Recently in Sexism Category

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2923821/Women-spend-three-years-shopping-in-lifetime.html

 

this article shows a few statistics on how often women shop. The average woman spends 3 years shopping in her lifetime, but why is this? It is interesting that this is something that is interesting to write about... women do seem to shop a lot, but what is the main reason for this? It is because women are told they need to shop, or is this because this is a bonding experience for them when they go out with other women? Is the materialistic culture the reason for the shopping, or just the stereotype, or mainly both? In the article they also divide up the time spent shopping for certain items. Could another reason that women shop so much be because they are responsible for carrying on the household i.e. buying clothes for the family, food to be cooked, cleaning supplies.
Men do stuff around the house too, and they do shop as well... but there doesn't seem to be a need or hype around it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/23/bill-oreilly-lane-bryant_n_550279.html

So I was perusing Huffington Post as I do from time to time and I came across this segment from Papa Bear Bill O'Reilly about the Lane Bryant Plus-size lingerie ad controversy. I had no idea what this was all about, but I was intrigued (and not just by the provocative picture they had above the story). Evidently ABC would not air this ad during the 8pm family hour because they felt it was too riskay for the youth to be seeing. They were going to air it at 9 after the kiddies had gone to bed, though. Two pundits agreed with decision on O'Reilly factor, which is fair enough. But wait second...you know who gets to air their ads during that time slot? Victoria Secret. When asked why it was okay for Victoria Secret to air their ads, Fox & Friends Anchor, Gretchen Carlson said, ""Here's the thing--with plus-size models, you're going to get more cleavage. They're plus-size!...It's going to appear to be a little bit more over the line because you're getting more."I literally said wtf to my computer (the full thing not just the letters).

I'm going to break this down for you. Has anyone ever seen a Victoria's Secret catalog or a store, or a commercial  I'm pretty sure that there is plenty of cleavage in all of those things. In fact, I'm pretty sure they don't hire models who don't have cleavage. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure, though I'm surely not an expert, that Victoria Secret makes bras that accentuate cleavage. Gretchen your complaining about the plus-size woman's natural cleavage when Victoria secret is selling products, as modeled by women in their commercials, specifically designed to mimic the exact same thing. Yes, that's right, your points are not logical.

There is obviously a double standard here beyond Gretchen's logic. We're okay with showing children Victoria secret commercials because they are consistent with society's view of what women in this country should be like. Airbrushed in angel wings and underwear with long legs, perfect skin, and perky boobs. Sure we can show that to our children because they already see it everywhere. The TV shows that are on during prime time play to the same theme (Desperate Housewives 8pm Sunday anyone?). Commercials, music videos, billboards, movies, etc all are in accord with this. It is our duty to socialize our children to have this image of beauty in their heads as they grow up. It is a message that Victoria Secret can convey, but Lane Bryant cannot. Just as it is a message that Megan Fox can convey but Gabourey Sidibe cannot.

Too much cleavage is not the reason. Cleavage is just fine when it is on a skinny woman. In my estimation, this ad punctured some schemas held by the executives at ABC. 'Wow, here are ladies who are not super thin models, but yet they are sexy underwear? Gee whiz, we got so used to looking at the exact same thing in a smaller size, it is as if we are taking note for the first time that this is somewhat provocative. Have we been objectifying the women in the Victoria Secret ads to the point where we've become desensitized to their actual personhood? This lingerie ad is making us restructure our schemas about lingerie models and it is dreadfully uncomfortable. We are becoming conscious of their womanhood. Sexuality, femininity and self-confidence, oh my! Darn it all, this is much too scandalous for the family hour. The masses don't want to be troubled with such personalization of woman sexuality. How will parents explain this to their children!? Give them Victoria Secret. It's much easier for mommy and daddy to say to their little girls and boys 'oh those aren't really women, they're just objects of America's lust for beauty'.

So yes, I actually think it was a matter of too much cleavage. No, not the cleavage accentuated by sexy lingerie, but rather the cleavage of a worldview, from comfortable objectification into uncomfortable personalization.   

"The launch -- the last scheduled one in darkness for NASA's fading shuttle program -- helped set a record for the most women in space at the same time. Three women are aboard Discovery, and another is already at the space station, making for an unprecedented foursome."

"PORTLAND - About two dozen women marched topless from Longfellow Square to Tommy's Park this afternoon in an effort to erase what they see as a double standard on male and female nudity."

