MetaFilter posts tagged with sexism

"I would like to thank you for dismissing my 22 years' service in Her Majesty's Armed Forces."

markkraft — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:27:23 -0800

In 2007, Moira Cameron, a soldier with a distinguished 22-year military career serving in Northern Ireland and Cyprus, was named Britain's first female Yeoman Warder... a Beefeater. Unfortunately, she has also been the target of sexist workplace harassment by several of her 34 fellow Beefeaters, all of whom are supposedly mature forty+ year old veterans. This has led to two Beefeaters being suspended with an additional Beefeater currently under investigation. Equally unfortunately, Rupert Murdoch's Sun is adding to her humiliation, while Reuters has put the "Ha, ha!" in harassment by filing the story in their "humorous" Oddly Enough category.

A Hard Man is Good to Find

nooneyouknow — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 20:49:06 -0800

Filament aims to be a different kind of women's magazine. They plan to "cover a wide range of topics [but absolutely no beauty or diet articles] that inspire and engage , and [give women] gorgeous boys the way [they] like to see them." Their first issue is out and featured a mix of articles, fiction, poetry and pics of shirtless boys. For their second issue, they want to include a pic of a man with erection, but their printer bailed because the printer was afraid of a backlash. The magazine has also had issues with distributors because many of them don't want to deal with a women's magazine with a man on the cover. Via (NSFW) Erotica Cover Watch (NSFW) which is a blog dedicated to ending the preponderance of (naked) women on the covers of erotic books, and is trying to get more men and couples on the covers.

It's made of people!

Halloween Jack — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:06:15 -0800

The Humanthesizer. Calvin Harris is promoting his new single by using a type of skin-safe conductive ink to "play" his song with the assistance of, ah, several assistants. One might question as to whether this is a new type of musical instrument or something else entirely.

WHY HULK-MARG MAD (AND THEREFORE SMASH)

filthy light thief — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:35:17 -0800

Hulk-Margaret smash stupid Sony. Girls not stupid lilac people. Girls strong and awesome! AAAAARRRRR! Hulk-Marg like gems. Hulk-Marg like gem sweaters (previously). But Hulk-Marg no like pandering only to gem interests. Hulk-Marg well-rounded, has many interests and layers. Hulk-Marg give example: SMASHING. Let Hulk-Marg find PowerPoint and laser pointer. Hulk-Marg has PowerPoint here somewhere. Ahem. Hulk-Marg found PowerPoint. Made slides. [via mefi projects] Sony's PSP product marketing joins more than Miss Bimbo in the ranks of shallow portrayals of the interests of women. Dell created the "female focused" sub-site "Della" with softer colors, and Even LEGO has their girl-centric sets, focusing on pinks, purples, and ponies. While the number of female gamers increases, Sony is limiting the games they push with the OMG Lilac PSP marketing scheme to Patapon 2, Locoroco 2, Hannah Montana, Petz, Pangya Fantasy Golf, and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, to the concern of some female gamers ("I can't help but feel as if young female gamers are being smothered into a niche where they have little chance to be open to trying different types of video games"). On the GameGirl blog, a top 7 list for upcoming PSP games is a much different world from golf and ponies, as suggested by Sony.

Persuasion: Why men in ads are dumb, goofy or completely inept

five fresh fish — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 09:47:44 -0800

Persuasion: Why men in ads are dumb, goofy or completely inept. Several YT commercials and a thoughtful essay.

Standing out in the crowd.

chunking express — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:07:03 -0800

Standing out in the crowd. Kirrily Robert's keynote from OSCON. She discusses diversity in opensource communities and projects. Her follow up post links to some 'interesting' discussions.

Harassing women for fun and prizes

cmgonzalez — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:08:12 -0800

Electronic Arts, the video game publisher that is no stranger to either controversy, is sponsoring a contest for its upcoming release of Dante's Inferno (Previously). The contest, taking place at this weekend's Comic-Con, requires entrants to "commit acts of lust" and take a photo of said act with an EA (or other company's) booth babes, post the photos on Twitter or Facebook, and repeat the process as many times as possible for additional chances to win. The prize is listed in part as "Dinner and a sinful night with two hot girls". Many are understandably outraged at the blatant sexism and the encouragement of sexual harassment. This incident comes on the heels of last month's IGN contest for a Comic-Con prize package that was originally open to males only.

Geek feminism

velvet winter — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:21:39 -0800

“...the Platonic nerd is invariably male. The stereotype is flexible to incorporate women and girls on an individual basis, but few people conjure up the image of a woman when they think about nerds.” Feminist blog Pandagon reviews two books about nerdiness and geekery, Jason Tocci addresses the question of why female involvement in geek culture seems to call for a special explanation, and two feminist geeks set out in search of an egalitarian future.

Foundation and Letching

Artw — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:12:23 -0800

Isaac Asimov on how to be a dirty old man.

Girlputers by "Della"

Zarkonnen — Sat, 16 May 2009 05:29:48 -0800

Dell have recently opened a new sub-site called "Della" aimed at women in the most offensive way possible. Bereft of any technical information about their hardware, or indeed any information at all, the site instead includes "Tech Tips" about keeping track of your weight... Unsurprisingly, most people aren't too happy about this - and indeed Dell have already backtracked a little - the most offensively stupid "Tech Tips" (like keeping track of your weight) are now gone from the site. But the site itself is still up. It's perhaps unsurprising that Dell wanted a more "feminine" way to present itself to its customers, given the amusing "masculinity" of the main Dell site - with phrases like "engineered for maximum performance and scalability" and "HP and IMB should be very afraid".

