[idan]

I don't doubt it was done with the best of intentions, but this is exactly the sort of thing which makes women feel unwanted in our industry—thoughtless reduction of girls to sex objects.

Put your money (well, time) where your mouth is—go change the text! A minimal change makes all the difference:

"…when you insert pics of models, so here…" "Replace all pictures of models with a photo of your…"

[musHo_sk]

Fixed.

[idan]

No, it isn't. "Nice girls"?

Models are attractive people. The terms works for both sexes. Ask yourself why there has to be any reference at all to the fact that the pictures are of females. Your placeholder image leaves little doubt about that fact.

I'm trying to get an idea across to you: it isn't okay to use women as sex objects in public conversation like your site. It isn't okay to single women out, even as "nice girls." Both your image and your text make it about their sex and sexuality. Use whatever images you like on your own computer, but when it comes time to share with the internet, have some tact. Lie a little and choose something less offensive when sharing a story like this. A quick flickr search found the following pictures of attractive, presentable women:

* http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamespicsatflickr/3531188607/ * http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamespicsatflickr/4327536639/ * http://www.flickr.com/photos/chamberimages/4489201274/

Without any emphasis on women in your text, you'd still have a great contrast to the photo of your cofounder with any of these images, with none of the sexual overtones.

I wouldn't take the time to respond if I didn't care—you have some truly great design work that deserves to be shared. I'm trying to help you see the parts of it which are unacceptable, so you know not to make the same mistake next time.

And for now, seriously, just remove "nice girls". It's awkward English, regardless.

[fbaum]

"Nice girls" sticks out like a sore thumb, as if it had been thrown in to replace "hot chicks" so no one would be offended.

Oh, look! That's exactly what happened. I agree: inappropriate.

And before we get into any sort of argument of misogyny and what is or is not acceptable, I'd point out that there's good advice here: Anything taking away from your point is doing you a disservice. Stick to discussing good design choices, or the message will get lost in the din.

[musHo_sk]

Man, sorry, I give up.

[pselle]

Idan's talking about this still being up:

"All concepts and screens looks great when you insert pics of models [strike]& nice girls[/strike], so here comes a part of my secret sauce:"

There may be others I didn't catch. Thanks for fixing some of it, it stops the copy from distracting from the content.

[idan]

Don't give up, don't be sorry—just fix it!

Bonus: you learned something about writing copy for startups today. Every failure is an opportunity for a successful outcome.

[jeffclark]

It's OK to show some personality. It's even OK to offend some people sometimes.

Correction: he learned something about writing copy for idan today.

[mnicole]

No, Idan's point was incredibly valid and I'm glad that the creator cared enough to make efforts to fix it.

[kika]

I literally loved the line 'lie a little'.

The guy decided not to lie and was smashed. Welcome to the 21st century western civilization. Lie a little and you'll be okay.

[danso]

Thank you. Before someone chimes in calling you a PC prick, it should be pointed out that sexism concerns aside, using "nice girls" is redundant and a waste of copy. Hopefully that appeals to the naysayers practical sense.