Let me start off by saying I’m not a Trump supporter, and I normally wouldn’t defend anything Trump and his family does. However, there comes a time when I turn on the news and just roll my eyes at how the media discusses Melania Trump’s outfits. The day she wore the pink outfit (pictured above) that apparently was called the “Pussy Bow” top, people went crazy and tried to figure out what she could possibly be implying about wearing that kind of top. Even more, when she wore a black pantsuit on the night got elected, people assumed her outfit showed that she “was in mourning.”
Come on people. This is ridiculous. Scrutinizing a woman’s outfit and that being the only topic of discussion about her doesn’t help with gender inequality. She probably just chose those outfits because she liked them. Plain and simple. Sure, maybe there is a small chance she is implying something, but why does that matter? Talk about something more important, and leave scrutinizing of an outfit behind.
Whitney Wolfe at Tinder headquarters before leaving her job this April. (Ashley Terrill)
Earlier this month, Whitey Wolfe, cofounder of Tinder, filed a lawsuit against Tinder and its majority owner IAC/InterActive Corp on charges of sexual harassment and discrimination.
Tinder is a smartphone dating app that shows users a brief profile of a potential partner. Users swipe right or left depending on their opinion of the profile. If interested, they can message and meet in person. The app, commonly used for casual sex and hookups, is wildly popular in the US and globally, sparking Twitter accounts like Tinderfession.
Wolfe’sallegationsare plenty: Mateen took away her title as co-founder because it ‘makes the company seem like a joke’ and 'devalues’ it, CEO Sean Rad dismissed her complaints as 'annoying’ and 'dramatic,’ and Mateen called her 'whore’ at a company event.
Wolfe was an instrumental part of the company’s success: She came up with the name Tinder and orchestrated a marketing plan that took the user count from a few hundred users to 1,500. “I credit you 100% with the growth of Tinder,” said Joe Munoz, who developed the app, to Wolfe, “and I think that sending you around the US to visit sororities was absolutely the best investment we could possibly have made on the marketing side.”
According to the lawsuit, Wolfe was designated as co-founder at an internal company meeting in November 2012, around the time Mateen joined the company. However, “when Tinder-related articles appeared in more traditional business outlets, Wolfe’s name was often nowhere to be seen. When she would ask why only her name of the five founders was absent they would tell her 'you’re a girl.’”
Rad sent a memo to employees and suspended Mateen. “However, as many of you know, Whitney’s legal complaint is full of factual inaccuracies and omission,” he says. “We did not discriminate against Whitney because of her age or gender, and her complaint paints an inaccurate picture of my actions and what went on here.”
Whether or not her allegations are true, sexism in tech fields is hard to deny. Twitter had no women among its top officials until the fall of 2013. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg recalled a conversation she heard between two men in the industry: “The other said he, too, would hire more young women but his wife fears he would sleep with them and, he confessed, he probably would,” reported the LA Times. According to Catalyst, only 5.7 percent of employed women in the US work in the computer industry.
Having women in high-level positions at tech companies helps not only women, but the company as a whole. “Diversity benefits research, development and innovation, the heartbeat of Silicon valley. It also increases profit, something Twitter sorely needs,” reported the New York Times.
Granted, there aren’t many women in tech to go around. “There is definitely a supply-side problem,” said Adam Messinger, Twitter’s chief technology officer. Added Rick Devine, chief executive at TalentSky, “The issue isn’t the intention, the issue is just the paucity of candidates.”
Some refuse to believe that. Kelly M. Dermody, an attorney, said “despite the tremendous success of a few women in tech, the sad truth is that it is an industry plagued by gender stereotyping and bias.”
Was Wolfe’s story one of an office romance gone wrong, or a symptom of a sexist company and field as a whole? “In the meantime, please bear this in mind: where lawsuits are concerned, both sides of the story are rarely told at once.” said TechCrunch. “We’ve heard quite a bit from Wolfe, but Tinder and IAC haven’t had a chance to formally respond in court with their side of the story.”
Technology Training Inequality - From Worldie.com: To All #SocialNetworks - Do NOT train content review to see only #misogynist female vs male examples of exploitation or victimization. Women are ALSO VICTIMS.
