Recently in Sexism Category

Members of the European Parliament voted this week in favor of a report that calls for less sexism in advertising.

European lawmakers are concerned that the way women and men are portrayed in marketing and advertising is making it more difficult to dispell old-fashioned ideas of traditional gender roles.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) on Wednesday adopted a new report that calls on member states to make a greater effort to monitor how gender is portrayed in advertising. Constant images of women in the kitchen while men clean their cars outside are reinforcing sexist stereotypes, the study argues.

The lawmakers' statement said, "MEPs call on the EU institutions and member states to develop awareness actions against sexist insults or degrading images of women and men in advertising and marketing." The report isn't legally binding, but it's still a step in the right direction.

Related: For some vintage sexist advertising fun, check out this gem:

Thanks to Tina for the link.

As was pointed out by puppyfist and Kinderplatz in comments, Sarah Palin isn't exactly supportive when it comes to teen moms who aren't her daughter. She slashed funding for Passage House, a transitional home for teenage mothers that gives young women a place to "live with their babies for up to eighteen months while they gain the necessary skills and resources to change their lives."

Michelle Cottle at The Plank has the story.

Harbinger of the end of days.

A reader sent in what has to be one of my favorite anti-feminist articles to date. Elroy Riggs of the Central Kentucky News Journal believes he has found the reason for the increased divorce rate, the nasty little secret behind the battle of the sexes: canned biscuits.

Give a man homemade biscuits in the morning and he'll come home to you at night. The Pillsbury Doughboy with his dratted canned biscuits is a lousy homewrecker. There was a time, especially in the south, when the woman arose early enough in the morning to prepare homemade biscuits for her husband and family.

It was a simpler time, before most women joined the workforce. Women in those days served plates of piping hot biscuits, big fluffy biscuits. Cut one open and ladle some sawmill gravy over it or slap a portion of real butter between the halves and then cover that with your choice of preserves or jelly. "A breakfast without biscuits," went a famous saying, "is like a day without sunshine."

I actually find this ode to homemade biscuits more hilarious than offensive. It perfectly epitomizes the whiny sexism of entitlement: Breakfasts are ruined! What are men to eat?! What's next? Butter that hasn't been hand-churned?!

Riggs also says that "any woman who serves her family canned biscuits for breakfast in anything but an extreme emergency is guilty of apathy." (Unlike Riggs, whose impressive social engagement compels him to write op-eds about breakfast food.) But I guess he's right in a way - I am apathetic when it comes to biscuit-making. I'd even venture to say I'm apathetic to making any kind of breakfast food, save for cereal. And yet...the boyfriend stays. It's miraculous, really.

Riggs ends with a call to action that I'm betting will have women laughing their asses off rather than running to the kitchen...

It is time, women of America, to come to your senses. Halt the alarming increase in the divorce rate. Bring the homemade biscuit back to your breakfast table. We can all work together. You make 'em, we'll eat 'em. What could be more fair?

Riggs' next article: How the invention of the washing machine (bring back the scrub board!) is responsible for women's promiscuity.

Because fighting domestic violence makes one so unelectable. Via Barefoot and Progressive:

Exxon Eddie Whitfield's surrogate has just posted a clip of his opponent in KY's 1st congressional district race, Heather Ryan, performing a short piece from the Vagina Monologues earlier this year, which raised money for the Merriman House in Paducah for battered women. In it, he asks "Is this what we want to represent the first district of Kentucky?"

Uhhhh.... YES.

Violence, shmiolence - this woman is in a show about vaginas, people!! Sigh, how moronic. (Albeit not surprising.)

As we noted over and over throughout the Democratic primary, it's important to decry sexism against women in politics even if you don't agree with them on the issues or endorse their candidacy. With that we're depressed to note that the sexist bullshit against Republican VP pick Sarah Palin is cropping up so soon:

C'mon. Criticize her on the basis of her political record or experience. Don't make it about looks.

(For those who don't get the "joke," this should explain it.)

UPDATE: And Jill points out another incident, too.

Trigger warning : This is very upsetting. At the convention, a CodePink protester was knocked down by a policeman saying (you can hear him in the video): "Back it up, bitch."

You can always count on The New York Post to bring you the bottom-of-the-barrel headlines.

And this one is no exception.

