Last week, I wrote about some disturbing Internet comments posted in the wake of the Richmond gang rape that blamed the victim for drinking alcohol. The post inspired some really positive responses . . . and more disturbing Internet comments.

Alex makes the case for victim-blaming—at least girls will now know “the possible consequences of decisions.” Decide to have a beer, maybe you’ll get gang-raped: A valuable lesson for young girls:

Read More “Sexist Comments of the Week: Do Drunk Girls Deserve to Get Raped?” »

Last week, two stories on the Washington Post’s gender treatment for a couple of transgender shoplifting suspects (Washington Post Cross-Dressing Shoplifting Story Misfires; Transgender Shoplifting Story’s Absurd Corrections) inspired confusion, transphobia, and some helpful commentary!

The story: A couple of transgender women are caught shoplifting, and end up being shot by police after a botched getaway. In a medical examination, the suspects are revealed to have male genitalia. So: The Post first reported that the suspects were women, then reported that they were cross-dressing men, and finally issued a vague clarification that the suspects were still men dressed as women, but “were not in disguise.” Was the Post’s treatment insensitive? Incorrect? Or the lone crusader for truth in a PC world?

Carisa Cunningham appreciates the teaching moment:

Read More “Sexist Comments of the Week: Transgender Shoplift Edition” »

Every day in October, I’m been rollin’ out the worst “sexy” Halloween costumes on the market this year. Now that we’re two-thirds of our way to the big 31, the world’s most offensive sexualized costumes have gained a few defenders. And they will be damned if I continue to insult their racist, sexist, and sizist pastimes! Let’s hear what they have to say:

On the “Sexy Indian” costume:

Cara is concerned that pointing out racism may ruin Halloween for everyone (but particularly people who sell racist costumes!):

PLEASE! It’s halloween! Get over it! No one is trying to offend anyone, they are trying to sell costumes. Let it go and quit trying to bring down everyones holiday by disecting every stupid name and costume. If you don’t like it, don’t wear it.

Read More “Sexist Comments of the Week: In Defense of Sexy Halloween Costumes” »

Last week on the Sexist, my examination of street harassment through honking turned into a BATTLE OF THE SEXES. Do men get more harassing honks from straight guys than women do? Would you rather be constantly sexually harassed or pay for dinner? And how many women can a 5′9″ guy bed in one night in South Beach, Fla.? Your burning questions, answered:

DirkJohanson writes:

Amanda, it appears to want to find bad deeds by guys targeted at women everywhere, but its not just all about gender. Guys are targets of The Douche Bag Who Honks, too.

I’m a guy that can in no way be visually mistaken for a woman, and very straight-looking males, often in pickup trucks, have honked at me on numerous occasions, often in combination with screaming out the window. They always do this when my back is turned to them, so as to startle me. It has nothing to do with gender, other than, in my experience, the gender of the offender has almost always been male.

That having been said, I am going to try to bring some truth to your post. I am sending out an alert on my blog, The Balls Monologues, asking my readership to stop honking at guys. After all, if guys are going to falsely accused of targeting women for misdeeds, a good deterrent to the false accusations is to actually start targeting the very misdeeds dreamt up about us. Hopefully the douche bags who honk will listen.

Read More “Sexist Comments of the Week: Honking Harassment Edition” »

For last week’s paper, I wrote a story about a group of Beta Theta Pi fraternity brothers at the George Washington University who are working to eliminate homophobia from campus Greek life. Judging by the comments section, they have quite a way to go!

Larry gets the ball rolling:

Fuckin’ fags!

While Clay voices concern about the persecution of homophobes on campus:

Read More “Sexist Comments of the Week: Frat House Homophobes Speak Out” »

In “Weed Culture Is Boob Culture,” I argued that women feel alienated from the pot advocacy movement because female stoners are marketed as objects (above) instead of heroes (every pot movie ever). Yes, boobs are used to sell everything from beer to hamburgers, but it’s particularly depressing when misogyny rears its ugly head in the counter-culture.

Even as a woman, I don’t need any special badge to drink beer or eat a hamburger—these consumption habits are, in fact, difficult to avoid in mainstream America. But if there’s one thing America likes more than beer and burgers, it’s boobs. Boobs are used to sell beer and hamburgers because mainstream America’s ideal subject—the person those advertisements are speaking to—is a red-meat-eatin’, six-pack-guzzlin’, butt-rock-blastin’ heterosexual male. Now, people who don’t fit that ideal American subject—women, gays, vegans, people who reject pandering, etc.—turn to the counter-culture, where they can be given space to create their own subjective experiences.