WOMEN are also victims of financial sextortion (which should be sextortion alone). Females can also get nude photos from MEN.
MEN AND WOMEN should work together. Men should not be afraid of women or trained to be that way. I won’t be complicit in gender #inequality.
There is female enhancement also.
Also, self-harm -> I created Everyday Psych Victims Project and Motivationology.org -> Do not vilify them and “in the name of” is not promotion of it. Also, escalation is slow.
If you want an #egalitarian world or crime reduced or a more peaceful world, go to Worldie.com
Interestingly, many workers at #Facebook do not actually use the platform. Or they forget their login. #AntiTrust- #nonprofits are better.
Youtuber Cold Crash Pictures discusses some very common, and very annoying, portrayals of women in film. Not only are women grossly underrepresented in film, the representations (especially in Hollywood films) are often stereotypical.
BecauseNomeansNo, but is often interpreted as Yes! Yey! Okay! Maybe! Fun times! Try harder! You can have me as long as I’m single! Yey! I’m your property!
Because I have recently had these two conversations:
Convo 1:
Late night, post-party, waiting for a taxi with a friend on an empty street. Two Random Dudes approach us.
RD: Hey are you okay? Do you need help?
Me: No, thanks. We’re okay. Thanks for asking.
RD: Where are you from?
Me:XYZ
RD: Cool. We’re from ZYX.
Me: That’s nice.
RD: Can I have your number?
Me: No, sorry.
RD: Why not?
Me: I don’t know you. I don’t like handing my number out just like that.
RD: But I’m a nice guy.
Me: I bet you are, but I’ve had some bad experiences.
RD: Yeah, but I’M A NICE GUY!
Me: Yeah, but I can’t know that for sure.
RD: I AM! (Random Dudeisn’t really being so nice anymore)
Me: I’m sorry, I can’t give you my number.
RD: Why won’t just give me your number? I’m just trying to be nice to you! I asked if you needed help! I’m a nice guy! Do you have a boyfriend or something? Oh, you have boyfriend, don’t you? Sorry, sorry! Sorry! Have a nice night! Bye!
Convo 2:
Walking in town. Evening.
Random Dude: Excuse me, do you have a cigarette?
Me: No, sorry. (First attempt to leave.)
RD: Hey, wait! Wait! What’s your name?
Me:Name.
RD:I’m Name.
Me: Oh, okay, bye. (Second attempt to leave)
RD: Hey, can I have your number?
Me: Sorry, I don’t give my number to strangers.
RD: Do you have a boyfriend?
Me: No… Why…?
RD: So give me your number!
Me: No, I’m sorry. I just don’t know you and I don’t feel comfortable giving you my number.
RD: You have a boyfriend then?
Me: Why is that even relevant?! I’m a person too, you know! I don’t want to give you my number because I don’t want to. (Leaving.)
Unfortunately, a very common source of comedy in many many many sitcoms is:
Straight cis man is attracted to a beautiful woman. Other character tells straight cis man that the beautiful woman “used to be a dude/has a penis/is called Carl, etc”. Humilation and disgust follow. Recorded laughter from audience. Cut to next scene.
These jokes reinforce ideas such as:
1) Trans persons aren’t real people with real feelings.
2) Trans women (these jokes are mainly about trans women as trans men are virtually invisible in mainstream media) are not “real” women.
3) By merely existing, trans people are tricking others into believing they’re something they’re not.
4) Being attracted to a trans person is the most humilating experience ever.
5) Being gay and/or trans is disgusting.
And these ideas have very serious consequences on our society. Not only are they damaging to the individual, but they interfer with laws and court room rulings. A concept known as the trans panic defense has actually been used to downgrade murder and assault charges. Defendants have argued that finding out that they were attracted to/flirting with/going home with/ kissing a trans person left them in a such a state of shock that they could not control their violent actions.
If mainstream media didn’t constantly reinforce the previously mentioned ideas, being attracted to a trans person wouldn’t be considered a humiliatiing/humorous experience and trans panic would not be a valid defense. (Since September 27th 2014, gay and trans panic defense are banned in the state of California.)