38 year-old Elizabeth Acevedo, a human being, was murdered in Brooklyn after someone hit her in the head. The police are still looking for a suspect.

Renee at Womanist Musings has more.

Via Ren at Feministe.

Lapriss Gilbert was forced to leave a federal building after a guard in the Social Security office told her that her "lesbian.com" shirt was offensive.

She said the guard, who works for a private company hired by the Department of Homeland Security, demanded that she leave the building or face arrest.

"As an African-American and a lesbian, I haven't been through one day without facing some sort of discrimination ... but this is just shocking," said Gilbert, 31.

A witness, Paul Dumont said, "For her to be told to leave was completely unnecessary, especially considering how peaceful and quiet she was responding the the security officers." In his statement to police Dumont noted that the guard's "loud, unreasonable, aggressive and angry approach to the situation almost caused chaos."

Via the f word.

It's safe to say that evangelist John Hagee isn't a fan of stay-at-home dads. Yikes.

Via Shine.

There are certain headlines that I really never want to see. This is one of them:

Dora to explore older, racier market

For those who don't know the fabulous Dora the Explorer, she's the character of a top-rated Nickelodeon television show about a little girl who goes, well, exploring while also teaching children Spanish. It's a great show. But apparently, it's not sexy enough.

Dora the Explorer, the wide-eyed cartoon character adored by young children around the world, is facing a makeover amid competition from older, racier rivals.

Nickelodeon, the children's television network owned by Viacom, has been discussing a redesign of some Dora-themed toys and other merchandise that would make the character appear more feminine, say people familiar with the talks. (Emphasis mine)

Oh dear. Dora wouldn't be the first beloved cartoon character to get a sexy new look, but for some reason I find this more depressing than past "makeovers."

You can contact Viacom, who owns Nickelodeon, here.

Thanks to Morgan for the link!

Shorter Cosmo: Men cheat because women aren't fucking well enough and don't pay enough attention to poor widdle boys.

I also love that editor Kate White throws out some of the most hackneyed stereotypes about men - that they cheat because "they really love sex," they're "hardwired" to and they're "not as discriminating" as women.

And seriously, the creepy porn music in the background is doing no one any favors.

Thanks to Robin for the link!

UPDATE: My boyfriend's response to the video, via IM: "If I cheat on you, it's your fault for not being multiple women who fuck me a lot." Heh.

While our community bloggers have been doing a fantastic job of covering the sexism during this Olympics season, we find this gem:

One of the most popular sports at the 2004 Games did not give medals out to its participants. Admiring Olympic cheerleaders became a favorite pastime for many who attended the Athens Games, and the cheerleaders' popularity led the Beijing Olympic Committee to put together their own cheerleading squads...

So why can't we see Olympic cheerleaders on television? This is the $100 question that I have been asked several times over the last few weeks, and the answer is? There is no good answer. The only thing I can think is that the IOC and/or NBC received complaints after the cheerleaders' first appearance four years ago (although NBCOlympics.com does feature many photos of the women)....

I don't see what the big problem is. The cheerleaders are there to entertain fans, why can't they also entertain the fans who aren't lucky enough to have a ticket? They have already become very popular with Olympic enthusiasts, so why pretend like they don't exist? We want more! (Emphasis mine)

The answer to your question, sir, is in this very picture that came with the article. Trust me, I'm no hater of cheerleading (I actually almost joined the squad in my Brooklyn high school), but this piece really creeps me out. It's almost turning the lack of cheerleaders at the Olympics as some sort of inherent right to voyeur that's being taken away from the drunk, objectifying fans of the world.

Photo via Getty Images. h/t to Kathryn

Sad to say that this piece's origin seems to be parenting.com, but we can't be surprised CNN snatched it up for themselves. You had me at "post-feminist world." (Check out the first sentence. Sigh.)

Thanks to Rachel for the link!

Remember that new and seriously offensive Oregonian coffee chain that we blogged about last week? Well, a couple of feministing readers sent us the news that the bikini-clad baristas have been repeatedly subjected to a dude exposing himself at their drive up window. One of them even threw a cup of hot water at him, to which he allegedly said, "Ooh yeah."

Gross.

And good on the police, who made it clear that, no matter what a woman is wearing, she doesn't have to put up with this kind of sexual harassment.

