War on Women – Yeah, It’s Real

Okay, so I’m not normally quite this rabid, but this is one of those times when I have to get all frothing and foamy.  (In a bad way.)

Opposing Views, which I follow on FB and read sometimes, had an article that I pulled up about a girl in India who got revenge on her rapist.  It was her uncle, and he was a religious doctor (called a tantrik) who claimed he could heal her but instead raped her.  He wanted her to come back for more “treatment.”  She came prepared – she brought a cell phone and a knife.  She recorded their conversation using the cell phone, and then she castrated him with the knife.  Nice and simple, right?

There’s even a nice picture of people standing around holding a sign that says “Stop Crimes on Women.”

But the rest of the page seems to give a totally different message.  There are five different images across the top that are meant to drag the viewer on.  Of these, four of them are of women: one of an attractive woman crying, mascara smeared; one of two women kissing, labeled “Celebrities That Swing Both Ways!”; one of a woman in very tight, very small clothing with a police officer looking on; the last one of a woman in lingerie and heels in a provocative pose, labeled “The 10 Best Butts in Hollywood!”

Seriously, Opposing Views?  Seriously?  This is the shit that you chose to pair with a story about rape?  Four different stories with images (and probably “stories” – if you can call a list of “best butts” a story) that clearly treat women as objects.  The photo of the woman in small, tight clothing doesn’t even show her face – clearly, that’s not an important part of a woman – and the headline is “New Rule in Seabrook, TX,” although I bet that, whatever was the closest town to the viewer would be reflected there.  It’s click bait.  Meaningless crap that shows women off as, well, meaningless crap.

So I’m no longer following them on FB.  And I’m posting up this blog.  Maybe if they lose enough click-thrus and followers, they might learn that women don’t appreciate being treated this way.  Maybe they’re learn that women should be treated with respect and…oh, who am I kidding?  They’ll never learn.  But at least we can stop giving them their clicks.

It’s time to bury Bones

Because plastic women are the best women!
(image by Dave at morgueFile)

Not real bones, mind you.  But the TV show Bones.  It began broadcasting back in 2005, and, as per the write-up on IMDB, is about “a forensic anthropologist and a cocky FBI agent build a team to investigate death causes.”  It’s in season 9 already.  I’ve seen almost all the episodes.  I say almost all because I have no idea if there were any episodes after episode 14 in season 9: The Master in the Slop.  The end of that show convinced me that I should never ever watch it again.

Why?  Well, if you saw it, you might know why.

The plot was interesting, someone being set up for a murder they didn’t commit, chess, pigs.  What more do you want in an episode?  Well, perhaps you might want a lack of rampant sexism.

In this lovely episode, Dr. Brennan (Bones) is upset that Dr. Camille Saroyan is receiving an award.  The award is for “Outstanding Women of Science,” and it’s from “Science Monthly.”  But Dr. Saroyan is concerned because she knows that Dr. Brennan expects the award.  To try to mitigate the situation, Dr. Saroyan contacts the institution offering the award and asks if it can be shared between herself, Brennan, and their artist/computer whiz Angela Montenegro.

The women hear back.  The publication has chosen to “honor” all three of the women…actually, they’ve chosen to “honor” 12 women!  You see, they’ve decided to have the “12 Outstanding Women of Science.”

So far, this doesn’t sound so bad, right?  And then they produce the “humorous” twist...the “honor” being bestowed upon 12 brilliant women is that they get to wear bikinis (with pictures of male scientists on the breasts!) and have a photo shoot “showing a lot of skin.” 

Well, who the hell would agree to that?  According to Brennan, all the “brilliant” women.

When Saroyan points out that, “We’ll be hanging in labs all across the country,” Brennan argues that it will simply show that at the Smithsonian, “….pulchritude is as abundant as brilliance…I never thought I would be honored in this way.”  

Wait.  What the fuck?

It’s an honor to pose in a bikini for men to look at you?  Really?  Being ogled and turned into a sex object shows pulchritude?  And this is an important thing to show?  Because Brennan, Saroyan, and Montenegro all think that this is a huge honor that they’re being allowed to help the publication stay solvent by turning into Playboy Bunnies?

I mean, they’re only a lap dance away from really earning some money for the magazine…and think about how much extra the Smithsonian could pull in if they went full monty!

What makes this even worse, I think, is that when I looked up the episode and read user reviews on tv.com, most of them make no mention of the sexism.  They focus on lack of realism, stereotypes, and failed gags.  No one thought it was horrific that being a scientist and a woman meant that the woman would need to prostitute herself for the sake of a publication.  No one seemed to find it painful that three intelligent women would throw themselves into bikinis so that men across the country could ogle them.  No one mentioned that it was sending a horrible, horrible message – that being smart isn’t enough.  You also have to be willing to show some skin to get anywhere.  Brennan even mentions that if they don’t do it, the “honor” will go to three other women, and she can’t possibly let that happen.

I say again: what the fuck?

I am willing to put up with a lot of stupid shit in TV shows.  It’s TV after all.  Most of the time, I’m not watching it for high quality, but for amusement and perhaps some mystery.  But when it’s personally offensive, the amusement is gone. 

So what time is it?  It’s time to bury Bones.  Let the ratings go to hell.  It’s going to get put to rest after season 10 anyway, but maybe we can encourage them to end it a bit sooner than that…

When you assume, you’re an ass

Quite a while ago, I wrote a paper on women’s education in Iran and the UK.  It was long, and it was interesting (at least to me), and it left me thinking a lot about subtle – and not so subtle – visual cues that we receive in our reading.  For example, in children’s readers in Iran, women are shown in the “proper” roles and places: mothers, wives, caregivers, homemakers.  The images are consistent and an important way to reinforce, from an early age, the roles of men and women in society.

So why did I bring that up?

Well, this past Sunday, I was looking through the coupon booklets in the paper (yes, I clip coupons).  Anyway, I found what I considered to be a horrific spread.

Johnson & Johnson had ads/coupons broken over two pages.

On page one, there were four coupons: band-aids, Neosporin, Benadryl, and Visine. 

The image was of two boys who had apparently just finished (or were about to begin?) playing soccer.  The tag line: “Make sure they’re ready to get back in the game.”

"Healthy Essentials for Boys"

Boys play sports!

On page two, there were four coupons: Stayfree, Carefree, Motrin, and Clean & Clear.

The image was of a girl holding a notebook with other girls looking on (but blurred) in the background.  The tag line: “Help her be ready.”

 

"Healthy Essentials for Girls"

Girls bleed and need to be acceptable and pleasant-looking!

I say: What. The. Fuck.

Why the fuck would you assume that girls need to be ready with maxi pads, Motrin, and Clean & Clear?  Apparently they need to make sure their faces look good and they aren’t bitchy during that time of the month.  Boys, on the other hand, need to be healthy and not suffering from any physical harm because, of course, they’re boys, so they’ll play hard.

Again I say: What. The. Fuck.

So here’s a shout out to Johnson & Johnson!  Why not assume that, just maybe, women might play sports, too! And boys might need help with their acne!  It’s shocking, I know, to assume that women should be more than just “ready” (perhaps for the boys that are now done playing soccer?).  Why can’t women be “ready to get back in the game”?  Why can’t boys just be “ready”?  Why the fuck do we have to make these assumptions?

Now, obviously, I’m not stupid.  It’s not like boys really need maxi pads, but they can use Motrin.  They can use Clean & Clear.  And girls can definitely use everything on the “boys” page. 

Maybe Johnson & Johnson needs to pay attention to more than just “healthy essentials” and also pay attention to “healthy assumptions.”