if anyone came in my office one of those, I'd be running down to HR to place a complain... they can't seriously be trying to market these for the workplace?!

Sad is the fact people treat this shit like it's the most normal thing in the world. I just showed this to a friend of mine, and the response was: "Well, maybe they love women that much."

No, that's not LOVING anyone. That's misogyny at its best.

I love the female body, and sex and everything that's fun about being a college student, but I fucking hate the comodification thereof.

Any guy who has something like this either can't get laid or is a real creep.

Sigh.

All the feminist issues aside, it seems like that mouse would be distracting at work.

Uh. Here's the rest of it:

Just plug it into any USB port, slip of the top and click away on her…well, you’ll figure it out. The state-of-the-art 800 DPI optical technology makes the Body mouse pinpoint accurate and fast. And since there’s no mouse ball, you won’t have parts to clean, and no need for a mouse pad (but maybe a cold shower).

Seriously. Would a man get THAT turned on by a dismembered torso-mouse? I have a Christmas-story-like image in my head of a man at work gently caressing his torso-mouse, calling her "Lulu" and having sweet fantasies of their future together...

It's sad to me, really.

I support most of the opinions espoused on this blog, but the "dismembered body part" complaint seems to me like overreaching in many of these cases. I think these types of objects have less to do with the objectification of women and more to do with poor taste.

Besides, isn't every dildo in your bottom dresser drawer a dismembered body part?

Well, I can't speak for dildo-owners, but my vibrator is not a dismembered body part. And objectification and poor taste are definitely not mutually exclusive. But I see what you're saying. This looks like the sort of crap one could get at Spencer's. Or that my ex-boyfriend would own. Not so much creepy for me as just seriously classless...and weird.

Hey... you can mouse pads like this too. "Anatomically" correct ones!

http://www.slicknicky.com/products.html

Disgusting.

I say this with every thread like this. At least if we see a guy with this, we know to run far far away.

Agreed, cupcakesofdeath. Needing a cold shower after using *that* mouse? Pathetic.

And Kaichester, they're calling the mouse "her."

Kaichester, a better comparison would be to compare a dildo or vibrator to a pocket pussy, which isn't at all offensive in its function (although the name could be, depending on how you look at it). It's kind of hard to have a sex toy without it resembling a sexual organ, ya know.

A better comparison would be to compare a mouse pad like this with a dismembered man-torso mouse, or to compare the breasts-mounted-as-trophy with a dick-mounted-as-trophy. And then, to add the final offensive touch, we'd have to live in a society where men are often beaten, raped and killed by the class of people who own these things. Actually, it would be easier to grasp and a better parallel if a white man had a mounted replica of a black man's dick. I think that's a better comparison, because black men are also hypersexualized and often victimized by the class of people who would own such an item.

It just doesn't make sense. What kind of people come up with this crap. They're polluting our earth making this junk!

It just doesn't make sense. What kind of people come up with this crap. They're polluting our earth making this junk!

Damn. And I thought I couldn't be any angrier about this, but thinking about the impact it has on the Earth makes me even more pissed off. I mean, I know almost everything comes from natural resources and gets tossed into a landfill at some point, but when it's something like this it just adds insult to injury.

Dear Ponies and Rainbows,

Do you think Paleolithic fertility statues are also offensive? What about this dismembered object? And what about the many Greek and Roman statues we keep in museums? A lot of them are nothing but a torso remaining, males and females. Surely these objects were also created by a "class" who also "beat, raped, and killed" women (or in the Greek and Roman case, men.) It's all representations of the human body. Just because something is created by a cheap commodity culture doesn't necessarily make it as violent as you claim it to be.

I'm not saying that a mouse shaped like a woman's torso isn't WRONG, but it goes too far to say that anyone who owns such an object should be put in the same "class" as rapists and murderers. I think the "class" that owns these objects are more often very lonely men who can't get their hands on the real thing, not men who would literally chop a girl's tits off for sport.