I know when I was a little girl, I dreamed that someday I'd be a robotic-man-washing-machine.

Thanks to Jay for the link.

via Renee comes the latest PETA nekkid-lady ad, featuring U.S. Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard:

The argument against this ad is not that Amanda Beard is being exploited. The issue here is that once again PETA is employing the tired old tactic of using a conventionally beautiful woman with conventionally "perfect" body, posed naked or nearly naked, to call for animal rights. But the thing I hate most about this particular PETA propaganda is that it takes what should be a message of empowerment, Love-Your-Body-style, and turns it into yet another affirmation of the female ideal. As Renee puts it, "It seems that they respect the rights of animals far more than they respect women. Consider that they don't use images of male nudes, nor do they use images of women with varying body sizes."

As you'll recall, PETA has defended this advertising strategy with the weak response that "sex sells." It's an excuse I expect from Axe and Maxim, but not from a movement that is supposedly about justice.

Oh, and we're not done yet! From Debbie at Bitch (via Vegans of Color) comes the horrifying news that PETA now wants to advertise on the border fence between the U.S. and Mexico.

While many view the contentious border fence as a government fiasco, an animal rights group sees a rare opportunity.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans today to announce an unusual marketing pitch to the U.S. government: Rent us space on the fence for billboards warning illegal border crossers there is more to fear than the Border Patrol.

The billboards, in English and Spanish, would offer the caution: "If the Border Patrol Doesn't Get You, the Chicken and Burgers Will -- Go Vegan."

WTF?! I have no words. This is so fucked-up, even for PETA.

Apparently Oregon--which I associate with a beautiful coast line, green everything, a killer bookstore, and my high school's boyfriend's football team--is home to way more misogyny than I'd realized.

A new chain of coffee stores called Java Jugs are springing up were baristas wear bikini tops and short shorts while serving their sleepy, horny clientele. According to the Willamette Week, "Brothers Adam Marshall, 29, and Steven Rotan, 35, opened Salem's Bikini Coffee in May 2006 to cater to blue-collar 'average Joes' who they say shun Starbucks." The article, which is almost as offensive as the stores themselves, assures readers that these women are (gasp!) smart, make great money (yeah minimum wage is awesome), and the real kicker, "they're not out to steal your husband."

Where do I begin? This whole thing reeks of homophobia (real men don't drink coffee made by clothed women with health insurance!), sexism obviously, and classism (blue-collar guys obviously need tits in their faces in order to buy anything). I would be way offended if I was the market these dudes was trying to reach.

Thanks for the heads up Adriel.

Check out this gem from Media Matters:

On the August 12 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh said of former Sen. John Edwards' recent disclosure of an extramarital affair: "I've got a theory about the motivations..."It just seems to me that Edwards might be attracted to a woman whose mouth did something other than talk." Limbaugh went on to say in a subsequent segment: "my theory that I just explained to you about why -- you know, what could have John Edwards' motivations been to have the affair with Rielle Hunter, given his wife is smarter than he is and probably nagging him a lot about doing this, and he found somebody that did something with her mouth other than talk."

You know because chatty smart bitches make for limp dicks.

I'd like to suggest that Rush check this out.

Dozens of breast-feeding women packed themselves into a Vancouver H&M last week to protest the store, where employees recently told a mom that breastfeeding was against H&M policy because it might offend other customers.

Just after noon the trendy clothing store in a downtown mall was filled with a sea of nursing moms, strollers, toddlers, dads and others who turned out to make a political point.

"It is normal. It is not obscene. It is every baby's need to have food and be nourished and nurtured," said Veronika Polanska as she rallied the moms to publicly feed their babies.

..."I don't want to live a world or city where that's acceptable to shun women for breastfeeding," said nursing mum Sonia Tilley-Strobel.

H&M corporate spokesperson Laura Shankland came to the protest to smooth things over: "We apologize. And it seems to be a miscommunication and a misunderstanding. Our policy is to allow breastfeeding nursing mothers to breastfeed or express milk freely in our stores."

Related Posts: Lactivists protest Applebee's, Alabama women can breast-feed in public. So they do., Kansas gives out breastfeeding cards

Picture via.

Girls Gone Wild crew supervisor Matthew O'Sullivan, 37, was arrested for sexually assaulting a 20 year-old woman on the "party bus" while the show was filming in Long Island, New York.

