Misogyny and Sexism in the News

[JustJo]

Originally Posted by Kobi

Jo, Ender, you both raise some interesting points. Is tricky stuff with no easy answers.

Feminism, misogyny, sexism, exploitation, objectification are not one size fits all in every situation kind of thing. The definitions, interpretations, perspectives, are as individual as our queer ids can be.

In one way it is frustrating to see the same institutional patriarchial crap as alive and well today as it was in 1973 when Shirley Chisholm said...the emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, 'It's a girl'."

In another way, we as women have choices now that we didnt have way back then. We have a right to these choices as well as the implications and consequences of them.

The most difficult for me to deal with is the sometimes fine line between what are manifestations of internalized patriarchal bullshit versus what is deliberate, calculated, informed individual choice.

The second most difficult is having the negative stuff being done to women, out there, whether it be in the media, in the workplace, in relationships, in economics, in parenting etc. being replicated within our own community. That just really bites.

I dont have any answers. I just never expected to be dealing with the same stuff and more in my 50's as I did in my 20's. It is discouraging and aggravating and tiring to have to address this over and over and over again.

Sorry for the delay as I've been out playing rather than reading.

Kobi, what I put in red is what really strikes me.

Yes, I want women to be empowered to be whoever they are, present themselves however they want to, celebrate their sexuality....whatever the heck they want.

And....I struggle with this as I look around the world, and think...how much of this is a particular woman presenting herself the way she wants to, and how much is what she feels is expected of her? How much is a woman celebrating, displaying, flaunting, *fill in the blank* her own sexuality, and how much of it is playing into the misogynistic notion that a woman is valued based on appearance, and someone else's version of what that appearance should be?

At the risk of offending, we just came from a day at Disney....during which I turned to Snack and said "I'm glad I don't have a daughter." Not because I value males more....but because I would be at a complete loss as to how to proceed, and what to even think. At that moment, we were in line behind a group of girls, probably ages 14 - 17, mayyyybbbeeeee 18 but I doubt it....all in t-shirts tied up under their breasts, sides slit to show their lacey bras, "shorts" that barely qualified for the name, pierced belly buttons with dangling rhinestones....

Let me be clear....I don't object to any of this when it's an adult woman, and her own choice.

It kills me though to think of what's going on in the heads of these girls, and what standard they are measuring themselves against.

I look at my son, of the same age, who doesn't give a thought (I guarantee you) to his weight, what he's wearing, or how he looks. He is left free to concentrate on his own interests, his school work, his dreams....

I guess I'm at a complete loss. Maybe it's age....I know a lot has changed in my head after turning 50 and spending some time in reflection after my mother's passing. I just feel like we're losing ground....and that the people most commonly fostering the growth of misogyny, here in the US at least, are female.

[Kobi]

LONDON – The two historic athletes who became the first women to ever represent Saudi Arabia in the Olympic Games have been snubbed by their nation's media and subjected to a campaign of hate.

Sarah Attar ran the 800 meters on the Olympic Stadium track and Wojdan Shaherkani competed in judo earlier in the Games after the Saudi government relented its strict stance on women competing following international pressure.

Attar finished last in her heat and Shaherkani lost her opening bout with both gaining huge worldwide attention. However, back in Saudi Arabia, the approach was very different.

"We were the only newspaper to write about it," said Hahled Al-Maeena, editor of the English language publication Saudi Gazette, in a telephone conversation with Yahoo! Sports. "I believe these girls are heroines and we should celebrate as a nation. Unfortunately, other people do not agree."

A sinister Twitter campaign under the hashtag "prostitutes of the Olympics" originated in Saudi Arabia and was used to aim sexist vitriol at the competitors.

The father of judoka Shaherkani was so incensed that he contacted the country's interior minister to demand action against those who had insulted his daughter. Under Saudi law, punishment for insulting a woman's honor and integrity can be up to 100 lashes.

Attar and Shaherkani were late additions to the Saudi team and did not qualify but were admitted into their events in London under an International Olympic Committee development regulation that seeks to encourage less-established sporting nations.

Even though the women were forced to walk behind their male counterparts at the Opening Ceremony, their presence was seen as a step in the right direction for women's rights in a country where females are still denied many of what would be considered basic human rights in other nations.

However, there is skepticism about the true motives of the decision to allow Attar, a Saudi-American who studies at Pepperdine University, and Shaherkani to compete.

"They allowed them to compete for only one reason," Al-Maeena said. "If you don't send women, then in the future your country will not be allowed to participate [in the Olympics]. It was a wonderful thing to see the girls participate and it made many people proud, but there was also a motive for it.

"I am a believer in a free press, but there was some filthy language used about them and it was sad to see."

The Saudi Gazette received criticism from extremists for hailing the two athletes for their achievements. Meanwhile, every Arabic-language newspaper carried wide-scale coverage of the bronze medal won by the Saudi equestrian showjumping team led by royal member Prince Abdullah al Saud.

Attar and Shaherkani did not talk to reporters after their Olympic competitions. It is hoped that their participation can pave the way for more athletes from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei, the only three nations to not send any women athletes to Beijing four years ago. All three had female competitors in these Games.

However, there are still cultural restrictions in place in Saudi Arabia that stand in the way of female athletic progress. Al-Maeena's daughter Lina founded a women's basketball team that has traveled to neighboring Jordan to compete, but the squad has been met with heavy criticism.

"It is not easy as a woman who wants to play sport," said Lina Al-Maeena, who petitioned the IOC to allow her basketball team to represent Saudi Arabia in London but was rejected.

