Tag Archives: misogyny

Cain Launches “Women For Herman Cain” Website Trashing “Pathetic Husbandless Women”

Jessica WakemanDecember 2, 2011 //

Herman Cain was accused of sexual harassment by two women. Read More »

I wish I was making this up. I really do. But no. This is real (emphasis mine):

“Dear Mrs. Cain Don’t pay attention to these pathetic husbandless women who are jealous of women like you in happy long-term marriages. These vindictive women can’t find a husband or keep one. They are like stalkers who try to latch on to any man who shows a bit of kindness or attention to them. When these unstable women come out of the woodwork to make accusations about Herman just say, ‘Honey, get a life, I believe my husband.’ We want you to be our First Lady Mrs. Cain!”

That, my friends, is a “testimonial” from “Barbara of Nipomo, California” on the brand-spanking-new Women For Herman Cain website that launched this morning.

Just makes you want to go right out and vote for Herman Cain, doesn’t it, ladies? Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Tina Fey & Jane Curtain Talk Sexism At “Saturday Night Live”

Jessica WakemanApril 13, 2011 //

Oprah Winfrey invited the lovely Tina Fey, Jane Curtain, Tracy Morgan, Dana Carvey and Chevy Chase as guests for a show about “Saturday Night Live.” It turns out that John Belushi was a sexist jerk, his former co-star Jane Curtain revealed. “[Belushi] said, ‘Women are just fundamentally not funny,’” Curtain recalled. “He felt as though it was his duty to sabotage pieces that were written by women.” Wow, I never thought an episode of “Oprah” would make me feel stabby. [NYmag.com Vulture]
I can’t even begin to describe the stupidity you will witness if you click this link, but I will tell you it involves Glenn Beck, Planned Parenthood, and the word “hookers.” You’ve been warned. [Huffington Post]
The American Library Association’s list of the top 10 most challenged books of 2010 is out and nearly all were written by women! Let’s hear it for Lush by Natashas Friend, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, Crank, by Ellen Hopkins, Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich, What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones, and Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology, edited by Amy Sonnie. [Guardian UK]

Keep reading »

“There’s A Misogyny In Audiences,” Says Director

Jessica WakemanApril 4, 2011 //

“Nicholas Stoller, director of ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall‘ and ‘Get Him To The Greek,’ says, “There’s a misogyny in audiences, a much higher bar of required likability for women stars. You need to make the actress completely adorable, or else she’ll be thought of as the straight man or the bummer — which is why I focus so carefully on trying to write fully fleshed out roles for women in my movies.” To make a woman adorable, one successful female screenwriter says “you have to defeat her at the beginning. It’s a conscious thing I do — abuse and break her, strip her of her dignity, and then she gets to live out our fantasies and have fun. It’s as simple as making the girl cry 15 minutes into the movie.”

— A profile of actress Anna Faris in The New Yorker by journalist Tad Friend became a larger thinkpiece about the “required likability for women stars,” as one director put it put it. There’s a requirement that women on film are not too threatening to male — and one would assume, as well, female — audiences. You have to wonder why that is. I’ve always said that sexism still exists in 2011, only it is a lot less blatant than in years past. But if you ever needed evidence that sexism is alive and well, there you go. (If you’re curious, I wrote a post back in 2009 on this same general topic.) [The New Yorker via AnnaHolmes.Tumblr.com] Keep reading »

Decorate With A Woman’s Severed Head!

Jessica WakemanMarch 8, 2011 //

Straight from the Kanye West book of severed heads in home decorating, here’s a vintage ad for a “stuffed” woman’s head to mount on your wall. (Click here to see the full ad!) It’s only $2.98, boys! The copy below would be funny if it wasn’t so creepy:

“One of the nicest qualities is that they don’t talk back! Accurately modeled to three-quarters life-size of real gals and molded of skin-textured pliable plastic, these heads are so lifelike they almost breathe. Saucy glittering eyes, full sensuous mouth and liquid satin complexion, combined with radiant hair colors, give astonishing realism to these rare and unique trophies.”

Um, EW. [Huffington Post via DangerousMinds.net] Keep reading »

Ryan Gosling Thinks The NC-17 Rating For “Blue Valentine” Is Misogynistic

Amelia McDonell-ParryNovember 19, 2010 //

“You have to question a cinematic culture which preaches artistic expression, and yet would support a decision that is clearly a product of a patriarchy-dominant society, which tries to control how women are depicted on screen. The MPAA is okay supporting scenes that portray women in scenarios of sexual torture and violence for entertainment purposes, but they are trying to force us to look away from a scene that shows a woman in a sexual scenario, which is both complicit and complex. It’s misogynistic in nature to try and control a woman’s sexual presentation of self. I consider this an issue that is bigger than this film.”

– Ryan Gosling on the MPAA giving his upcoming film, “Blue Valentine,” an NC-17 rating. Now, I’ve obviously always lusted for The Gos because of his talent and good looks, but when he goes and spouts intelligent, feminist truth like this, there’s a full-on river of love gushing in my panties. Ryan, this is my kind of dirty talk. [Tres Sugar] Keep reading »

Jay-Z Regrets His Representation Of Women In Past Lyrics

Annika HarrisOctober 29, 2010 //

“Some [lyrics] become really profound when you see them in writing. Not ‘Big Pimpin.’ That’s the exception. It was like, I can’t believe I said that. And kept saying it. What kind of animal would say this sort of thing? Reading it is really harsh … We have to find our way back to true emotion. This is going to sound so sappy, but love is the only thing that stands the test of time. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was all about love. Andre 3000, The Love Below. Even N.W.A, at its core — that was about love for a neighborhood.”

