Microsoft's sexist Xbox One letter: Sure, women would rather knit

In 2013, sexism just ain’t funny. But it’s clear that Microsoft and the team that handles the advertising/marketing for Xbox One have either been watching too much Mad Men or simply didn’t get the memo. Else why would they come up with this beauty of a letter, titled ‘We got your back'?

The fully customisable letter which is obviously meant for ‘Dudes’ to hand over to their wives, girlfriends, spouses, etc is a ‘fill in the blank’ template with a series of drop down menus that give you options with which to fill the blanks.

So the letter starts like this:

“Not sure if you’ve heard, but Xbox One is now available. That means we can start playing games like ________. I know, I know. You’d rather _____ than watch me _____, but hear me out on this. Xbox One is actually for both of us. Seriously.”

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hmm. Now for the problematic part.

One of the options in the blank scroll down list for ‘You’d rather ________ than watch me _______ was ‘knit’.

Yeah that’s right. Women would rather knit than play games on the Xbox One. As one female  Twitter user pointed out, “Sooo, this is a little sexist,  @Xbox…Maybe rethink this? Sincerely, girl who prefers shooting zombies over knitting.”

Of course, thanks to the outcry that this is sexist, Microsoft has removed the words ‘knit’ and ‘slay zombies’ from the options. Knitting has been replaced with “do your taxes early.” According to Mashable, Microsoft put out a statement saying, “The letter is fully customizable and we meant no offense, but understand how the defaults could be perceived. We’re making changes to the letter defaults and apologize for the oversight.”

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However even without the knitting reference, the letter isn’t a great read for women.

One it assumes that being a woman, you’re unlikely to have heard of the launch of Xbox One.  And other options in the list include: ‘watch the water boil.’ Why any woman would want to do that is a mystery, but perhaps it is because they are ’expected’ to cook or maybe Microsoft thinks this was just super funny. Well it’s not. Macho humour at the expense of women is no longer cool Microsoft. And neither is Internet Explorer.

[caption id=“attachment_1094989” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Xbox One is seen in this file photo. Associated Press[/caption]

With a title like ‘We got your back’, the letter also assumes that women/partners who don’t care for gaming consoles are likely to say no to their spouses when it comes to buying a gaming device.

Because you know, women are so technologically challenged and just can’t handle the fuss around gaming. 

The letter then goes on to list out a bunch of reasons as to why the Xbox One would be a great device for a couple.

The first on on the list is Games which starts like this, "

Maybe you don’t LOVE games like I do, but there’s really something for everyone. While I’m playing ________, you might like ________ games. And since you were just begging me to ________, I’m willing to play ________ just ________ you. It’s a win-win!" The blank options for women/non-gamer partner include: dance, exercise, family-friendly, card and board.

Of course, the men like games like Assassins Creed, Call of Duty, and Need for Speed Rivals. Never mind that Candy Crush saga, a puzzle game about candy and chocolate has been been earning over $633,000 per day in the iOS app store alone.

Then in an effort to showcase the other abilities of the Xbox One, the letter also goes on to say that ‘We can talk on Skype with your _____ (favourite sister, mother, father, etc) whom, of course, I love dearly. Heck, we can even talk to them while we watch your favourite ________ (tv show, movie, sporting event).’

Sure women only want to Skype with their family and friends, even on an Xbox One, while men just want to do something more manly, like watch football or ‘slay zombies.’

The letter singles out women gamers as a small minority, which is not true. According to a recent study by Entertainment Software Association, in 2012, 47 percent of gamers are women in the US. The report also notes that women 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (30 percent) than boys aged 17 or younger (8 percent). So yes, the number of women gamers is by no means a minority in the US.

Microsoft may have apologised and removed the knitting reference from the ad after the outcry, but clearly this attempt at humour has been a massive fail.