[Trigger Warning]

At O'Sullivan's arraignment yesterday, Suffolk County prosecutors said he and the victim started touching and kissing, which she had no problem with.

But things took a tawdry turn when he allegedly pulled down her shorts and underwear as he put his hands around her throat to keep her from running out.

The young woman was able to break free when her friends came on the bus. The pals yanked back a curtain and saw her struggling with O'Sullivan, prosecutors said.

The friends called 911 and the victim was able to flag down a passing police car...

Seriously, when is someone going to shut this fucking operation down? How many more women have to be assaulted by Joe Francis and Co. before something is done? And yeah, I realize that you can't put them out of business because of the actions of a few of their employees, but it's clear that this company breeds and condones violence against women.

Via Gothamist.

I just took this screenshot from The New York Times website; it leads to this story from the upcoming magazine about black politics and Obama. Noticeably absent from the picture is anyone with a vagina are any women. Lovely.

(The article isn't much better, save for one quote from Cheryl Contee of Jack and Jill Politics and a quick mention of Valerie Jarrett.)

Babble has a great post of The 15 Most Sexist Daytime TV Commercials. It has old ones and new ones, but this one, which we posted on last year, is by far my favorite:

Ah, the Rose Petal Cottage. Because it's never too early to start indoctrinating girls about how their "dreams have room to grow" - all the way to the washer/dryer.

An Arizona radio shock-jock named Jon Justice (oh, the irony) recently targeted Pima Country Legal Defender Isabel Garcia with a truly disgusting hate-speech campaign. Pima helped organize a protest of Sheriff Joe Arpaio -- a man known for scores of immigration raids, blocking female inmates' access to abortion, and some stupid ideas about gender. (Read more from Jenny Dreadful.) And because Garcia dared to call attention to the fact that Arpaio is doing nothing but creating racial divisions with his "narrow-minded and ignorant policies," she drew the ire of local bigots.

Radio host Jon Justice, in particular, had a really disgusting response to Pima's critique of Arpaio:

...Jon Justice posted a few offensive videos of himself with a piñata with Isabel's likeness, caressing it and making comments about "wanting to take it home with me," among a few other comments about "chorizo" and "viva la raza." Mr. Justice has since removed the video, as well as the one that followed it, which we found to be even more offensive.

Maegan la Mala distills what's going on here:

They did what they do best, spout hate, targeting Garcia, her life (because let's be real this is about life not just making a living) and her body as a Latina woman. There were calls for her to be fired and a very clear message was sent that the body of a Latina woman is fair game.

I apologize for being late to posting about this. I really encourage you to read more from the bloggers who have been covering it from the start. There are comprehensive lists at the Sanctuary and Latino Politico.

Coalicion de Derechos Humanos, a Tucson group that Garcia works with, has posted a list of ways to take action on Garcia's behalf, against this sort of ugly hate-speech.

Let's say it for Dell, all at one time now: Women + technology ≠ pink products.

The recent marketing push for the new colored Dell laptops is pretty unreal; I saw this new commercial yesterday and nearly spit out my cereal.

Lovely how literally the only woman in the commercial who doesn't have a pink laptop (red is close enough) puts on lipstick to match the color of her computer. I don't know about you, but my new Dell laptop is just the perfect substitute for a compact mirror!

h/t to Tracy.

American Apparel, who puts out some of the classiest ads around, is apparently now selling soap. And in case you're not sure how to wash yourself, the site has an instructional video of a nekkid tousled hair lady to help you along. Blech.

On the upside, at least this will encourage some hipsters to clean themselves. Maybe.

Thanks to Sarah for the tip.

This is the second time Snickers will have to pull a gay-hating commercial. (Remember this nonsense?) But this commercial is just one of many that punishes men for being too "feminine," whether it's growing breasts after having the audacity to cry at the movies or being crushed by a giant beer can after screaming "like a girl." Anxious masculinity, anyone?

Via Consumerist and community blogger shellchin.

UPDATE: Renee has more.

Wha wha, why are women fighting like big smelly men on the basketball court?

You gotta love writers that try and justify sexism by saying, men are gross, you don't want to be like them anyway. Because it is clear that talented women go into sports, because they want to BE men. Could you think any higher of your own gender?

