criticalreligionists:

Danish TV Show Features Men Judging Naked Women’s Bodies

Just when we thought we’d heard of every conceivable means of humiliating a woman on TV, along came “Blachman.”

Here’s the premise of this Danish prime-time TV show: a woman enters a room and silently strips in front of the male host and a male guest, who then critique the woman’s body out loud in front of her.

Danish X-Factor judge Thomas Blachman, who hosts the new, eponymous show, claims he doesn’t consider the content problematic. He told the Daily Mail, “[T]he entire idea of the show is to let men talk about the bodies of naked women while the woman is standing right in front of them. The female body thirsts for words. The words of a man.”

Read full article here (Link).

alimarko:

mirandaadria:

the-k-factor:

I swear some girls must have a genetic defect that won’t allow them to stand up straight while near a camera.

It’s probably the same one that gives them such tan skin and blonde hair..

Why am I not surprised to see a douchebag dudebro shitting on women having fun posing for the camera and then tagging his infinite stupid with the word “feminism”?

Go sit on a cactus, asshole.

women get shit on for not looking like a dudebro’s idea of pretty

and also for trying to look like a dudebro’s idea of pretty

and also for trying to look their own idea(s) of pretty

women pretty much get shit on by dudes no matter what we do because apparently we exist to please men

my bad, I’ll just make sure I get your approval every time I step out the door, asshole.

Fuck you, the-k-factor. It’s because of dickheads like you that I get terrified of taking photos, incessantly worried about how people will view me. Just face your own bigotry: there isn’t any way these girls could pose for a photo that would be exempt from your sexist and unwanted commentary.

beautilation:

At Comic Con today, I went as Black Cat. This is a shitty picture and there will be better ones of my whole costume coming up but I just want to say something. 

Black Cat’s costume has a fair amount of cleavage (conservative compared to many other female comic characters but a good amount as far as what I’ve ever shown). I guess I was not surprised to have a couple men ask to pose with me and then do some doofy “WHOA LOOK AT THOSE KNOCKERS” poses. I just make a really ugly face when I see they’re doing it. One guy with the social graces of a lemur said to me “I was this close to wearing that same outfit. My breasts are large and supple and I think it would have been nice.” Nope. Stop talking.

But aside from guys being doofy and awkward (but clearly not foul-intentioned), I did have my first truly skeezy experience at Comic Con today. 

And my first truly empowering moment as well.

This group of men from some kind of Stan Lee fan club blah blah internet video channel blah blah asked to interview with them on camera about Comic Con. I said well okay, sure. Camera is rolling. The “host” is a middle aged, rotund dude. It’s an all-male crew and lots of people (mostly guys) were beginning to crowd around. The following is the interview as burned in my mind. Keep in mind that I expected this to be about Comic Con in general.

• Him: I’m here with…
• Me: Mandy, aka Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat
• Him: ..And she is HOT. Do you think I’m hot enough to pull that off?
• Me: Uh, I’m not sure, I’ve never seen you in drag.
• Him: I’ve got a great ass. Go on, spank me.
• Me: (look at his large ass, popped up mere inches away from me then look into the camera like are you kidding me . No thanks. I may hurt you, I’m a lot stronger than I look.
• Him: Aw come on!
• Me: No, seriously. Stop.
• Him: Damn, alright! Well let me ask you an important question then…what is your cup size?
• Me: (big talk show smile) That is actually none of your fucking business.
• Him: Oh! I think that means to say she’s a C. 
• Me: I actually have no breasts at all, what you see is just all of the fat from my midsection pulled up to my chest and carefully held in place with this corset. It’s really uncomfortable, I don’t know why I do it.
•  Him: (to the male crowd) Aw, come on what do you guys think? C cup? 
• —a few males start to shout out cup sizes as I stand there looking at this guy like this has to be a fucking joke, then look at the crowd and see that no amount of witty banter or fiestiness will stop making this whole thing fucking dumb. It was clearly a ploy to single out cosplaying women to get them to talk sexual innuendos and flirt with this asshole and let him talk down to them simply because they were in costume and were attractive. Whether I’m in a skintight catsuit or not, I’m a fucking professional in everything I do and I don’t need to play nice for this idiot.
• Me: This is not an interview, this is degrading. I’m done. (I walk away)
• Him: (clearly dumbfounded and surprised) ..Come on, it’s all in good fun!
• Me: Being degraded is fun? That was unprofessional and I hope that isn’t your day job because you can’t interview for shit, my man.

And the entire crew and the crowd were SILENT. NOTHING. SHOCK, HONEY. It felt like I was in a heated fog, full of rage and pride and I sashayed away feeling like the most badass motherfucker in the whole damn room, but kind of also on the verge of tears. A slow build of applause would have been appropriate, but from the looks on people’s faces, they were just completely not expecting me to do what I just did- which was really nothing more than speaking up for myself. It wasn’t something one should feel brave for doing but crazy for not doing when necessary.

