FTP: sexism is pervasive

CITI BANK: WHAT NOT TO DO

2010-09-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

(click for bigger, original here)

RAGING GRANNIES

2010-02-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

SHEWEE FTP

2010-01-31T17:07:00.000-08:00

The shewee will help you FTPee:

"Shewee is a moulded plastic funnel that provides women with a simple, private, and hygienic method of urinating without removing clothes whilst standing AND sitting."

Flipper FTP.

2010-01-20T16:59:00.001-08:00

Because every dolphin dreams of the day she'll become a bride.

2010-01-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

"They're pretty cool, ya know, there are some girls that are just gonna come here, strip off their clothes, and jump in the jacuzzi. Then there are some girls that are respectful, that you have to just actually treat like girls, like human beings." - MTV's Jersey Shore

Because not every kind of girl deserves to be treated like a human being.

2010-01-03T11:38:00.000-08:00

(click to enlarge)

booooooooooooo. FTP.

original here

Michael Pollan. FTP

2010-01-02T00:25:00.000-08:00

I know, I know, who doesn't love Michael Pollan? I was all about Michael Pollan when Omnivore's Dilemma first came out, and even more into him after his Letter to the President-Elect in last year's New York Times Magazine because he finally addressed the interconnectedness of class and food access.

But Michael Pollan is still a sexist. By lamenting the way food is currently prepared in the United States, Pollan romanticizes a past where women were devoted housewives who could spend entire afternoons preparing a healthy meal for family members to enjoy together. In his earlier writings, he ignores the correlation between women returning to the workforce and the demand for fast and easy food in the United States. I strongly believe that our current food system needs to change, but I came away from his writing wondering what burdens were being placed on women in slow food movements.

While looking for a Pollan quote from In Defense of Food that talks about how it is the woman's role to pass down a culture of food from generation to generation (in relation to his claim that the United States has no real food culture), I came across his article, "Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch," which was published in a July 2009 issue of the New York Times Magazine. In this article he blatantly blames women for our food crisis.

He begins the article with a discussion of Julia Child, who he feels like he personally owes because he benefited from the dinners his mother would cook him after watching "The French Chef." He then describes the movie Julie and Julia as an "exercise in nostalgia." He arrives at the 'paradox" of television food culture, in which the rise of Julia Child and other foodies (Alice Waters, Martha Stewart, etc.) coincides "with the rise of fast food, home-meal replacements, and the decline of everyday home cooking." That decline has several causes, the first being "women working outside the home." When women returned to the workforce, did men rush to help them with cooking dinner? If not, shouldn't they share the blame for the decline?

As Suzanne Reisman, another critic of Pollan says, "It is not the fault of feminism for encouraging women (and men) to pursue what interests them, but the fault of society for placing so little value on cooking for one's family that no one has interest in doing so anymore...We may pay lip service to the people who slave over a hot stove or oven, but in general it is not appreciated nearly as much as other work. Just like most traditional women's work is not valued. Small mystery, then, that when people have options, they choose not to do it."

manolith.com. FTP.

2010-01-01T14:17:00.001-08:00

Manolith.com's list of the 15 Greatest Lies Womens Magazines Tell is stupid. I could complain about its portrayal of female magazine readers as the most brainless, gullible people you'll ever meet, or about how it's parading as some sort of eyeopening expository journalism, but it's so fucked up that I'll let it speak for itself:

(complete with the photos manolith included in the article)

#10: Women should act on every impulse and call it instinct--"they basically advocate that women should do whatever they want, when they want, regardless of who they may hurt in doing so. Why? Because they’re women and they should act on every impulse, because those impulses are womanly instincts and they can’t possibly be happy without acting on them. These gems of advice range from quitting a good job on a whim, to basically becoming a prostitute because it sounds fun at the time."

#6: It's a woman's right to be overly emotional at all times--"The idea that women are ridiculously overly-emotional because of their genetics is heavily ingrained into these magazines. They constantly tell women that in order to be happy, they need to express themselves, and they don’t mean to a healthy extent, either. If women followed them to the letter, they’d spend all day, every day, expressing themselves emotionally."

#3: Women are entitled to the jobs of their choosing--"Going along with the constant pushing to be more impulsive, women’s magazines promote the idea that women should up and leave their job not just on a whim, but because they deserve better. According to them, women should get whatever job they want, anywhere, and they shouldn’t ever have to actually qualify or even apply for the position. Companies should come seeking them, because they’re women, and they deserve it. Never is the issue of actual merit or education ever brought up; somehow everyone who works at these places managed to go through life without ever actually working toward anything."

I'll leave you with this gem:
"It’s funny to think that men usually get stuck with the unpleasant stereotype of constant chauvinism, when these magazines themselves belittle women more than the best Burt Reynolds movie."

And you, Manolith.com, belittle then even more. FUCK THE PATRIARCHY.

vogue's january issue. FTP.

2009-12-31T10:31:00.000-08:00

In Vogue's January 2010 issue, they have a spread called "Already Famous" in which Sasha Pivovarova models the clothes of thirteen designers with "eight music headliners." All of the featured musicians are male.

Several pages later they have another spread titled "date with destiny," which showcases "a new generation of talent- from actors to artists to athletes" that are "blazing its way to superstardom." Female model Raquel Zimmerman wears fashion's "boldest upstarts" with the showcased talent. Featured superstars are: Sam Worthington, Owen Pallett, Aaron Paul, Travis Lett, Aaron Tveit, Michal Del Zotto, Danilo Gallinari, Chiara Clemente, Vito Schnabel, and Theo Rosenblum. Only one of those ten people is a woman.

An excerpt from a rough draft of a letter my sister and I are sending to Vogue:

"We were disappointed with the gender stereotypes that your magazine perpetuated in its January 2010 issue. In the "Already Famous" spread, Sasha Pivovarova was depicted as an accessory to successful men. You created a binary where men are rockstars but females are only models. Similarly, your "date with destiny" spread spotlighted up and coming men, while excluding the talent of female artists, athletes, and actors."

Kay Jewlers. FTP.

2009-12-31T10:18:00.000-08:00

Because the first place women look for comfort is in the arms of a bad actor.

Docker's Manifesto. FTP

2009-12-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

...and the horrifying comments in response to this ad:

> I saw that!!! I loved it so much I wrote to the website and corporate encouraging them for it.

> Wow thats awesome. And see the how the ripples flow… if men would be men… maybe women would be women. We do need heroes – and ladies as well.

> I saw this yesterday and emailed them too! I love it! I hope more people email them with a positive response.

> Perfect! I’ll have to print this out for my husband. We have some real catch phrases in our house – “play the man!”, “get yourself some trousers”! All in good humor for our young men, of course.

> Bravo!!! How refreshing! Think of our Grandfathers…they would laugh a lot of the “men” we have created.

> Bravo to Dockers and Levi’s, their parent company. It is a nice change to have a mainstream corporation lament the rise of this androgynous culture being forced upon the masses. Despite best efforts, we are not a genderless society, can never be, nor should we aspire to it.