Nein.

And that's not easy to do. I'm not sure if this is an actual Guinness commercial or something some oh-so-clever asshole concocted and put online, but either way I'm horrified. I mean, I'm not anti a good sexy commercial, but this is just anti-sexy. There is nothing appealing about women being portrayed as silent slightly shaking receptacles/beer coasters. This really ruined my day.

Via Broadsheet and many, many emails.

A new study, the largest of its kind, shows that girls are equally as skilled in math as boys. (And the anti-feminists cry.)

Sixteen years after Barbie dolls declared, "Math class is tough!" girls are proving that when it comes to math they are just as tough as boys.

In the largest study of its kind, girls measured up to boys in every grade, from second through 11th. The research was released Thursday in the journal Science.

Parents and teachers persist in thinking boys are simply better at math, said Janet Hyde, the University of Wisconsin-Madison researcher who led the study. And girls who grow up believing it wind up avoiding harder math classes.

"It keeps girls and women out of a lot of careers, particularly high-prestige, lucrative careers in science and technology," Hyde said.

Via Alas, a Blog.

Judith Warner at The New York Times writes about Congress' new report, "Equality in Job Loss: Women are Increasingly Vulnerable to Layoffs During Recessions," and says,

Women left the workforce when the cost of child care ate up their entire after-tax salaries, or when family-unfriendly workplaces pushed them out. Or when, like women without children or men with and without children, they were laid off in a bad economy.

But these naysaying voices have been largely shouting in the wind. No one has really wanted to hear that the much-vaunted new "choices" weren't really choices at all. No one's been scouring obscure academic journals for the real skinny on women's progress. No one's been too eager to embrace grim facts over more-glorious fictions.

Make sure to check it out...

I know we generally reserve our "fuck you"s for Fridays, but this one can't wait till the end of the week. (Especially since I'm already coming late to this one!)

From Mighty Ponygirl at Feminist Gamers:

A new game about to be released for the PSN called Fat Princess is a TF2-like capture-the-flag game where the point is to feed your princess enough cake so that she grows really fat so that the opposing team can't carry her back to their castle.

...Instead of running out into the forest to find cake to fatten up the princess with, why not go out and find gold (which is a lot heavier than cake) to stuff into a treasure chest. The more gold in the chest, the heavier it would be, and the harder it would be to carry.

Oh, but that's not as "cute" as cake and fat chicks. Right.

Fuck you, "Fat Princess." And fuck you, Sony for putting out this garbage and perpetuating fat-hating. Seriously. Fuck. You. Sorry I can't be more articulate on this one, I'm just too pissed.

Holly and Melissa (who had a awful but oh-so-telling influx of trolls) has more.

via community blogger x364173.

Lovely, no? (It's an ad for an online dating site aimed at married people looking to start an affair.)

Apparently there's some new trend of brides getting their bridesmaids Botox and plastic surgery and the like before the big day. You know, just in case American weddings weren't enough about unrealistic expectations, consumerism and all-around bizarreness.*

Some brides pick up the tab for their attendants, replacing the pillbox inscribed with the wedding date with a well-earned squirt between the eyes. In other cases, bridesmaids -- who may quietly seethe about unflattering dresses -- are surprisingly willing to pay for cosmetic enhancements. "Most women, when they come in here, they want it," said Camille Meyer, the owner of TriBeCa MedSpa. "They know they're aging."

For Karen Hohenstein, who held her party at the Tiffani Kim Institute Medical Wellness Spa in Chicago, convincing her friends was as smooth as a Botoxed forehead. "It wasn't me saying, 'Hey, we all could use a little something,' " she said. "It was, 'I want to do this,' and a couple of people said, 'I do, too.' "

But for every accommodating pal, there's another who feels going under the knife is beyond the duty of bridesmaid. Becky Lee, 39, a Manhattan photographer, declined when a friend asked her -- and five other attendants -- to have their breasts enhanced. "We're all Asian and didn't have a whole lot of cleavage, and she found a doctor in L.A. who was willing to do four for the price of two," said Ms. Lee, who wore a push-up bra instead.

Because real friends expect each other to conform to gross patriarchal beauty norms! It's better than the new "it" bag!

*I am not dissing your wedding, I swear. It's the wedding industrial complex I'm after!

