Posts Tagged ‘sexism’
Sarah Palin’s Entire Existence Is Sexist
This week’s Newsweek cover story, which details all the ways that Sarah Palin is “bad for the GOP—and for everybody else,” is accompanied by a compelling stock photo: Palin striking a sassy pose in a pair of well-fitting shorts, courtesy of the former Alaska Governor’s August Runner’s World photo shoot (thanks to thinkpinkradio for the tip).
How condescending is this photo? It’s not the fabled (and fake) American-flag-wearin’, gun-totin’ bikini photo that surfaced on the Internet shortly after Palin reached national fame, but it’s about as close as Newsweek could get to the real thing.
Conservative Christian Says Censoring “N” Word Is Anti-Religious
“What do the ‘N’ word, the ‘W’ word and the ‘F’ word have in common?” asks Tim Bloedow of NoApologies.ca, a Web site dedicated to “punching a hole in political correctness.” According to Bloedow, refusing to use these racial, sexist, and homophobic slurs (the ‘F’ word isn’t fuck here) displays a “complete disregard for using God’s name in vain.”
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Dressing “Too Sexy”: Career Suicide Or Sexist Excuse?
Yesterday, Feminist Law Professors drew my attention to the Miami Daily Business Review’s “Rodent” column, a weekly anonymous rant written by various members of the legal community. The latest missive, “Lady Lawyers Should Dress the Part,” warns female attorneys that they may be sabotaging their careers with overly sexy business attire. Actually, I think it’s more likely that the conveniently anonymous Rodent, who spouts off platitudes like “women who dress like Barbie dolls get treated like Barbie dolls,” is the force that’s keeping women down in the workplace.
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Frat Boys at GW Rush to Undo Homophobic Stereotypes
Beta Testing: Brothers Zelenty, Belok, and Molldrem try something new.
According to fraternal historian Nicholas Syrett, America’s fraternity culture has thrived on a fear of homosexuality since the 1920’s. All-male fraternal organizations, Syrett writes, “compensate for what might be perceived by outsiders as either feminine or gay behavior by enacting a masculinity [of] aggressive heterosexuality.” In order to preempt homosexual interpretations of the fraternal bond, the brothers employ ritualistic paddling, frat house sex, and homophobic epithets to fight their way back to straight.
The Syrettian fraternal tradition poses some pre-professional problems for the young men on the campus of George Washington University.
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Tucker Max Fans Fight Rape With Racism
Tucker Max’s message board has launched a Photoshop competition for the best reimagined protest signs from the “I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell” protests. Creative Max devotees are working off images from the film tour’s photostream in order to ridicule students from the NC State women’s center, which staged a Raleigh protest of the film. Predictably, the submissions are sexist (above). Since this is a contest to ridicule people who care about rape, sexism is to be expected. So why are the submissions so racist?
Sex Up Your PETA Sea Kitten
When I first learned of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals’ new “Save the Sea Kittens” ad campaign, I was confused—and not because re-branding one species of animal (fish) as another (kittens) doesn’t make any fucking sense. No, I was confused because PETA’s campaign just doesn’t seem overtly sexist enough! There are no Playboy models, lettuce bikinis, or shrink-wrapped naked ladies to objectify in this campaign—just some cute fish you can dress up in costumes in an attempt to humanize them.
I know. I was suspicious, too.
Thankfully, PETA supporters accustomed to sneaking a bit of lasciviousness into their animal rights advocacy can dress their cute fish in a variety of super sexy fish costumes. Ta-da:
Robert McDonnell Thesis Introduces World to Radio Porn
The recently-unearthed graduate thesis of Virginia Gubernatorial candidate Robert McDonnell is a treasure trove of Reagan-era Republican gems [PDF]. The paper’s sexism and homophobia has gotten the most play in the press—us feminists even get a few shout-outs!—but my favorite part is McDonnell’s paranoid pornographic theory:
Aww, I miss the ’80s, when the media pumped a veritable sea of licentiousness into American ears through the radio waves instead of this half-assed T-Pain shit. Also: He’s talking about Prince, right?
Georgetown University Not So Manly After All
Last year, the Sexist launched Man Madness, a tournament that rated the manliness of 64 local workplaces based on the gender make-up of upper-management. How did a workplace prove manliness? Employ the most men in top jobs (and the fewest women higher-ups). It was, shall we say, a dubious honor.
Anyway, Georgetown University proved itself almost perfectly manly in the contest, with nine out of ten of the institution’s top staffers men. But a new report from campus blog Vox Populi reveals that—say it ain’t so!—the Man Madness tournament was perhaps less-than-thorough.
Zoolander Jokes Still Not Funny
This week, I cornered people on the street, pushed a camera into their faces, and asked them if they’ve ever experienced sex discrimination in their lifetimes. Most of them had at least been called a “sissy” once. Above, D.C.’s men and women tell their tales of low-cut T-shirts, unwelcome sexual fantasy, and one too many Zoolander jokes.
Nice Harass!: A Sexist History of D.C.
Sexual discrimination in the office has come a long way. Once predictable—spurning male secretaries and sexually harassing female underlings—on-the-job sexism has since tackled more subtle arts, from cutting strategic holes in female bartenders’ uniforms to mocking the diet of male models. A recent hunt for sexism on the streets of D.C. revealed an evolution of sexism, from its golden age to its next frontier.