In the latest edition of the video game series Grand Theft Auto you can approach a female sex worker, choose what sexual act to engage in from a price list ($50 for a blow job, $70 for a half-and-half, $100 for everything), engage in the chosen act (and thus increase your life points), pay, and then kill the sex worker and get your money back.. You cannot, however, play a female character. The creators of Grand Theft Auto V have made it very clear: women are objects to be toyed with, not human beings.
This game, which allows the player to enter first-person mode, not only objectifies women, and particularly sex workers, it glorifies and trivialises violence against women. It turns it all into fun and games. The game allows you to kill a sex worker for no particular reason. It makes it cool to buy services from a sex worker and then physically harm her. It even rewards you for these acts!
Video game creators are free to create any scenarios and universes they want, yet this is what they choose to create. And this is what people chose to play. The existence of this game and its popularity are clearly a reflection of the misogyny in our society. There’s no doubt, we’re a long way from gender equality.
Because in December 2013 the all-male Iowa Supreme Court ruled that it was legal for a woman to be fired for…. wait for it…beingtoo attractive.
Melissa Nelson spent ten years working for dentist James Knight, a man twenty years older than she, and was considered a excellent employee. But her boss found her too attractive and was worried he would try to start an affair, despite the fact that Nelson had never engaged in flirtatious or other inappropritate behaviour. But Knight and his wife believed that his attraction to Nelson had become a threat to their marriage and therefore Knight decided to fire her and replace her with another woman.
Melissa Nelson then sued her former boss for sex discrimination, but the court dismissed her case and ruled that it did not count as sex discrimination as her boss hadn’t fired her because of her sex, but because of feelings.
So essentially, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that men are animals who can’t control their sexual urges. They ruled that Iowa men can’t be responsible for their sexual desires. They ruled that Iowa women have to monitor and control their bosses. They ruled that the solution to feeling attracted to your employee is to fire that employee. They ruled that women can be fired for merely inciting attraction, sex, love, FEELINGS, whatever. They ruled that Melissa Nelson could be fired on the basis of being Melissa Nelson.
As a woman you’re constantly bombarded with messages about how to become more attractive and how to improve your appearance, but now you also need to watch out, because being “too attractive” might lose you your job! And if you live in Iowa, there’s nothing you can do about it, because it’s not about gender, it’s about FEELINGS.
Professor of sociology and author Dr. Pepper Schwartz commented on the case:
“Don’t tell me this has nothing to do with gender. I don’t see women firing men because they can’t control themselves. Is this because they don’t have manly kind of urges? Or is it because they don’t have access to the same excuses, such as uncontrollable attraction and desire? Either way, it’s a gender issue. And if a woman is denied employment because of her gender, that is a protected legal status.”
Will being able to fire a woman because of her looks become a tool to keep women out of the workplace?
A U.S dating coach and pickup artist who teaches his pickup system Pimp to men around the world. Or in the words of The Guardian’sLindy West:“He’s currently touring the globe leading expensive seminars and “bootcamps” in which he teaches sad sacks how to violate women’s boundaries through persistence, psychological abuse or outright sexual violence.”
Why is he in this blog?
Because…
- On September 8th 2014, he posted a video on hisYoutube channel called White male fucks Asian women in Tokyo (and the beautiful methods to it). The video has been taken down, but reportedly showed Blanc giving a talk to a room of men where he claimed that, when it concerns women in Tokyo; “If you’re a white male, you can do what you want,”. He then continued to describe himself on a visit to the Japanese capital grabbing women and shoving their faces in his crotch. The video included footage of Blanc actually doing this.
- One of his pickup tactics involves choking women and he is the author of the hashtag #ChokingGirlsAroundTheWorld. He has used this hashtag to post pictures of himself choking women from different countries.
- He is the author of the following tweets:
There seems to be this common misconception that misogyny in Western society is a thing of the past. If we encounter it, it’s because of a few old guys with a bad sense of humor. And when these old guys die, we’ll all live together in a gender equal society.
But that’s not the situation here.
Julien Blanc is 26 years old. And he’s white, and he’s not Muslim, and he’s educated and he’s from a Western “modern” country. You don’t have any excuses left! Misogyny is a real thing.
