. Remember back in High School the dumb chicks that got by on their looks? They were always nice and cheerful but dumb as hell. Well these chicks have to do something after HS. SOOO...since they can't function in the real world they do odd jobs like these. I say let them be. For shame on us for exploiting them, for shame. *Sarcasm* They deserve it! >:)

somebody has been reading "O" magazine lately...

a little objectification here and there keeps things in balance, we need to counteract all the Oprah

also think about this, without sexism there would have been no womens suffrage. so it does do good things for men and women.

We live in a society that makes decisions, especially employment decision, on the basis of all sorts of seemingly irrelevant criteria. Men with deeper voices tend to earn more than those with higher-pitched voices, the tall statistically-speaking earn more than the short.

Here they are are selecting women based on sex appeal. Why? Because it seems to bring men in and cause them to linger. It may or may not effect their ultimately decision to buy directly, but the time spent in a booth may, even if the primary reason for hanging out there was the eye candy and some fantasy.

Did you ever hear of Hooters? or strip clubs? or cocktail waitresses in casinos? It's the same trick in a different venue. There the women don't even pretend to have extensive knowledge of a technical product, the the menus for food and drinks, and their is to get you to spend as much as possible.

I would suspect that Jessica Alba has never been in a single move BUT FOR the expectation that if she i in it, men will watch. (They certainly not casting her on her acting ability)

The truth is that many men, for biological reasons are entertained by looking at attractive women. That entertainment exists whether the woman is hawking the latest video game, slinging drinks or walking down the street on hot day minding her own business. Companies make use of the easy entertainment to draw men in. If you are going to get riled up about it here, you should beware learning any more about what "cheerleaders" do at sporting events.

It it dehumanizing to the women? Yes and no. I am sure there are some sad sacks with mental problems who are pushed into thinking of women as organic sex-bots because they were exposed to a booth babe and misunderstood. I have to imagine that most men are able to separate the real person from the fantasy image. You'll get your occasional John Hinckley's who can't separate the fantasy and reality, but the rest of us do a pretty good job.

It is certainly not a job for everyone, but do think it pays well, and the work is, in the grand scheme of things, pretty easy. The only catch is that you have to be comfortable showing skin and talking to men you would otherwise brush off. I would imagine (living in Manhattan, where they only city blocks that do not have a bar, are those that have two or more) that most female bartenders have things worse. They also show skin (usually by choice, though the "choice" is dictated by the fact that men tip scantily clad bartendresses *way* better), but they rely on tips, the crowd is largely drunk and the bouncer is often away at the door, not over by the bar.

In that case are female bartenders who wear more revealing outfits demeaning to themselves? I know several of them, and the consensus is that it's the men to tip them based solely upon their clothing who are being played. In a way, if you think about it, men are the victims of their alcohol and hormone addled brains.

Most people here are simply missing the point.

The role of Booth Babe objectifies women. There is no way around this. Women are displayed as bling to attract attention to other merchandise. Whether the women do this voluntarily or even enjoy it does not make it any less an objectification of a human being. In fact, it is not the Booth Babe who is the potential "victim" in this circumstance, as Sklavos correctly pointed out - as for them, if they do this of their own free will, the attention may be empowering - but the people for whom the Booth Babes were hired to attract.

The relevant debate is whether or not objectification of people is ever acceptable, and, if so, when and in what form?

As some have alluded to here already, athletes are equally objectified. Not for their "sexiness", but for their ability to run fast, etc. The thing is, when you get right down to it, any type of idolatry is objectification. Why do we idolize and thereby objectify? Because we want these traits for ourselves. Weather it is to be able to bring the ball to the hoop and have the fame and wealth of Lebron James, or to be able to gratify carnal appetites by engaging in sexual fantasies with someone as physically attractive as some of these Booth Babes.

So when is this objectification "wrong"? It depends on our values. Our society reveres hard work, dedication and exceptional degrees of natural ability and even exceptional good fortune. It is rarely contested when we idolize or objectify athletes, actors or even business people, etc, who have used these traits to earn fame and wealth. Again, would anyone have much of a moral issue if AMD hired Lebron James to stand and sign autographs at one of their booths?

Ergo, objectification is only wrong if what is being objectified is considered base and depraved.

So the million dollar question: Are what the Booth Babes convey to the attendee considered base and depraved?

