“In the selection [of astronauts], we had almost the same requirements on women candidates as those for men, but the only difference was that they must be married, as we believe married women would be more physically and psychologically mature.”
— Zhang Jianqi, former deputy commander of China’s manned space program. Uh, how exactly? [AP] Keep reading »
We haven’t read Half The Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity For Women Worldwide yet because we’re lazy, though we’ve heard glowing reviews about the book by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof and his wife, Sheryl Wu Dunn. Fortunately, tonight is a one-night-only film screening of a special “Half The Sky” event at hundreds of movie theaters in the United States and Canada. (You can find a PDF of all theaters showing the film here.) The film, which plays everywhere at 7:30 p.m. local time, explores major problems facing women worldwide, including sex trafficking, violence against women, and maternal mortality. India.Arie performs music in the film and actress Marisa Tomei will be premiering a short film she co-directed, based on a true story, about a teenager from a small village in Ethiopia who overcomes sexual violence. “Half The Sky” will surely be a heavy film — but then again, this is half the world’s population we’re talking about. ["Half The Sky" at NCM Events] Keep reading »
I’ll admit it’s hard to complain when a waiter automatically puts the check in front of your date or when “women and children” are evacuated first from a sinking ship. But sometimes it gets really annoying when men assume certain things about women just because we’re women. Sure, these assumptions may apply to some of us, but not the entire gender, across the board. Here are 30 annoying things that men assume about women — they came to mind instantly, because we’re complain-y like that. Keep reading »
Researchers do all kinds of dumb studies but the latest dumb study gets kind of meta: it’s about why men tell “dumb blonde” jokes. According to the journal Society, men crack wise about “dumb blondes” because they’re intimidated by their perceived sexiness. You know, all those mystical, magical sexy-powers blondes keep in their hair!
Pardon me for sounding like a blonde here, but … like, duh. Keep reading »
Off-fun-sive? Hilari-sexist? Don’t mind me: I’m just trying to think up a word to describe ads that I know demean women, but I actually think are pretty funny. Take this commercial for Air New Zealand, a faux-nature documentary about “cougars” and their prey. I’d be happy if I never again heard the word “cougar,” “puma” or “cheetah” to describe a sexually active woman in her 40s—but at least these folks are tongue-in-cheek about it. What do you think? [YouTube] Keep reading »
Sorry, Burger King! Your esteemed “women wearing bikinis shaped like hamburger buns taking a shower” ad is not the klassiest ad ever—that distinction goes to this 2008 commercial which is truly the most obnoxiously sexy commercial on the planet.
Need great online bargains on appliances? I totally get that from the scads of women in an airplane, ripping their bras off and skydiving topless! Makes perfect sense. [The Sun UK] Keep reading »
Cartoonist Andrew Woods, the most irritating cast member on MTV’s “Real World: D.C.,” is even more unscrewable than originally thought. Amanda Hess at The Sexist ransacked his student newspaper archives and found that a bunch of Woods’ cartoons are about date-raping women. Yes, rape, the most giggly of topics! Wannabe-brodawg Andrew’s oeuvre damn near entirely consists of cartoons about liquoring women up so he can get laid, which is very much in the style of Tucker Max‘s body of work: women + too much alcohol + scampish naughtiness = pushing the borderlines of consent as a “joke.”
Let’s check out Andrew’s rape-y cartoons, after the jump! Keep reading »
Over at Broadsheet, Kate Harding is irritated by boyfriend jeans. Not because she thinks they’re unflattering or too expensive, but because of their “heterosexist” name. “Boyfriend” anything, really — shirts, sweaters, jackets — because the idea is that this oversized fashion item is like something straight out of your (male) boo’s closet. She writes:
Never mind if you’re a grown woman, not into men, already married, someone who can’t stand the cutesiness of the word “boyfriend,” all of the above, whatever. All female-type people want the world to know we have boyfriends! And that is best accomplished by wearing ill-fitting clothes with the sleeves and cuffs rolled up jauntily!
Oh, pervy cigar ad, how fortunate we are that you are old, so we can laugh at you.
Red Lipstick And Leopard Print Lady doesn’t exactly look like she “needs” to be clubbed over the head and dragged to bed, though. [AdWeek] Keep reading »
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