
The only women to appear on stage at Apple’s event on Tuesday were the models in video presentations showcasing the Apple Watch and other new products.
Once again, following the group of male-only speakers at WWDC in June, the event that launched the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and the Apple Watch was missing a key demographic during on stage presentations.
It’s a blatant omission in the wake of Apple’s public efforts to increase diversity, most recently by releasing diversity statistics that reflect the gender and race imbalance at the company. Additionally, Apple beefed up its executive page to spotlight more diversity by featuring executives who report to Tim Cook, including two women: Lisa Jackson and Denise Young-Smith.
It’s not entirely surprising, however. Considering tech conferences are mostly male, the speakers tend to reflect the audience. But Apple’s products are made for both demographics—the company even introduced a smaller version of its smartwatch that will likely appeal to those of us women with smaller wrists.
See Also: Tim Cook Takes A Diverse Stance: Apple’s Gay And Disabled Employees Matter Too
It’s a simple fix for Apple to make—Angela Ahrendts, fashion icon and head of retail for Apple would’ve been in the perfect position to help introduce the Apple Watch, especially since CEO Tim Cook stressed how much thought went into the design to make it not only technically functional, but stylish as well.
When women were missing from the WWDC keynote stage, we called them out for it. And ReadWrite will continue to do so until Apple, and other tech companies, start putting women front and center, too.
Screenshot by Stephanie Chan for ReadWrite.