Is the Parker Lady a 'sexist pen'?

The idea of different sized pens and pencils, depending on the gender of the user, may be quetionable in modern times but it was common practice until the 1970s.  The reasoning behind the gender differetiated models seems to be simply that, on average, the female hand is smaller than that of a male therefore a smaller writing implement would be more comfortable to use.  This was, of course, at a time when many people wrote for extended periods, often on a daily basis, so this would have been an important consideration. That is not to say sexism was not rife in the pen industry, some of the advertising material from Parker is truly awful in this respect:

At least the secretary featured above was allowed to own a 'man's pen', perhaps her hands wern't 'madly feminine' enough for a Parker Lady:

Sheaffer were even more explicit in their exploitation of the notion of masculinity in the pen world.  The Lady Sheaffer was dwarfed by the outrageously macho 'Pen for Men':

Parker really excelled, not only at sexism but also at so called class sterotyping in this advert for the Parker Lady:

(526) Parker Pens Ad - YouTube

Perhaps the Parker advertising executives were in need of a course in human anatomy, they were obviously convinced that the average male hand is about twice as large as that of a female.  The Parker Duofold Senior, shown alongside a Parker Duofold Lady, is not even the largest Duofold, that was the beefier 'Maxima'.

 Other notable 'ladies pens' included the Conway Stewart Dinkie, the two versions shown are the 550 and the slightly larger 560:

Mabie Todd also produced a ladies version of the rare Swan Visofil:

 Of all the ladies pens, perhaps the one that would be considered most unashamedly sexist, not only in size but also in presentation is probably the Lady sheaffer:

This one is a 620G, a de luxe version of the 620, and a very good pen.

The question of whether a Parker Lady is a sexist pen or not is, I'm afraid, far beyond the scope of this brain.  I do think, however, that whilst it must be accepted that the motives of the pen companies were purely financial in nature, it was not their intention to denigrate either of the sexes.  Opening a door for a woman, standing up when a woman entered a room, or complimenting a woman on her appearence were then seen as simply good manners.  Such behaviour is now often considered to be an insult, and perhaps it is, but please let's not blame the pens.