A torso-mouse and mounted breasts aren't violent, they're just dumb and tacky objects created by dumb and tacky people for dumb and tacky people. And for the record, I'm not at all offended by a male torso mouse or a mounted penis, even though men have been beaten, killed, and raped by other men. But I DO think it's dumb and tacky.

Would you be less offended if the mouse were a designed to the proportions of an average woman rather than those of our fantasies?

Moxie's right; this is why you have free commercial speech. You permit Klan rallies to weed out the overt racists. You allow movies like I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry to identify and quarantine the idiots that saw it for the common good. You slyly permit people whose hands have grown tired of their own genitalia to adorn their workspace with this so that they are rapidly fired and forced to live in a mildewy refrigerator box under the freeway.

Jesus Christ, Kaichester, breathe and READ what I wrote before you go berserk. Where did I say that the people who own these things are rapists or as bad as them? What I said, if you'll read with an open mind, is that part of what's offensive is that they are going to be owned primarily by a class or group of people who are most often responsible for violence against women. Just like the group of people most likely to commit lynchings is white people; simply stating that doesn't mean I'm saying all white people are as bad as KKK members. Also, I'm super-happy for you that you don't think a white man owning a mounted trophy of a black man's dick would be offensive, but that's you. I would find it offensive, for a lot of reasons that are too long to go into here.

And you know, as a rape survivor, I know goddamn well that owning something like this isn't going to make a man go out and chop off some woman's breasts (that's what they're called, BTW) so you might want to cut the condescension; my vaggie doesn't make me stupid, ya know. It's simply that there's this thing called rape culture that things like this contribute to, and as a survivor, living in a culture like this has made it really, really fucking difficult to recover from what happened to me -- I always say that being raped is the first half of the crime, and being laughed at and scorned by society is the other half (or, as psychologists call it, the "second rape.") Simply put, people just don't consider violence against women to be a problem; they think it's funny, and people who've been exposed to things like this are likely to take an extremely callous attitude toward women who've been raped or assaulted. Just go to the comments section of any non-feminist blog where someone talks about rape, and you'll see (although maybe you have seen and just don't care, is what I'm guessing). I mean, can you imagine being a rape victim and knowing that some members of the jury have shit like this in their house? I'm not saying it should be banned (as Moxie points out, it's a great asshole-detector) but that doesn't mean we can't talk about its implications in the everyday lives of women. And really, what would've been so hard about putting a goddamn head on that thing? It still would have been creepy, but the headless thing just totally grosses me out.

And oh, your usage of Greek and Roman art to try convincing us that the dismembered woman trend isn't harmful to women? Women had next to no rights in ancient Greece and Rome, so why the hell would I be convinced by your argument that if the Greeks and Romans did it, it must be okay? If anything, pointing out that the same type of art could be found in highly misogynist, patriarchal societies only reinforces my aversion to this type of shit.

Also, what the hell is up with asking me if I'd be less offended if the proportions were more that of an "average" woman? Did I not make it clear enough that IT'S THE FACT THAT THE GODDAMN THING HAS NO FACE AND THEREFORE NO HUMANITY that's offensive? (Well, one of the offensive things, at any rate.) Why would I be less offended by a chopped-up average woman than a chopped-up skinny woman? I don't know if you're trying to pull out the shtick about me being jealous or something, but I'm pretty goddamn small, so trust me, that's not the issue.

And also, saying "our fantasies" like all men fantasize about beheaded, anorexic women is pretty insulting to men. Some men actually find bigger women to be sexy, yes, even when they have their heads attached. Sorry to ruin your fantasy about men.

dear ponies and rainbows, you are wonderful and amazing and i am giving you a standing ovation in my head.

i am joining in on the applause for ponies and rainbows.

And would like to add that Venus of Willendorf and other fertility statues HAVE HEADS and so did the statue that Kaichester linked -- unlike this offensive mouse. I agree with ponies and rainbows, bodies without heads are dehumanizing in a way that bodies with heads aren't.