— Jay-Z speaks to The Wall Street Journal about his new book Decoded, in which he explains his past lyrics. The song that he refers to, “Big Pimpin,” is all about having women available to him when ever he wants one. Jay makes a good point about hip hop getting back to love, but I wonder if he’ll ever regret helping to usher in this age of conspicuous consumption, greed, and ballin’ that has had hip hop by the balls for more than a decade. [The YBF] Keep reading »

Dear Wendy: “Is Misogyny A Dealbreaker?”

Wendy AtterberryMarch 15, 2010 //

I’m engaged to a wonderful, hardworking, intelligent guy. He makes me laugh, is always there for me, and I even get along well with his parents. The only problem is that he has some misogynistic beliefs that really bother me. He’s from a very traditional culture where women marry young and tend to stay at home. (I have no personal problem with that as long as it is what the woman wants, but I don’t want that.) He believes that women should do almost all of the housework and has told me that if he ever runs his own company (his dream) he would never hire a woman because women “don’t work as hard as men and if they get pregnant I’d have to pay for that.” He believes that women should be respected, but that men will always be more intelligent, better workers and are more valuable than women. However, he doesn’t hold these beliefs towards me. He fully supports my dream to become a lawyer and helps me out with the cooking and cleaning a lot. Also, when I asked him how he would feel if a male employer didn’t hire me because I’m a woman he conceded that it would be terrible, unfair and he would be angry. I think he has trouble coinciding his culture and upbringing with how he actually feels. My question is: should this be a dealbreaker for me? Should I hold out hope that his beliefs will continue to change and become fairer, or is this a lost cause? I feel that if these sorts of beliefs and expectations were directed AT me I’d be long gone, but since they only come up in conversation I’m confused. — Too flexible feminist?

Keep reading »

Today’s Lady News: Ghostface Killah Is Definite Boyfriend Material

Jessica WakemanAugust 5, 2009 //

Ghostface Killah of the Wu-Tang Clan appeared on Angela Yee’s satellite radio show and said some pretty appallingly misogynist stuff. He criticized some woman who apparently said she screws a new dude each month. “For a female, that’s not nice.” When Angela pointed out the double standard there, Killah said, “That’s what’s wrong with our people and shit. They put our women equal to men. We’re not equal.” Then he continued to criticize Karrine Steffans, who wrote Confessions Of A Video Vixen. “I would never wife that. She had so many d***s in her mouth…I ain’t never made one of those my partner,” he said. “If I f***ed a bitch and it was like that, then I just f***ed her and that was that.” [Salon Broadsheet] — Charming fellow, that one.

Keep reading »

Is This Safe Sex Ad Offensive And/Or Misogynist?

Amelia McDonell-ParryJune 18, 2009 //

To see the full NSFW ad, click past the jump. This Portuguese ad, targeted at women, promotes safe sex. It’s hard to read, but the text up top says, “Girls, protect yourself. Demand your partner wear a condom.” It’s some seriously shocking imagery, but does it go too far? Megan at Jezebel wrote (in a post that’s since been taken down):

Sexualizing rape and domestic violence and putting the onus on women to protect themselves scream “safe” to me, too.

On one hand, I see her point. Pointing a gun at a vagina is certainly graphic and sexually violent imagery out of context. However, each of us is responsible for protecting our bodies from STDs and this ad is trying to imply that having sex without a condom is the equivalent of firing a loaded weapon at your, uh, vital parts. Is that message clear without the text? Not necessarily, so in that regard, it doesn’t work. But in combination, it’s certainly powerful. What do you think? Keep reading »

For Jezebel, Sexism In Advertising Is OK — As Long As They’re The Ones Running The Ads

Susannah BreslinMay 18, 2009 //

Historically, if that’s a word that can be used in relationship to blogging, Gawker Media ladyblog Jezebel has dedicated much its blog’s space to pointing out sexism in advertising — or what they deem “badvertising.” So, if the Jezebels are the self-proclaimed policewomen of what they perceive to be rampant advertising industry misogyny, what’s up with today’s ad campaign? Brought to you by the makers of Belvedere booze, the ads blanket the site from sidebar to marquee to mid-page. What’s the campaign’s theme? Masturbation! Or a liquor-and-sex-laden play on “maceration,” anyway. The copy: “maceration should never be rushed,” “maceration is all about technique,” “maceration is perfectly natural.” The ads feature a rotating red raspberry that’s decidedly clitoral paired with a throbbing “touch” message. The mid-page version features a woman — only her head is cut off, so you can’t see much of her but, well, her tits. The funny thing about Jezebel’s take on ads is that you can never quite tell what they’re going to declare misogynist. So far as I can tell, pretty much anything a) sexual and b) targeting women is TOTALLY MISOGYNIST and COMPLETELY SEXIST. Not quite sure how that works, but I guess it’s different when they’re taking the advertiser’s money. Then, bring on the decapitated women and rotating clitoris, by all means. After the jump, check out the decapitated lady paired with a post pointing to purportedly sexist marketing. Keep reading »