It’s because many people at these cons expect women cosplaying as vixens (or even just wearing particularly flattering costumes) to be open/ welcoming to crude male commentary and lecherous ogling, like our presence comes with subtitles that say “I represent your fantasy thus you may treat me like a fantasy and not a human in a costume”. And maybe that will always be how the majority of people see us. But that does not mean we have to put up with shit that crosses the line, it does not mean we owe them a fantasy, it does not mean we dress up to have guys drooling over us and letting us know that we turn them on. It is not all about your dicks, gentlemen. So I encourage cosplaying women everywhere to be blunt and vocal with their rights, their personal boundaries, and their comfort level at conventions. I actually encourage girls to be brashly shameless about these things, to not be afraid to speak up if you feel uncomfortable and to let the person doing it know that they are crossing the line. Don’t keep quiet because you’re scared of what they might say or think- because if you say nothing they will continue to see what they’re doing as OK. 

stfufauxminists:

[Image: “Used high-hippie asks: “Something I have found disgusting with some feminists online is that I show an ad where the man is sexually objectified. Similar to the “Women in a vending machine” ad, there are a few ads with “men in a vending machine” or men in the frozen meat aisle and women pick the one they want (on the plus side, the men were ethnically diverse…). When I protest against it, these feminists say its okay because they’re men. I don’t understand… sexual objectification is not okay…”]

(Made rebloggable by request)

Answer:

Here’s the thing:

I’m a feminist who is of the mind that a little sexual objectification is probably ok. The thing about sexual objectification is that it should never be the only way that a person or certain groups of people are shown, since everyone is a multifaceted individual whose social group should not be boiled down to stereotypes. Now, women are sexually objectified in the media much more often than men. If you would like to contest this point, I guess you can, but um, I don’t think it would be wise (I mean, even in this original ask you say that there are only “a few” ads which sexually objectify men). 

So, there’s that portion of the sexual objectification scenario to consider. When it happens so much more often to women, it is seen that being a sexual object is just part of women. Women become sexual objects to the culture consuming the media, and that has a negative effect on the lives and experiences of real, actual women who are in fact people - not sexual objects (Take Native American women, for example, who are much much much more likely to be sexually assaulted than women of other races - how often are they, or rather, white women appropriating Native culture, posited as sexual objects in the media?). For more information on this, try watching Sut Jhally’s Dream Worlds 3 (Unless there’s been a new one? Anyone know?). 

The other thing to consider is ownership of the social narrative. Who owns the means to produce content which shapes our culture? (Hint: By and large, it’s not women, especially not WOC)   So, in the current model, men are creating and/or approving for creation media which sexually objectifies women on a much larger scale than media that sexually objectifies men. You don’t see a problem with this? Essentially, women are not creating the social narrative about themselves, and it’s been that way for ages. 

So, that’s the thing. A little sexual objectification here and there is not as harmful for people who are in power - currently that’s white dudes. And were everyone to share in power equally, a little sexual objectification here and there of women or anyone probably wouldn’t be that harmful. Mostly because everyone else would have the ability to equally access media production and change the narrative of their social group as they see fit. The overall message about them would be more varied. But the problem as it stands today is that white men are creating everyone else’s stories for the most part, and currently women’s story is that they are sexual objects for heterosexual male consumption. I go a little more into ownership of production and diversity of social narratives in this ask in the FAQ. 

So when women create media that sexually objectifies men (or when anyone does, really) in this current media environment, it becomes an equalizer rather than a tool of oppression since that is not the dominant media narrative, whereas objectification of women is.

So that’s why I think you’ll see a lot of feminists shrug off or even enjoy a little objectification of men. Mostly because sexual objectification isn’t really that bad - as long as it’s not the only story being told about you. 

rosalarian:

madamethursday:

[Image: A drawing of Superman in a redesigned costume and pose meant to be in the style that many super heroines and women in comics wear and how they are posed. The traditional Superman suit now has very, very high heels, the front parts of the thigh, arm, chest, abdomen and hip areas are now removed, revealing bare skin. A tight red bikini-style bottom replaces the traditional red brief-style bottoms. He stands, cape in the wind, with his chest thrust forward and his bottom thrust back in a “sexy” stance.\

spastasmagoria:

lady-condom:

t1mco:

Needless to say, this is the worst thing I’ve ever drawn.

I’m sorry Superman. I’m so sorry. My beloved boyscout. Oh, Benevolent Blue. Ah ah ah forgive me this atrocity oh oh oh.

Okay going to go watch Sherlock now wish me luck.

Dayum <333333

We should redo ALL the male super heroes like this

The high heels, though. THE HEELS. I love that. Because that is exactly the kind of shoes they put on women in comics and it makes me want to throw a brick at something EVERY SINGLE TIME.

Apparently it’s too much to ask that artists think of something besides the male gaze long enough to at least give women in comics REASONABLE FUCKING FOOTWEAR.

Seriously. I want to know what kind of skeletal structure they think women possess because not only do women apparently have SPINES MADE OF RUBBER BANDS AND FLEXISTRAWS so they can have both ass and tits facing the viewer, but apparently their hips and legs may be molded out of silly putty that ends in ANKLES AND FEET MADE OF SOME KIND OF EXTRATERRESTRIAL ADAMANTIUM ALLOY AND DISALLOWS ANY NERVES OR NEED FOR BLOODFLOW because holy fuck the shoes. I seriously wonder how these women don’t have constant stress fractures or soft tissue injuries. There’s a reason athletes and soldiers wear either sneakers or boots or something like it.

I really do want to get some high heels just like this, find the artists who draw them on comic book women, then make them run an obstacle course, run stairs in a stadium, try some pilates, and then run a mile in these EXACT SHOES before they sit back down at the drawing board. Because that’s what you’re having women in comics do. And for no other reason than it looks good to straight dudes. 

I love beautiful, impractical, painful, ridiculous shoes. I also know when not to wear them. One of those times is “during fight practice.”

FUCKING BRILLIANT.

(Source: stickyembraces)