BU Women Won a Contest Everyone Wishes Didn't Exist
Bloomberg Businessweek didn’t make many friends when it posted an online poll asking readers which business school has the most attractive female students. After backlash in the comments and on social media, the magazine took the poll down, but hey, as a silver lining, we offer you the fact that when Google cached the page, Boston University women were tied for the lead… ?
Okay, it’s not much of a silver lining. Daily Dot reports that after a day, Businessweek removed the poll from the site without comment. Many of the angry comments still exist on Google’s cache page, including this one:
BusinessWeek, this demeans women by suggesting our function is to be ‘decorative’, demeans those considering business school by suggesting this is a ‘story that matters’, and demeans your publcation by suggesting that you think this kind of thing is acceptable. Next time you run an article about why there are fewer women than men in business schools, look in the mirror and consider the impact of this juvenile, belongs-in-the-1950’s poll.Yeah, we don’t expect Boston University to be posting about this poll on their website anytime soon.
And:
Nothing says “We don’t take women in business seriously” like ranking women based on their looks. This demeans every woman who works at your magazine, every woman you’ve ever covered, and pretty much every woman ever. And it is meant to. Know that this is intentional sexism. Whomever was responsible for publishing this knew exactly what kind of message it sent. That it got sent from BUSINESSWEEK makes it all the more stunning. Fix. This. Fast.
Yes, we don’t imagine Boston University will be advertising their performance in this poll that everyone wishes didn’t exist.
