In a 1999 essay on reasons for the male predominance in computer science, applied mathematician Dianne P. O’Leary wrote:
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Suggestive pictures used in lectures on image processing … convey the message that the lecturer caters to the males only. For example, it is amazing that the “Lena” pin-up image is still used as an example in courses and published as a test image in journals today.
The Lena image is (was?) featured quite prominently in the OpenCV docs and tutorials. Kinda weird it only now goes noticed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenna#Criticism
That’s 25 years ago…
It’s been noticed for ages. This is not the first time the issue has been discussed
It’s been banned from Nature for a while now