1. In defense of our defensiveness:
 
We aren't the only profession that's sensitive about appearances.  I used to
work in publishing and my second job was editorial assistant to an accounting
texts editor.  I distinctly remember that one of the accountants' professional
journals had an entire column every issue devoted to slurs & stereotyping of
accountants.
 
2. Maggie Zeller makes a good point. The Saturn ad portrays a real librarian.
But the larger issue is that the Saturn advertisers chose a woman who conforms
to the stereotype, because stereotypes sell.
 
3. Even if you as an individual librarian do not care how you are portrayed,
consider the consequences to our profession of being so portrayed. It
definitely matters that a relatively low-paying & female-dominated profession
has a consistently negative stereotype attached to it. The way in which our
patrons view us and value us is very much affected by these stereotypes.
 
I wonder how my young son is going to feel about his mother's profession when
every commercial and print ad he seesgrowing up  portrays librarians as
unfriendly, fussy, asexual quiet freaks dressing out of the Godey's Lady's
Book.
 
Catherine Arnott Smith
Medical Information Systems Management Specialist
Lincoln National Reinsurance Companies
Fort Wayne, IN