Daily Bafflements

• “Kodak did finally modify its film emulsion stocks in the 1970s and ’80s—but only after complaints from companies trying to advertise chocolate and wood furniture . . . . Kodak never encountered a groundswell of complaints from African-Americans about their products. Many of us simply assumed the deficiencies of film emulsion performance reflected our inadequacies as photographers.” – from “Teaching the Camera to See My Skin,” a fascinating piece by Syreeta McFadden about the evolution of film-developing technology and its historical bias against non-white skin tones. (Via Diana Clarke).

• “Marxism 2014,” this year’s version of an annual conference held in Melbourne, Australia, won kudos for attracting a large number of participants (more than 1,100), but also attracted criticism for “the lack of content in the workshop sessions on tackling the key question of what the left should do now, beyond appeals to ‘grow the revolutionary forces’ through ‘building bases on the campuses.’”

• A comprehensive look at Harvard Business School case studies reveals that women rarely feature as the case studies’ protagonists, and are wholly absent in about half. When they are the protagonists of case studies, they’re in the category of so-called “pink” industries like food, family, furniture, and fashion (as opposed to stereotypically male industries like tech and manufacturing). This Harvard Business Review piece argues that this underrepresentation “implicitly signals to both men and women that women are not suited for leadership, and deprives both of alternative role models for different ways of leading and developing a leadership identity.” (Via Gretchen Gavett.)

• Presenting: Uber for scabs. (Via @starchy.)