What’s worse, young men around the world are PAYING to hear what he has to say. I’m sorry, but we still live in a world where gender inequality is a problem.
There are solutions to this problem though. As his methods have caused a lot of controversy and protests, Julien Blanc has now been denied entry to several countries and has had events cancelled in others. Denying him a visa makes a statement and raises awareness, but we need another solution to the problem:
“Some of the behaviour Blanc demonstrates in his videos amounts to sexual harassment and sexual assault. More broadly this is part of a culture that makes light of assault, that tells victims they will not be taken seriously. We need a social conversation about why this type of ‘advice’ is commercially viable.”
-Sarah Green from the End Violence Against Women coalition
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan isn’t exactly known to be a fighter for gender equality, but do we really need world leaders who believe that women and men cannot be treated equally “because it is against human nature”?
On Monday, at the Women and Justice Summit, Erdogan addressed an audience of Turkish women (including his own daughter) with these statements:
“Our religion (Islam) has defined a position for women (in society): motherhood.”
“Some people can understand this, while others can’t. You cannot explain this to feminists because they do not accept the concept of motherhood.”
“Motherhood is something else.”
“Their characters, habits and physiques are different…. You cannot place a mother breastfeeding her baby on an equal footing with men.”
“You cannot get women to do every kind of work men can do, as in Communist regimes.
You cannot tell them to go out and dig the soil. This is against their delicate nature.”
Essentially, what he’s saying is that women aren’t people. Or kind of like people, but not people-people, not like men-people, since women only have one purpose.
According to The Guardian:
“The Islamic-rooted government of Erdoğan has long been accused by critics of seeking to erode the country’s secular principles and limiting the civil liberties of women.
Erdoğan has drawn the ire of feminist groups for declaring that every woman in Turkey should have three children and with proposals to limit abortion rights, the morning-after pill and caesarean sections.”
Turkey ranked 120th of 136 nations in the World Economic Forum’s 2013 Gender Gap Index, down 15 places since 2006. A third of Turkish women have suffered sexual and physical violence at some point in their lives. Five women are killed in Turkey every day and according to Human Rights Watch, violence against women is on the rise. Erdoğan claims this rise in numbers is caused by more murders being reported rather than more murders being committed.
So now you have 365 reasons to be a feminist and this blog has now (unfortunately) ended. Though I could probably write 365 more reasons why our world can not yet be labelled ‘gender equal’, it’s time to move on to other things. I want to thank all my readers, followers, rebloggers, fan mail-ers and everyone who has sent me articles and ideas for the 365 reasons.
Thank you!
Thank you again & remember to always question the status quo!
3. Acknowledging that though gender inequality negatively affects all genders, women are on the losing side in the patriarchal society in which we live.
4. Wanting to change that current situation by improving conditions for women (and by doing so also improving the conditions for everone.)
But you call yourself ahumanist,equalist,everybodyist, because feminism is just too strong a word for you. You believe in equality, but why does it all have to be about the ladies?
So, why has feminist become a bad word?
1. Because it sounds like it has to do with women, and everything women do is kind of crap. (Your ideas about women haven’t been coloured by a misoynistic society at all, have they?)
2. Women who are angry, annoyed, upset, politically aware and well-informed are annoying. And bitchy. And screechy. Women who express negative opinions are just annoying. (Your ideas about women haven’t been coloured by a misoynistic society at all, havethey?)
3. You don’t believe women suffer gender discrimination. You haven’t seen it. (Oh, but you have! Or you’ve never questioned the world in which you live. Or it’s just easier to brush it off when it doesn’t happen to you. Or it’s easier to brush it off than to fight against it.)
4. You just don’t care about women that much. (Your ideas about women haven’t been coloured by a misoynistic society at all, have they?)
5. You’re afraid that giving women power (time/a voice/ opportunities) will mean that men will lose theirs.(Probably some, yes. Equality will never happen if some people keep all the power and won’t let go of it.)
6. Some feminists, whose names you do not know, hate men. And because of these individuals who expressed some hatred towards men, you don’t want to identify with this word.
