Their GDC party had "at least 3" scantily clad women dancing which was seen as highly sexist, and as a result, it appears some IGDA people are stepping down from their positions in protest.

http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/28/game-designer-brenda-romero-quits-igda-following-party-with-hired-female-dancers/

The scantily clad women that brought an industry-wide cry over sexism? Below!

So.... Uh... Scantily clad, eh? Those look like somewhat standard party dresses. In fact.. they look more clothed than girls did at my High School 5 years ago. 

Sexism at its finest, apparently. Thoughts?

OMG OUTRAAAAGE!!!!!111

*yawn*

Looks like a Space Channel 5 cosplay.

big wow

not only sexism, also racism! two girls and both are white wtf

Here we go again. Anytime someone is offended we get an earful from those who say it's not. If someone is offended than it is offensive. Girls on a stage in sexy outfits doing sexy dancing. Yeah I'm sure the professional woman of GDC just loved it.

Come on guys. GDC is conference for game developer professionals. I'm all for a fun party, but is it really professional to hire dancing girls when woman have been fighting for respect in the gaming industry for decades?

You don't have to be offended for someone to be offensive to someone else. I'm not offended by the girls. I love sexy dancing girls. But it's not a bachelor party, it's and industry event.

I'd also like to point out that the whole "anything goes" and "stop being sensitive" attitude is a little inconsiderate.

Wow, you really went full throttle there! I won't bother replying to most of it, since I didn't even make those points in my OP, but I will stand by the fact that I don't think it's anything to be offended about when girls wear pretty clothing and dance. There's a difference between wearing a dress and wearing a thong! 

Also, why can't women dress pretty, dance, and still be respected? Are men not respected at events where there are men dancing on stage?

I am offended by your post so therefore by your logic it is indeed offensive. The fact is we have become too sensitive as a society and it is desensitizing us as a society to REAL issues that my indeed actually be offensive. Its the whole crying wolf thing, ppl are eventually gonna tune it all out and when someting REAL happens no one will care.

You put a sexy girl in a sexy outfit on a stage to do a sexy dance. Who is it for? It's for men to ogle at. I like to ogle at sexy girls doing sexy dances as much as the next guy, so I'm not offended. However, I can completely understand how the professional woman at GDC saw these dancing girls as undermining everything they have fought for in the industry.

Can a dancing girl be respected?  Of course, I have no disrespect for dancing girls. That's not the point. The professional woman at GDC are tired of woman being seen as nothing more than sexual objects for men's enjoyment.

The women who came to GDC are professionals that want to be respected for their contribution to video game design. One of the most important topics at this year's GDC was the portrayal of woman in video games.

Indeed.  People get offended by every damned thing.  If we all try to appease the offended people then our world will suck and be really boring.  I think that the offended people in many cases need to learn that they're annoying.

To quote Eminem (and imagine if his stuff had never been made because it was so offensive!): "You find me offensive? I find you offensive for finding me offensive!"

Nobody is forced to listen to Eminem's c-rap so he can be as offensive as he wants and if people don't like it they can avoid it. A professional event for professional game designers including woman put girls on a stage for men's pleasure. The woman there didn't know it was going to happen and even if they did it would still offend them to know that their industry still views woman as sexual objects even after decades of fighting for equality.

To say they are over sensitive is to be insensitive or at the very least shows a lack of empathy.