The Pulitzer Prize winner To Kill a Mockingbird is a timeless classic written by Harper Lee. The story takes place in the small southern town of Maycomb County, Alabama in the midst of The Great Depression. The narrator of this riveting story is a young girl named Jean Louise Finch, or Scout. Scout is not the typical delicate, shy, and ladylike child that society expects her to be. She is an outspoken, rambunctious and free spirited tomboy who wears overalls, plays in the outdoors alongside her older brother Jem, and is far more intelligent than most in her age group. She and her brother Jem are the children of Maycomb County defense lawyer Atticus Finch. Atticus can be considered an untraditional man in several respects. For starters he is a single father raising two children. He also encourages and stresses the importance of an education and egalitarian beliefs to Scout and Jem during a time when it was very unpopular to do so.

Throughout the text, Scout walks us through her childhood adventures in this conservative southern Alabama town alongside Jem and occasionally their best friend Dill. At first life seems simple. But when their father Atticus takes on the case of his life, they all begin to realize the severity of racial turmoil that defined American society during this time period.

  In the story, Atticus takes on the case of a Negro man named Tom Robinson. Tom is a young family man whose only crime is that he is African American. He stands accused of raping the eldest daughter of Mr. Ewells, an impoverished social misfit in Maycomb County. The Ewells are an unpopular family who live on the outskirts of Maycomb in the midst of the town's dump. They are known by everyone in the county for being aggressive, dishonest, uncivilized, unclean, and uneducated. Despite these facts they hold a great advantage over the most civilized and honest African Americans: they are white.

 Scout and Jem encounter dirty stares and insults by many of their fellow townsfolk because their father is defending a Negro. Through example however, Atticus teaches his children that the color of your skin does not define what kind of person you are. Everyone should be treated with kindness and respect. Scout and Jem manage to hold their heads high and support their father's cause. Despite the best efforts of Atticus however, Tom is convicted of raping Mr. Ewells' daughter and is sentenced to death. Scout and Jem learn the grim reality that justice for all does not exist in the ignorant and racist American culture.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderful text to read when learning about stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination. Readers can get examples of all three of these elements throughout the entire story not just in the context of black versus white, but also society versus women, and poor whites versus everyone else. Some of the social psychological underpinnings of this novel deal with constructs such as categorization, Social Identity Theory, depersonalization and dehumanization, out-group homogeneity, social motives such as self-enhancement and control, and the list goes on.

Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird is a wonderful representation of the struggles experienced by generations of minorities as well as females throughout American history. From a social scientific standpoint, the novel gives social psychological novices a well rounded summary of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination along with solutions to such issues.

I have grown to absolutely abhor the way in which some feel that the word "rape" is appropriate to describe things that aren't rape. To me, it is another example of inappropriate equivocation that cheapens the act of rape. To my knowledge (and the dictionary's) the word "rape" should be used only in two instances. The first is to describe the act of forcible intercourse upon an unwilling individual. The second is to describe a violent seizure, abuse, or plundering of something (i.e. the rape of a countryside). You can see in the examples given in the link that there is, at best, a conflation of the two definitions, and at worst a blatant disrespect for the actual act of person-to-person rape.

http://jezebel.com/5409284/figure-of-speech 

Finally, frequent usage of derogatory or pejorative language has been shown to cause more negative attitudes toward the target of the comment (Simon & Greenberg, 1996). Moreover, there continue to be staggering statistics regarding instances of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence in this country especially in colleges and universities (see RAINN website). None of these statistics includes "President Obama raping the American people's values" "Big businesses being raped" or "the private sector being raped by the government", because those are hyperboles that are being used to shock and therefore desensitize people to the actual issue of rape. This is sexism. This is unreported or confronted sexism. 

It seems that music videos have always presented sexual images. For example, it is difficult to forget the semi-naked women who accompanied 1980s rock bands in their videos that were shown all over the world. But lately it seems that sexual images are used by both men and women: female singers are increasingly presenting themselves with less clothing and sexier dance moves.

In her article "How pop became porn", Liz Jones talks about pop star Shakira's latest video for her song "She Wolf", in which the singer appears in her most sexually explicit video so far, almost naked and dancing very provocatively inside a cage. She writes with concern: "The images can be seen in the video for her single, She Wolf, which will be watched obsessively, again and again, by thousands of young men and women, many of whom will form the opinion that writhing in a cage is precisely the way 'sexy' women should behave."