You will happily define yourself as Communist, because what Stalin did has nothing to do with Marx. Or you’ll happily say that capitalism is a great system, despite 7-year-olds in Cambodia stitching your H&M t-shirts together. You will call yourself a Roman Polanski fan, minus the child raping bit. But feminism well, you just can’t get over that one girl at that one party who said she hated men.
Misandry (hatred of men) might fuel a satirical play, a song that includes the line Men are pigs! or a an aggressive statement at a campus party. But misogyny(hatred of women) kills more women than war, pays women less for their work, uses women’s bodies as objects in advertising and denies millions of women the right to an education. But feminism is just a bit too strong a word for you.
The hatred of the word feminist is one of the reasons we need feminism in the 21st century.
Last week Swedish Radio News revealed that Stockholm Police had kept a secret database with names and details of 2000-3000 female victims of domestic violence. The illegal database, named Kvinnoregistret(Women’s Register) by the press, has been used for about 10 years and an estimated 20 police officers have contributed towards it. Though officially labelled a register over suspected abusers, the database contains details such as the victim’s name, age, ethnicity, country of birth, religion, history of abuse and hobbies, as well as details about their family members. Police officers have also made notes about possible psychiatric diagnoses and the credibility of the victim’s story. Many of the women have been brandedtricky,difficultandparticular.
Here are some excerpts from the database:
- Claimant sometimes socialises with drug addicts. Has difficulty keeping her story together. Has a daughter with intellectual disability.
- Claimant has visited inappropriate places.
- Claimant’s half-brother has a dodgy background.
- In my personal opinion, the claimant seems to have mental health issues.
- Claimant has, according to her sister, problems with alcohol abuse and mental health issues.
- She is very frightened and the fear is not in proportion to the assesed risk.
- Louise is a little girl with issues. Not our problem.
- Both parties give credible stories, however, the woman’s story is a bit “embroidered”
- Claimant has been here for 10 years, from Iraq. Fled Saddam Hussein’s regime, politically active. Member of Iraqi Artists Association in Sweden. Gives same old story about ex husband recently finding her. Social services believe she might have mental health issues, delusional.
- Claimant is a mentally retarded Roma.
- The greatest victim in this situation is the man himself.
Anna-Karin Rybeck, the head of the Sisters’ Shelter Somaya for women and girls, told Swedish Radio News:
“I am really surprised and am really upset, because the information that is registered here, is not interesting at all. The only thing it reveals is discrimination and racism and it reveals an antiquated view of women. I can, of course, understand that the police want to register indicators for arresting an offender, or if they want to minimize further acts of violence, but the information that is registered in this register is really just horrible. It also reveals lack of knowledge within the police force about the whole situation of violence against women.”
These images are screen shots from Google searches of the words woman silhouetteandman silhouette. They’ve generated very different images. These images are an example of how we see women vshow we see men, but also howwelike to see women vs how we like to see men. In order words, it’s an excellent example of everyday gender stereoytping and double standards.
Woman silhouette produces images of silhouttes that are:
Nude
Seductive
Passive
Submissive
Man silhouette produces images of silhouettes that are:
Women’s rights in Saudi Arabia were briefly mentioned in this post. And though they have been allowed to vote since 2011, they won’t actually vote until 2015.2015. 2015. Women voting for the first time in 2015.
And while we celebrate that late, but big, step towards equality, we must also examine other aspects of women’s lives in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi women are not allowed to:
- Attend a football match.(A woman was recently arrested in Riyadh for doing this.)
- Try on clothes when shopping.
- Go for a swim.
- Enter a cemetery.
- Read an uncensored fashion magazine.
- Travel without permission from their male guardian.
- Drive. (Though this may soon change!)
We are far from living in a gender equal world, but we’ll get there! Women’s rights are slowly improving in Saudi Arabia. The appearance of new technology and social media allow the citizens to discuss women’s rights and protest against gender inequality in a way that they couldn’t do before.
Because fewer than one-third of US university sexual assault policies state that a survivor’s dress and past sexual history may not be discussed during disciplinary proceedings.
Read more about campus rape policies in this Students Active For Ending Rape(SAFER) infographic:
Those mods that replace female characters with male characters in games but keep the female animations really highlight how fucking insane and ridiculous the animations for women in video games usually are
Serious spine injury someone take that thing to the vet!