Amen to ponies and rainbows.

And another aside on ancient dismembered sculptures: most of them were not dismembered when produced, but, in fact, became so over time as the weaker extremities (arms, legs, neck and head and sometimes even male genitalia) broke off. They were not 'meant' to be dismembered.

ponies and rainbows, you rocked my fucking world with that comment. It was amazing and so are you.

lol I'll join in the I

:D

Ok did anyone else noticed that their site actually LINKS to us- in a totally condescending sentence on their 'who's talking about us' page: "Not everyone likes us, but secretly we know they do!"

Ughhghghgh. I sent them a note.

Profeministmale, you are awesome.

Kaichester- what are you trying to prove? What is your point? I don't understand your driving need to be here and make antagonizing comments. You obviously missed the point of why the rest of us are gathered here today, so why don't you go do something else with your time? Just curious.

I think you are being grossly unfair to me. I have posted to comments on this website before under a different pseudonym, and it seems that any time I disagree, quantitatively or qualitatively, I get chewed out. I presented an argument based on my own thoughts. I didn't attack anyone or call anyone stupid, I just thought there was an overreaction to the torso-mouse. For that I got a curse-laced earful. If my arguments are so full of holes than let your rebuttal do the talking and I'll shut up.

I have been reading this site for some time (BEFORE the Colbert appearance, yes) and have in that time found myself outraged at things I never ever paid any attention to previously, and am constantly defending women against my meathead male friends who think that a woman should put out when the man buys her dinner.

In short, I've been enlightened to the cause of feminism, and I want to contribute, even in this very small way, to the discourse. I've heard some commenters say this should be a "safe haven" from attitudes like mine, and if your intention is to just preach to the choir then maybe I don't need to be here. But if the goal is to spread the message, change the minds of the people, then you're going to have to tolerate those of us who don't always see eye-to-eye with you.

If my attitude and my ideas are all wrong than just say so. If you treat me like an unenlightened asshole than don't be surprised if I return the favor. Or perhaps I'll just stop reading Feministing altogether because I don't like being shouted at and denigrated when I try to express an opinion any more than you do.

If you are truly 'enlightened to the cause of feminism' and interested in the cause, then I commend you, sir, because it's more than a lot of men can say. I think that's a great thing. But I am somewhat concerned that you have already had to use a few psuedonyms to post here, and your posts are being met with such aggravation-that tells me you still have a ways to go in this cause called feminism. If you are making commentary that in any way trivialize the posts or go against the general flow of commentary, be prepared to be met with some level of antagonism- that's just how it goes when you make that kind of commentary. If you really do mean well, then maybe you should just be more careful about how you phrase things here (knowing your audience and what the reception is likely to be?) Your dildo comment was fairly offensive (I do not have a dildo, dildo like device, nor have any of the girlfriends i've discussed it with in the past) and my sex toys do not in any way resemble a penis. Just saying. That said, it's great that we have so many dynamic people here...Can we all join forces now and try to get along?

I really, really hated the "fantasies" comment. Some men actually prefer women who don't have inflato-boobs. It had a tinge of feminists-are-ugly-and-could-never-be-the-subject-of-a-male-fantasy to it. I didn't like it at all.

KissMyPineaple - The whole myths of how feminists are ugly and are never the subject of a male fantasy is just totally false. :)

I would know - I am totally head-over-heels crazy about a certain feminist I know. In fact, I am nominating her for the Real Hot 100!

By the way, did anyone see feministing.com get mentioned in Time Magazine last week? I was on the plane flying to Los Angeles saw a blurb about how feminists on feministing.com were up and arms about "gray rape," and it made me a little happy!

Why would I be less offended by a chopped-up average woman than a chopped-up skinny woman?

It's actually a piece of moulded plastic. True!

And also, saying "our fantasies" like all men fantasize about beheaded, anorexic women is pretty insulting to men.

If you honestly think the point of this item was that it had no head then I feel really sorry for you. That's just so far off the deep end I don't even know how to respond.