In my opinion there is no straightforward answer. If Booth Babes simply provide opportunities for people to appreciate aesthetically pleasing specimens of the human form, then perhaps not. However, if they evoke feelings and appetites that are considered depraved, then perhaps. I think the reason why this is such a difficult debate is that one individual may pass an attractive Booth Babe, acknowledge her beauty and sexual desirability and have a slight feeling of awe and thankfulness that nature can create such beauty. A second, however, might suddenly begin to feel sexual urges and feelings of lust that catch them off guard and make them have urges to react in ways that either the individual or society deems to be depraved.

Moreover, our society is continually struggling with whether the enticement of lust is an acceptable tool to use to achieve other ends. If you believe in the sanctity of monogamous romantic relationships, then lust after multiple women, as in the case of the second example described in the proceeding paragraph, is generally considered depraved. If you believe that more liberal "no strings" sexual relationships are perfectly virtuous, than perhaps a lustful response is just fine.

Make no mistake, the issue of whether Booth Babes are acceptable has everything to do with what society and you as an individual believe is acceptable to objectify. To reiterate, the potential victims are the people for which the Booth Babes are hired to entice and not the Booth Babes themselves. To exemplify this, take drug addiction. No one that I know of reveres drug addiction, a state where other aspects in an addicts life becomes increasingly compromised in the service of the next fix. Here it is clear that the victim is the addict and absurd to say that it is the drug dealer.

From the perspective of the unfortunate few who live with the ordeal of experiencing sex as an addiction, it is possible to condemn any practice that may evoke unhealthy lustful urges, and thereby condemn the Booth Babe. Yet if there are many more others that, have a healthy, balanced perspective on sex, who merely regard Booth Babes as an opportunity to behold nature's beauty, perhaps they are harmless.

So, do we ban all public forms of sexuality to ease the plight of the unfortunate "degenerates" out there? Maybe we should if they make up a substantial proportion of our society - but then this is suggestive of a more important underlying flaw with the human condition - otherwise what's so wrong with the Booth Babe? After all, we don't ban alcohol in spite of the prevalence of alcoholics. We tried that once. Should we again?

Edit: In all my pedantic ramblings, I forgot to answer Dustin's question:

Yes, Booth Babes do do something for me as I appreciate attractive women. However, I agree that any notion a company has that having these women at their booth will get me to buy their product is at least somewhat insulting to my intelligence as an informed consumer. However, if they are merely hired to turn heads so that the booth will be noticed, then I guess, as far as I'm concerned, they are doing their job. But then, if a booth had an exotic car, or a recognizable celebrity of any type - or god forbid - an especially cool looking PC-related display, my interest would be just as peeked, albeit for different reasons.

I can just imagine - a booth babe operating an impressive PC-related gadget installed in an exotic car! Drooool.....

It would make this blog post more persuasive (or not) if you would have asked some booth babes their opinion. Do they enjoy doing this? Do they feel offended or objectified? How do they feel about it? Because, to be blunt, you aren't them.

That said, I like beautiful women. And though there are plenty of sites on the internets to find beautiful women, that's not these beautiful women. Each woman is unique, and each one we get to see makes the world a more beautiful place. I could care less about whether it's an effective sales tactic or not. I honestly don't choose my hardware based on eye candy, but that doesn't mean my eyes don't like candy.

I can understand your predicament. I believe you are the sort of male who spends a lot of time thinking deeply about the things around you. I am the same way. The majority doesn't give a damn about these issues because as per my own observation, lots of people have artificially handicapped their brains by limiting their thought processes to their immediate needs. They essentially waste all their mental energy on chasing various goals that they have determined to be important to their life's success. As a result, very few of us are left who think philosophically enough to understand the ramifications of the trends in the ever-evolving behavior demonstrated by the masses. Sex and nudity are being portrayed by the mainstream media as something to be proud and unabashed of. After all, that's how nature made us. So why shy away from it? And yet, there's a voice in our head that keeps telling us that something just isn't right. Most people succeed in silencing this voice by pretending that they don't hear it. But deep thinkers are compelled by this very voice to seek out the source of discomfort arising from the issues concerning sex and nudity. Most intelligent human beings would consider sex to be a debasing instinct that comes in the way of letting humanity solve its problems. And yet in our collective infinite wisdom, we have allowed greed and capitalism to exploit this human weakness to turn the male portion of the masses into mindless zombies who will eagerly gulp down anything advertised with seductive overtones. We are essentially on a path towards evolving into better animals instead of better human beings. The drawbacks of such a form of evolution? Family values will die eventually and relations will become meaningless. All that will remain will be meatbags having sex anywhere they want with anyone they desire. Humans will end up devolving their brains in return for a world of pleasure and comfort. If such a future sounds promising to most of you, by all means do your part in accelerating humanity towards such a pathetic fate.

