American cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks has faced criticism for its “sexist” and “incongruous” decision to make two women wear lampshades on their heads as “props” at a recent event in Las Vegas, US. The incident, which took place at the Black Hat conference, sparked outrage on social media. The company’s Indian-origin chief executive officer (CEO) Nikesh Arora apologised on LinkedIn, calling the incident “unacceptable” and not representative of the company’s values. The idea of dressing up the women as statues seems to have been inspired by “booth babes”.
Palo Alto Networks, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, provides cybersecurity solutions.
The backlash began after a photo from the event went viral, showing women wearing the company’s branded lampshades on their heads.
The statues were part of a “Cyberrisk Collaborative Happy Hour” promotion sponsored by Palo Alto Networks.
Sean Jurowicz, a security architect and public speaker at the event who took the photo, disagreed.
“What the fuck Palo Alto Networks, is this 1960? Is this gender discrimination? In case it isn’t obvious these are real people, not wax figures,” Jurovski wrote on LinkedIn.
The idea of women’s clothing seems to be inspired by ‘booth babes’
Olivia Rose, founder and chief information security officer of RoseCISO Group, also criticized the performance on LinkedIn.
“Shame. Shame. Shame on you, both Palo Alto Networks and the CyberRisk Collaborative. So we women are just props for you? We’re at Black Hat just to be lampshade holders?? Is the purpose of these events to reflect the bright ideas in our minds or… just light bulbs? Shame on you. Just shame on you. Do better. It’s really not that hard,” Rose wrote on LinkedIn.
According to the BBC, one Reddit user also mentioned leaving the show early, describing the performance as “creepy” and “disgusting.”
In response to this protest, Indian-origin CEO Nikesh Arora apologized on LinkedIn.
“I was saddened to see this image while returning from a trip yesterday evening. This is clearly not the culture we support, or aspire to. It is not consistent with our values, nor our actions and aspirations to support and celebrate women in cybersecurity and diversify our business,” he said.
According to the BBC report, the idea for these costumes appears to have been inspired by the “booth babes” of the early Consumer Electronics Show of the 1960s.
At the time, women were hired as hostesses at events attended by mostly men. By the 1990s, the use of scantily clad women as an attraction came under fire, and by the 2010s, the practice had all but disappeared.
However, the technology industry is still predominantly male, and concerns remain about women being excluded or treated unfairly.