If you don't know how to respond, then don't.

The ownership of such a mouse is not what is necessarily inherently sexist (although I would argue that it is complicit sexism, but whatever, so is just about anything you can do in this day and age...)
What is problematic to me about this product isn't what the product literally is, a dismembered torso, or sexy women looking thing, or whatever. It's what it's meant to represent. If you read the description, they fully intend for the owner to get some sort of sexual pleasure or satisfaction from it. The intent of the product, to me, is what makes it sexist. It's saying that men should be sexually attracted and pleased by an object with female characteristics that lacks anything about her that could make her seem human (aka-the head) and instead exists solely for the pleasure of the dude pushing the object around his desk.

Sure, this might not CAUSE men to rape. But it's basically saying that the basic attitude behind rape? That domineering over anything female is totally okay because you're a horny dude, and forcing that object (because isn't that what rape is attempting to do? To remove your humanity and make you an object of one kind or another?) to do what he wants is actually a pretty neat thing to do.

It's all about the rape culture. Not about the literal use or look of this very gross thing.

Its actually a piece of moulded plastic in the shape of a cut off, skinny woman. True! So don't be patronizing.

Insightful comment by Karen-I would have to agree 100% that is has to do more with propogating a rape culture mindset than anything. Their product description really does say it all.

It's saying that men should be sexually attracted and pleased by an object with female characteristics that lacks anything about her that could make her seem human (aka-the head)

Very well put. I agree with this and I'm starting to see how this type of thing probably is more than just a tacky gift.

Shanpo: I don't disagree that this is perhaps some small component of "rape culture" but I don't think this object is meant to "propagate" anything. It's designed to make money for the company. It's not a vast rape culture conspiracy, it just exploits the rape culture for profit. Get rid of the culture and junk like this will disappear on its own.

Does anyone recall the "stab-the-guy-in-the-groin" knife holder on the web?

That was not excessively critiqued by feministas, unless I'm missing some mass hormonal outrage against gender commodification/ exploitation.

Were all the amazonian gender warriors silent on this issue?

Sad.

Mods- notthattheresanythingwrong is trolling again. Plz see the birth-control-reminder thread and ban this asshat, if you haven't already.

It's sort of gross. But as with many of these things other than the insanely and obviously disturbing ones, I don't know whether to view it as good or bad.

I mean, there are plenty of sickos out there, right? And IMO the sickos in society are not going to become much more or less sick because of a mouse. So part of me is happy that they can stay in their living rooms playing second life or surfing porn sites. I'd rather not have them out and about.

Sort of like the plastic-foot-with-vagina folks: if it gives the crazies of the world one less reason to talk to the rest of us, I'm glad.

( I can't agree with the "not human" stuff though. Of course it's human. So is this: http://www.bronze-busts.com/bronze_bust_Daisy.htm
A human head without a body is no more human than a human body without a head. And I doubt anyone here would claim that busts are grossly nonhuman.)

DrkEyedCajn ...

Why are you so enamored of censorship?

Why are you advocating the silencing of diverse voices?

Why are your politics so representative of feminism?

Why is tolerance the complete opposite of what your espouse?

Why do I care?

not hatt here etc.,
I don't recall this actually. Was it on Feministing? Maybe it wasn't widely seen. Do you think it's unfair that women (and men, presumably?) weren't objecting to this product? Even if you do, does that alter how some here feel about torso-mouse?
Diverse voices - ok, that's one thing, but your second post suggests to me that you've got something of an axe to grind. I don't think you should be prevented from posting, but don't be surprised if people respond to your obviously antagonistic comments.

"Diverse voices - ok, that's one thing, but your second post suggests to me that you've got something of an axe to grind. I don't think you should be prevented from posting, but don't be surprised if people respond to your obviously antagonistic comments."

Freedom of the press belongs to s/he who owns it. Why do some people seem to think it's censorship when you don't bother to get your own website and someone else doesn't publish your speech for you...?