Butch Femme Planet - "She Makes Fitness Look Lke Fashion"

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- In The News (http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=117)

- - "She Makes Fitness Look Lke Fashion" (http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5561)

on the one hand, i do think the ads and the kinds of things people are mentioning from the article are pretty upsetting in terms of the glorified sexism, good old boy behavior, etc.

on the other hand...i think it could be more complex than this for a few reasons that are running through my head and i'm having a hard time forming them into a coherent whole so i'll just list them -
there are so few representations of butch women in high powered positions that i think maybe there's a sense of wanting/expectation that people would act in ways that are less offensive.
there is a streak of overtly lewd/misogynistic behavior that runs through our communities and is often glorified.
this woman is probably working among straight men who glorify sexism and misogyny. i've never worked in an upscale corporate environment but my impression is that this is more or less the norm, particularly in male-driven industries.
because of the dynamics of oppression in our society, i'm guessing she might have to work to present a certain image in order to keep her job and career. i'm not saying that makes it right, and we always have choices about how we act within those confines, but that does make it more understandable (to me at least).
the news publishes the most sensational and extreme aspects of every story. it's possible this woman does a lot of awesome stuff that never made it to print because the news doesn't believe in printing a lot of awesome, especially about our communities. while i think the stuff in the article is pretty gross and offensive, i also wonder what we would see if her life wasn't distilled down to this one anecdote.

i'm all for calling out offensive shit. i prefer to do it to people's faces but i don't think it always has to be that way. i think in some ways public figures open themselves up to criticism from all corners, but usually with other situations (like with politicians who absolutely deserve to be called out and criticized), we at least have a bigger picture or more access to information about who they are, what their actions are, and how they live. here we have a pretty small amount of information, probably with a bias (by the reporter) towards confirming certain stereotypes and making things more sensational and sexy, so i guess that makes me want to at least question things a bit before jumping to conclusions.

(and by conclusions i mean - yes, i can conclude that if this is an accurate representation of one incident, i'm pretty grossed out and offended. but i could not even begin to speculate that she has a drinking problem or is really a terrible person or any of that.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martina (Post 643448)

I didn't read the article till after I read all your comments, which were fun to read.

So I reacted differently. She didn't seem so bad. Sort of a typical creative marketing type. There's some there there, and the rest is her responding to the whatever part of society she takes the pulse of.

The ad is unethical if it does promote body dysmorphia. It makes sense that it would. Wouldn't that cause people to run to a gym? And the sex scene is something that would appeal to a lot of young women and gay men, I imagine, in the 50 Shades of Gray soft-core sense. I haven't seen it, but I "get" it. People want to not feel bad about their bodies, and a lot of them want a hot boy to pin them to the ground. AND they think of themselves as smart and bookish or whatever. Not deep. Contrived even though I bet it works.

That she thinks she is succeeding on her own terms is sort of silly. But that would be true of thousands of creative types selling themselves to corporations.

Doesn't she seem like a character in a lesbian romance novel?

Thank you for posting this.

I suspect there are a number of different criteria we use when we are evaluating something and what we choose to focus on, at any different time, varies.

For example, I could wonder why the author of this article choose to present Ms. Kosoy in the manner in which she did. After all, what the author chooses to focus on, slants the gist of what I am seeing.

The author choose to focus on certain things about her manner of dress, her demeanor, her lifestyle, and not as much on her job or philosophy behind it in anything but was, to me, a superficial way.

So what was the point of the article? Was it about Ms. Kosoy being a different breed of executive because she is a butch woman with an unapologetic edge? Was it about her as a persona or her as a businesswoman? Was it about the business and its success?

Its pretty clear that companies need to find and present an image, even in their personnel, that will sell a product. Sex sells. Image sells. Selling sex and images sells. I dont find anything out of the ordinary in what Ms. Kosoy is doing within the context of being a businesswoman doing her job using what has proven to work.

As I had been dealing with some very visible, to me, examples of sexism within our community lately, that was the part I choose to focus on.

I was surprised there wasnt more of a different reaction. The reason I say this is that in a lot of ways, Ms Kosoy was presented in such a way that I could actually feel her swagger. Her look, her demeanor is something many in our community find sexually attractive/appealing and what fantasies are made from.

Take the ad image they presented of a young blonde in a schoolgirl uniform
(shirt, tie, knee socks, yes; skirt, no) pinned under a muscular young man in nothing but boxers, glasses and leather loafers. Personally, I always object to sexualized schoolgirl images because of the sex with underaged connotations.

But, if the ad replaced the muscular young man with a muscular butch, transman, transgendered person in nothing but boxers, glasses, and leather loafers pinning someone to the ground would it feel different? Can one envision fantasies of a woman enjoying be pinned by a hot hunk whether they be hetero or queer?

I bring this up cuz sexism and feminism is not always clear cut or easy to navigate. What might be obvious and accepted on a macro scale is not quite as obvious and accepted on a micro scale.

By that I mean, many people can relate to violence against women whether it be rape or other forms of domestic violence. Many can relate to sexual harrassment, job discrimination, glass ceilings, wage discrimination, the poverty of single mothers etc.

Yet, on a micro scale, especially when hormones, mating rituals, and sexual prolicivities are involved, things get murky. What might appear as sexist or oppressive to one may be the stuff that makes fantasies and adventures for another. Context and attitude can make it a little easier but even that can be debated.

Sometimes I wonder if this murkiness is a deliberate design of the theoretical patriarchial construct or an unintended but very useful consequence.

Sometimes, I wish I could just shut my brain off for a little while.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Martina (Post 643448)

>This is how it struck me, also.
I didn't feel offended, personally. She just comes across as trying way too hard and seems quite transparent because of that.

Yer judging a person on the strength of a 'news'paper article? :|

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daktari (Post 666641)

Yer judging a person on the strength of a 'news'paper article? :|

*chuckle*

Touche..Daktari.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Talon (Post 666649)

*chuckle*

Touche..Daktari.

It's a hard job, but someone's gotta do it! :hamactor: