Booth babes are people, usually women, employed to staff booths at trade shows and use their sexual attractiveness to entice people to buy the products being advertised. Frequently they are dressed in demeaning outfits and pose for pictures with attendees.

These can be a problem because:

1. they ignore women of any sexual orientation who may be making buying decisions (see Invisibility)
2. they can contribute to an uncomfortable sexualized environment for female attendees

Examples Edit

• E3 Girls -- a website devoted to booth babes at the E3 trade show
• Naked/bodypainted booth babes at CeBIT
• CeBIT booth babes Sydney 2009
• Booth babes at Interop '07

Wow! The booth babes were incredible. These shows never cease to amaze me. Every other booth had models sporting ultra slinky spandex wear showing off their products trying to draw you in to their booths. It works!

• WWDC Highlights: No (Wo)Man's Land

Responses Edit

• Seriously, stop with the booth babes
• Has the security industry outgrown booth babes?
• Booth babes rant in relation to the idea of booth babes at Perl conferences

Am I being sensitive? Yes. Of course. I have feelings and issues and all that good stuff. But, it's true that women (and MEN) are sensitive about their bodies. I think technical women are a special breed that can look beyond the booth babes and see the swag. But if we're trying to push the envelope on attracting smart vibrant talented women into computing, I think the booth babes only serve to alienate a sizeable portion of your population. People are sensitive. If you say "well screw them, they weren't made out for it" you're being a boys club that discourages diversity and evolution of the computing culture.

• ad:tech San Francisco: Why booth babes are a mistake
• Booth Babes: or, Let's Use Women's Bodies to Make Some Money! by Shanley Kane
• Booth babe ban: we must support EG Expo’s initiative
• Article on the sexist dicscourse around booth babes as geek culture posers as opposed to paid models

Events with booth babe bans Edit

• Eurogamer 2013+
• Alt-S

PAX and PAX East 2011+ prohibits outright booth babes but have loopholes. Cosplay is okay.

Further readingEdit

• The Business Case Against Booth Babes in Fast Company