Is pr0n an appropriate metaphor for databases?

handee — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:29:37 -0800

This presentation was given at the golden gate ruby conference. The author of the talk has posted an apology of sorts, but some people still aren't happy.

Playing together shouldn't hurt

yeloson — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:46:18 -0800

The Socially Conscious Gamer is just the most recent example of growing discussions about how gamer culture and problems with silencing and pushing women out, wallowing in racist stereotypes, self-fulfilling cycles of exclusion, and why these conversations are hard, if not impossible to have. Still, if rational discussions can be had about games dealing with slavery, perhaps there is still hope. Personally, I can't wait for escapism to be for all of us, and not about escaping FROM us.

Oh look, we have created enchantment.

plexi — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:37:59 -0800

The male rejection of adulthood is now the dominant attitude in Hollywood comedy.

The center of attention is usually a guy, his buddies and his toys. He will, most of the time, be nudged toward responsibility, forgiven for his quirks and nurtured in his needs and neuroses by a woman who represents an ideal amalgam of supermodel and mom.

A Shiny New Generation

chuckdarwin — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 13:21:46 -0800

Miss Bimbo invites users to become the "coolest, richest most famous bimbo in the whole world". Unsurprisingly, the site, which encourages girls as young as seven to give virtual dolls breast implants and put them on crash diets, has been widely condemned by parents and children's activists. "Level 7: After you broke up with your boyfriend you went on an eating binge! Now it’s time to diet ... Your target weight is less than 132lbs."

We are the footnotes of footnotes

hadjiboy — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:36:39 -0800

How women have fought, and succeeded, and celebrated their victories. [previously here, and here]

But Would They Let Saint Mary Officiate?

saulgoodman — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:32:41 -0800

WWJD? Well, he definitely wouldn't let a woman tell him what to do. At least, that's the theological position one institution of Christian learning has taken. And this isn't the first time the perhaps ironically named St. Mary's Academy has taken a "positive stand" on principle. Another take on the story here. (Via Boing Boing.)

Delectable damsels scattered all over the place

fearfulsymmetry — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 10:05:57 -0800

"Hello, and welcome to Mainly For Men (part 1, part 2). And, as the title implies, this is a programme, fellas, just for you." Yes, everything the BBC thought the red-blooded male back in the late 1960s would be interested in (ie women, cars and shark fishing). The result was so hideous it was never broadcast until a TV Hell themed night many years later. Possibly NSFW... some brief nudity ('artistic', naturally) and mild swearing. And rampant mind-blowing sexism.

Selling (out) our Women

Tommy Gnosis — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 13:05:01 -0800

List of Ads Offensive to Women. Topping the list: Dolce & Gabbana: This ad is beyond offensive, with a scene evoking a gang rape and reeking of violence against women. In an interview, NOW Foundation President Kim Gandy said, "It's in Esquire, so they probably don't think a stylized gang rape will sell clothes to women, but what is more likely is that they think it will get them publicity. It's a provocative ad but it is provoking things that really are not what we want to have provoked. We don't need any more violence. Also, the The ABCs and Ds of Commercial Images of Women

With the Beasts

jennydiski — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 03:30:48 -0800

Advocate or Adumbrate? Martin Amis writes an open letter to Yasmin Alibhai Brown for her suggestion that after reading everyone's favourite last living Marxist Terry Eagleton's comments on this (posted previously), Amis is 'with the beasts' on Muslim-hating. He may have been adumbrating not advocating, but is there another way to describe patronising and smug?

Men face jail for rape if a woman is drunk (UK Law)

IronWolve — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 21:10:31 -0800

Men face jail for rape if women are 'too drunk' to consent in bed to boost convictions. Men who have sex with drunken women will be at risk of being convicted of rape under new laws to be considered by ministers. The legal shake-up would mean a woman would be considered incapable of giving consent to sex if she had been drinking heavily.

Harlan Ellison: Poster Boy for Science Fiction Sexism?

ed — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:39:47 -0800

Harlan Ellison gropes Connie Willis at the Hugo Awards ceremony. Meanwhile, Ellison implodes on his message board, "NO grab, NO grope, NO fondle" when the evidence indicates otherwise. More here.

One Honest Wo(Man)

fourcheesemac — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 23:41:10 -0800

Diogenes the Cynic sought One Honest Man. Lately we have had some wonderful examples that would seem to confirm the philosopher's most cynical suspicions. And then along come some Honest {quicktime movie} Women and it's just so refreshin g.

John Banville's homage to Philip Larkin

matteo — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 12:49:56 -0800

He complained to [Kingsley] Amis in 1943...that "all women are stupid beings" and remarked in 1983 that he'd recently accompanied Monica [Jones] to a hospital "staffed ENTIRELY by wogs, cheerful and incompetent." ...His views on politics and class seemed to be pithily captured in a ditty he shared again with Amis. "I want to see them starving,/The so-called working class,/Their wages yearly halving,/Their women stewing grass..." For recreation he apparently found time for pornography, preferably with a hint of sado-masochism".
John Banville on Philip Larkin.

Sisters in Arms

Alison — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 14:20:36 -0800

Women are prohibited from being assigned to combat roles, but some still find themselves on the front lines. "Before this war, people only imagined how women would react in combat roles and thought that they couldn't handle it ... Now we see that women are bonding with the men and not going to pieces." Also, an interview with Kayla Williams, author of 'Love My Rifle More Than You'.

Horrible Acts of Human Behavior

SeizeTheDay — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 11:26:06 -0800

Horrible acts of human behavior. Via: First Rule.