Jesus.

Some days, I would like to transport all these 'sensitive' Americans to a 3rd World country for a few months, so they can see things that are *really* worth getting upset about.

This blog entry (and many of the ensuing comments) read like something a privileged, uppity, liberal New Yorker would whine about while sipping a latte and wearing a beret. Ugh.

I'm going to write you a prescription for a chill pill. Have you ever actually seen a meth addict?

What a long-winded, silly tirade. I mean, really? Models have been around forever. I personally think booth babes are kind of corny, but I don't get all angsty about it and wax philosophical about the sexual depravity, chauvinism, and intelligence of those who like to *shock* look at a pretty girl *shock* once in a while. Geez, and I thought I was a curmudgeon.

Was my post deleted?
Edit: it was on the next page. Never mind...

Clearly the booths need some scantily clad men as well, to even out this imbalance.

That's why DNF is dead.
No one loves Babes anymore.

Someone post that pic of the knight in shining armor who saved 30 internet maidens and got awarded with zero sex

LOL

Oh shut up already, they are eyecandy for the geeks........get over yourself would you? I am willing to bet you would not be complaining if they had booth studs out there.....lol

I would much rather see intelligent, attractive nerd girls at a booth than just BOOBS. Similar to how some car shows are run now. Sure it's still taking advantage of women but I don't think it's as degrading.

Dustin Sklavos, you obviously don't know much about women.Most women, if not all of them, love and enjoy attention.And putting those USELSS babes there, is absolutely.......normal.

You are a bit too modern and open minded.
Sadly human stupidity and the "big boys" reliance on it is the bread and butter of society. I couldn't agree more and, I couldn't care less for the cheap advertising gimick..gimme HARDWARE.
Two thumbs for you, for trying to write something half intelligent to our mostly dumbass world.
On a side note - how many of you entered thinking "Booth babe pics"?

I was just doing some work in a library (kiosk machines dammit) and picked up a book on symbolism in art. Maybe that's what's missing--classy fruit bowls to raise up the ooh-la-la factor.

That and the Inq posted their booth babes story:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1356927/singapore-girls-ko...

Booth babes are a "symtom" of the male visual response. That was created by evolution and is quite old. Society's use of sex to sell things has increased quite a bit in the last century, but that doesn't make me dislike attractive women, or their presence at an event. They're free to do something else.

Methinks thou dost protest too much...

C'mon, gimme a break. If you can't handle being in the presence of hot chicks then just ignore them. Don't try to ruin it for the rest of us guys who have no problem dealing with it. Sheesh!

I really like this social commentary thing you have going! You write intelligently and think coherently, so it's meaningful and entertaining to read.

Hardware is an Art. Woman is a Beauty. Art without Beauty is a garbage.

Obviously these women are incapable of doing anything else, so what's the harm? They get a job, we get boners, its win-win.

As an 29 year old male with heterosexual orientation I can only say one thing :
Booth babes FTW!

The only "booth babe" that was awesome at GDC 2007 was the co-owner/developer at the Sins of a Solar Empire booth.

That chick was RAD!

Although considering the prominence of Asian companies in this industry, I think the fact that the booth babes are more often than not young asian girls further degrades this "unsavory practice" as you put it. I think the racial gap makes the process of objectification all the more easy for any sex-starved anime junkie nerds wandering the E3 floors.

I suggest that discussions about the morality of this should be broken up into two topics.. whether it's wrong for the girls to want to work in this area, and whether it's wrong for companies to want girls to work in this area.

In my opinion, you can't really fault a girl for making a choice to work like this.. it's easy money I'm sure and they're hardly getting treated poorly.

The bigger problem, as some people have already pointed out, are the companies' willingness to do whatever they can to get a few more sales.

The only problem I have with the presence of booth babes is that it further exacerbates the chronic lack of females working in this industry. I'm tired of working in a sausage-fest because issues like this perpetuate the dorky image of computer geeks and scare away potential females from technology careers.

Booth babes are only there because EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING IT. Think about it -- the first company to ever use booth babes got a bunch of attention from it. So all the others copycatted it, and now they are all just doing the same thing to be like everyone else. Nobody wants to be the only booth without babes.

The exact same thing would happen if one booth starting giving out free beer. The next year (and for all future shows), ALL the booths would be giving out free beer, because no one would DARE have a booth without free beer.

But blame marketing for the presence of booth babes, not human instinct. Getting outraged because males are hardwired to like looking at females just seems pointless because that's NEVER going to change.