Shakira is a very interesting case. She started her career in her native Colombia, writing songs written by herself and playing the guitar. Over the years, as she has become better known internationally, she has undergone a transformation, changing her appearance and her musical style, and making sexier videos. Jones writes: "When I asked Shakira, the Latin American superstar, how she can square being sexy, wearing skimpy clothes, with her charitable work championing children in the developing world, she replied indignantly: 'Of course I can square it! I think my image is one of being powerful, in control.'"

Shakira is not the only female pop star doing this kind of videos, and this raises some questions: Are over-sexualized images of female singers really empowering women? Or are the images of semi-naked women in cages or crawling on the floor perpetuating old stereotypes of women as submissive sexual objects? Considering how often these type of videos are seen by people of all ages in many countries, the answers to these questions are extremely relevant.

To read the full article, including information about the initiative in the U.K. to ban sexually explicit videos before 9 p.m., click here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1254145/LIZ-JONES-How-pop-porn.html

This is a pimp named Ken who pimps all over the world. "Pimpin" is a form of power that one may have on another. This video shows some of the concepts he goes by also shows his reasoning. He is promoting his new book called Pimpology and DVD series which he explains 48 laws to the game of pimpin. What is the psychological aspect they use to get the women? what is wrong with the thought process of a PIMP and HOE? Does our US government pimp us?

Just a little plug for an event and an organization that I think you all should know about if you do not already. V-Day is an international organization with the mission of ending all violence toward women and girls. Below I have left a link for the V-Day website and the link to V-Men a series of essays from men about their journeys to their contributions toward ending violence against women and girls. Guys especially might want to check that out.

I feel the whole movement works to change people's sometimes misinformed views about violence against women. It also helps give women a voice all around the world and helps create awareness for the way woman are treated in various parts of the world.

The Vagina Monologues is a wonderful show that everyone should see at least once because of its ability to stretch one's horizons. Especially if one considers themselves  "Midwestern" and/or "of a traditional upbringing" this show might make you uncomfortable (but that's because of the mental scaffolding its breaking). It certainly has a lot of talking points. UNI is having a show this weekend, if you cannot go you could go to Wartburg's Monologues March 6th at 8pm! If that's not available you can pull up some of the scenes from it on youtube. I feel it's more insightful as a whole show in context though.

If anyone has done anything or seen anything from any of these sources, I would love to hear how they impacted you.

Vagina Monologues

Friday, 2/19/10 - Saturday, 2/20/10
7 pm, CAC 108 The Vagina Monologues seek to raise awareness and funds for the prevention of violence against women world-wide. Proceeds will benefit Club Les Dames, the NE Iowa Food Bank and V-day international.. Tickets/Registration: Tickets are $10, or $5 with a donation of two canned goods.

 

http://www.vday.org/home

http://www.vday.org/meet-vday/v-men

This is a YouTube video that was created about Disney movies and how they can portray some negative aspects for boys and girls.  It was made to create dicussion about the effects these movies have on children, or if any.  This video talks about Masculinity, Violence, Body Image for Males, Treatment of Women, Femininity, Body Image for Females, and Submissive Behavior. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw98_2rtbH0&feature=related

Any thoughts about if children are getting any messages from these movies?  If its more or less like the research about violence in television or videogames?

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2010/01/20/2010-01-20_full_frontal_sexism.html

The newly elected Massachusetts Senator, Scott Brown posed nude in Cosmopolitan many years ago. Would a female candidate have the same chance in running for office if they had posed nude in the same way (artfully covering the naughtier body parts)? Why aren't people making a bigger deal over this scandalous centerfold? Why is it that when running for public office attractiveness (or lack there of) is a huge issue for women candidates while it makes little difference for a male candidate?  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG-eT4oK9lU    
Dead President   "we want freedom"

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFeHK_uNwgY&feature=related

Immotal Technique  "the poverty philosophy"


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZIzD0ZfTFg     
Eminem   "white america"

Music is a form of expression, which one can express emotions. With that in mind, I listed three different artists and songs that touch on different types of subjects such as stereotyping, racism. What do you think the music is trying to say? What emotions does it bring out when you hear it?

Find out how sexist you are by taking this short quiz.

http://www.understandingprejudice.org/asi/

An ambivalence, or doubled-edged way of thinking, in which women are sometimes treated with contempt and sometimes adored.