"The extremists said we were not acting as a woman should, that we were wrong and immoral and disrespectful. We just want to play the sport we love and empower other women to compete and play and be athletic. The extremists have their own view and it is very difficult to change their mind."

Saudi Arabia's national Olympic committee representative did not respond Friday to requests for comment and to speak to Attar and Shaherkani.

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/olym...haherkani.html

[Gemme]

..."Stand aside. We're men; we do this."



Oh, sorry. I know that THIS is MY job. I didn't know it was yours too.

[Soon]

http://www.everydaysexism.com/

The Everyday Sexism Project exists to catalogue instances of sexism experienced by women on a day to day basis. They might be serious or minor, outrageously offensive or so niggling and normalised that you don’t even feel able to protest. Say as much or as little as you like, use your real name or a pseudonym – it’s up to you. By sharing your story you’re showing the world that sexism does exist, it is faced by women everyday and it is a valid problem to discuss. If you prefer to e-mail me at laura@everydaysexism.com I can upload your story for you instead.

[Kobi]

Originally Posted by Soon

http://www.everydaysexism.com/

The Everyday Sexism Project exists to catalogue instances of sexism experienced by women on a day to day basis. They might be serious or minor, outrageously offensive or so niggling and normalised that you don’t even feel able to protest. Say as much or as little as you like, use your real name or a pseudonym – it’s up to you. By sharing your story you’re showing the world that sexism does exist, it is faced by women everyday and it is a valid problem to discuss. If you prefer to e-mail me at laura@everydaysexism.com I can upload your story for you instead.

Thank you for posting this.

Some forms of sexism have become so commonplace, we tend to forget what they really are and what they represent.

Benevolent sexism is rarely acknowledged. There is an entry on that website where a woman gets on a plane and the nearest masculine person decides it is his right or duty to help her with her carryon bag even tho she didnt ask for help. That is an example of benevolent sexism.

[Novelafemme]

Lately, I've found myself seriously disheartened at the misogyny in our culture, at the way our culture invalidates the stories and the experiences of women, and at the way sexism and violence against women is talked about either as a thing of the past or an inevitable part of life. It is not a thing of the past and it is not inevitable. We as a culture are constantly making choices that demean and denigrate women, that place us in harms way, that tell us we are "less than."

This is an important essay: http://therumpus.net/2012/08/explicit-violence/

[Kobi]

The following women are not attractive to Donald Trump: Angelina Jolie ("She's been with so many guys"), Cher ("bad plastic surgery"), Rosie O'Donnell ("big, fat pig"), and now, Arianna Huffington.

On Wednesday, Trump used his Twitter account to call the internet powerhouse "unattractive both inside and out." He went on to attack her marriage, which ended in an amicable divorce.

"I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man-he made a good decision," Trump added in less than 140 characters.

It's not the first time he's publicly judged a successful female media figure by her looks and intimate life, and it probably won't be the last.

Trump's world seems to be divided into three categories. Women he finds attractive. Women he doesn't find attractive. And Men. It's not so different from a Miss USA pageant, only "contestants" like Huffington don't ask to be entered.

It's unclear what exactly prompted Trump's alarmingly inappropriate personal attack. His rep told the Washington Post it stems from her largely op-ed driven publication's "massive and consistently inaccurate reporting on Mr. Trump."

Huffington smartly refused to take the bait and refrained from responding, possibly avoiding another drawn out Trump vs. Barbara Walters feud.

In the past, both male and female columnists at major media outlets have labeled Trump "a sexist dinosaur," with "a legacy of unapologetically gleeful misogyny." These days nobody's wasting words trying to prove that point, when Trump seems to do the job all on his own. Here are some of the gems from the mouth of a modern day caveman:

"All of the women on The Apprentice flirted with me - consciously or unconsciously. That's to be expected."
-From his book How to Get Rich.

"So when he had plenty of money, she liked him…But then after that, not as good, right?"
-In response to an Access Hollywood interview question on Anne Hathaway's split from her jailed ex-boyfriend.

"I'll send one of my friends to pick up her girlfriend and I think it would be very easy."
-On Rosie O'Donnell and his own mysteriously beguiling friends, as reported by The New York Daily News.

"She does have a very nice figure . . . if [she] weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her."
-On his daughter, Ivanka, during a interview on the The View.

"You look very good, Aubrey, I have to say, Do you mind if I say? Is that sexist?"
-On Aubrey O'Day's boardroom appearance during an episode of The Apprentice.

"Maybe [women] don't know him. Maybe they don't get what is going on."
-On Obama's popularity with women voters, in a recent Fox News interview.

"The early victories by women on The Apprentice were to a very large extent dependent on their sex appeal."
-On women's success on The Apprentice, from How to Get Rich.

"I believe we're all equal except women still have to try harder and they know it. They will do what they have to do to get the job done and will not necessarily be demure about it."
-More on women's success, from How to Get Rich.

"Often times when I was sleeping with one of the top women in the world I would say to myself, thinking about me as a boy from Queens, 'can you believe what I am getting?'"
-On former romantic partners, from Think Big: Make it Happen in Business and Life.

"Beauty and elegance, whether in a woman, a building, or a work of art is not just superficial or something pretty to see."
-On inanimate objects and women, from Trump 101: The Way to Success

"You know, it doesn't really matter what [the media] write as long as you've got a young and beautiful piece of [expletive]."
-On media zen and women's body parts, from a 1991 Esquire interview.


http://shine.yahoo.com/work-money/do...192600474.html