Theoretically. Because time and again, women have knocked on the door of the counter-culture—the comic book authors, the emo kids, and yes, the marijuana users—only to be shut out of the conversation. And so, even in pot culture, an effective ad shows a woman laying naked, covered in marijuana, staring coyly back at you and not smoking. Again, the ideal smoker is a heterosexual male.

Read More “Sexist Comments of the Week: Counter-Culture, Misogyny, and Weed” »

When I wrote yesterday’s post on the Hofstra University rape allegation, “False Rape Accusations and Rape Culture,” I was hoping that we might all be able to find a common ground, and fight together against both rape and false rape accusations. Then I read the comments. Silly me! The comments of the week are after the jump (since y’all talk too much, most have been abridged).

Read More “Sexist Comments of the Week: Real Rape, False Rape, and Sluts” »

Last week, Jimi Izrael wrote an essay on the Root telling black women to “get real,” give up the search for their own Barack, and stop valuing their educations so much. Since I’m not into sexist drivel disguised as relationship advice, I disagreed—and commenters weighed in with their own thoughts on education, elitism, and “bitches.” Plus, commenters call my education level “fluffy” (B.A. English, ‘07), my disagreement with Izrael “so sensitive,” and me? “Amy.”

The comments of the week, on “Why Black Women Shouldn’t Go to College“:

Victor says:

Not to ask a stupid question, but why does he assume black women have to limit their choices to black men? It seems a bit antiquated to me, as pairing off has become more and more based on education and career ambitions than race these days.

The days of an educated man wanting to settle down with a high-school educated waitress are long gone. I wouldn’t even consider dating a woman without an advanced degree, in a real field (read: history and english are fluffy and do not command respect).

This only seems like an issue if:
1 – you refuse to date outside your race
2 – You’re uneducated, black and male and you have issues with potential partners being successful.

Read More “Sexist Comments of the Week: The Problem With Black Women Edition” »

Last week, “Semen Facials Are Like Weddings” was the perfect storm of Sexist comments. The facial ejaculation rant drew comments from feminists wanting to blame the patriarchy, feminists wanting to defend sex-positivity, and dudes who like to describe jizzing on their sex partners’ faces on the Internet. The really weird part, though? Nobody spoke up in defense of weddings.

Anyway, here are your best facial comments. (I’ve excerpted most of them, because you all just had too much to say).

Katie says:

It’s not good for feminists to play sexual thought police, or to instill guilt in someone who likes to do someone else might find degrading. Isn’t it more progressive and feminist to say, “This is how *I* want to get off”, than to shame women by saying the things they desire sexually are anti-feminist? Shouldn’t we allow for some diversity? Different strokes, as they say.

DirkJohanson says:

I have better orgasms when I cum on a girl’s face since I know I am free to blow my load to my heart’s content, whereas when a girl asks me to cum on her tits but not on her face, I am always worried that I might not have the best aim and will end up cumming on her face, too. Since this often happens, I hold back when I cum on tits and don’t cum with as much force and often feel like, and still actually have, another load in me waiting to imminently come out. Simply put, when I cum on tits, I don’t feel nearly as finished as when I cum on a face or when a girl wants me to cum in her mouth. And I feel genuinely badly when I cum in a girl’s eye because it stings so badly.

Read More “Sexist Comments of the Week: Semen Facials Edition” »

Allegations of Discrimination at Tastee Diner, Silver Spring MD from Tastee Diner on Vimeo.

Last week, two women staged a “kiss-in” protest at Silver Spring’s Tastee Diner after being ejected from the restaurant, they say, for hugging. In response, Tastee Diner released this grainy security video of the incident in an attempt to prove that the couple was not just hugging—that Aiyi’nah Ford and Torian Brown were “engaged in behavior that is normally considered inappropriate regardless of gender or sexual orientation,” including one “burying her face in the other’s breasts.” The video (above) was so blurry, it allowed both supporters and detractors to see whatever they wanted to see:

whaddya know wrote:

Seriously, if an establishment asked you to please stop putting your face in your partner’s breast at the front of the restaurant (seen in the video, for more than 10 seconds), would you allege discrimination, or would you think that maybe there is an etiquette issue you aren’t sensing, that might be worth thinking about?

anonymous wrote:

I have a lot of gay friends but I knew from the get-go that this story was NOT as it was written. I’m glad the restaurant had video to defend themselves. I’ve been to that place for 20 years with gay friends and while customers might say something they thought was funny but wasn’t here and there and one time a waitress basically refused to serve us pie for some unknown reason, I felt pretty sure that in 2009 someone would have to have gone over the edge to elicit such a reaction. It’s clear from the video that this couple was engaged in a significant tight embrace for way way longer than is culturally acceptable in the USA. Sorry, but Tastee Diner 1, indignant couple 0.

Read More “Sexist Comments of the Week: Hugging Or “Breast Burying”? Edition” »