Click for full-size image.

In a letter to the New York Times, PETA defends its sexist ads and PR campaigns:

While cruelty to animals is a serious matter that should elicit widespread public outrage, efforts to reach the public through more serious means often fall on deaf ears in a world in which sex sells and there are both a war and an economic downturn.

Shorter version: We're justified in using women's bodies to make our point because that's the only way we can think of to get people to listen to us.

A sampling of PETA's wide-ranging creativity (visual aid above -- clockwise from top left):
Naked woman wrapped in plastic and covered in blood, naked woman, naked woman painted as a snake,another naked woman, naked woman in a cage, oinking, yet another naked woman, half-naked women in cages, and half-naked women with udders instead of breasts.

Clearly, they've tried a range of PR ideas.

Is it just me, or is this commercial telling women that they might get raped if they don't buy Goodyear tires? (I know there's no explicit rape threat, but the woman walking alone in a scary dark alleyway says it all to me.)

Pic from Time.

I nearly lost my mind when I read this gushing piece from Time Magazine about purity balls.

What was amazing to me about the reporting of this article was despite hearing all of these creepy anecdotes - and admitting that girls as young as four are participating in a ceremony about their virginity - writer Nancy Gibbs still managed to be smitten over the whole shebang. (One of the subheads actually reads 'A Delicate Dance')

But first...a creepy anecdote.

Kylie Miraldi has come from California to celebrate her 18th birthday tonight. She'll be going to San Jose State on a volleyball scholarship next year. Her father, who looks a little like Superman, is on the dance floor with one of her sisters; he turns out to be Dean Miraldi, a former offensive lineman with the Philadelphia Eagles. When Kylie was 13, her parents took her on a hike in Lake Tahoe, Calif. "We discussed what it means to be a teenager in today's world," she says. They gave her a charm for her bracelet--a lock in the shape of a heart. Her father has the key. "On my wedding day, he'll give it to my husband," she explains. "It's a symbol of my father giving up the covering of my heart, protecting me, since it means my husband is now the protector. He becomes like the shield to my heart, to love me as I'm supposed to be loved."

Paging Dr. Freud! But Gibbs is loving it.

Leave aside for a moment the critics who recoil at the symbols, the patriarchy, the very use of the term purity, with its shadow of stains and stigma. Whatever guests came looking for, they are likely to come away with something unexpected. The goal seems less about making judgments than about making memories.

And making sure young women think their worth is dependent on whether or not they're sexual. So, no Ms. Gibbs, I think I won't "leave aside" that very real and very dangerous message. Thanks anyway!

Gibbs continues to totally miss the point:

Purity is certainly a loaded word--but is there anyone who thinks it's a good idea for 12-year-olds to have sex? Or a bad idea for fathers to be engaged in the lives of their daughters and promise to practice what they preach? Parents won't necessarily say this out loud, but isn't it better to set the bar high and miss than not even try?

Are families who don't expect their daughters to promise their virginity to their dads promoting sex for 12 year-olds? Can't dads be engaged in the lives of their daughters without worrying about the state of their hymen? And is telling women that their moral compass lays in between their legs really setting the bar high?

Flowery language and valorizing these days doesn't change what purity balls are about: the ownership and fetishizing of young girls' sexuality. Perhaps someone should remind Time of that fact.

That's a big number!

Nearly two-thirds of Egyptian men admit to having sexually harassed women in the most populous Arab country, and a majority say women themselves are to blame for their maltreatment, a survey showed Thursday.

The forms of harassment reported by Egyptian men, whose country attracts millions of foreign tourists each year, include touching or ogling women, shouting sexually explicit remarks, and exposing their genitals to women. "Sexual harassment has become an overwhelming and very real problem experienced by all women in Egyptian society, often on a daily basis," said the report by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights

83 percent of Egyptian women reported having been sexually harassed, almost half of these women said the abuse occurred every day. Yikes.

I wonder how many women in the U.S would report being sexually harassed - and how many men would own up to having harassed women. (Tried to find these numbers, I had no luck - if you know them, leave a link in comments.)

Living in New York, when I was commuting to work rather than working from home, I can definitely say I was harassed daily. (Though I doubt that's just a NYC thing!) How about you?

For more information on women's rights in Egypt, check out Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (the English page is here).

Are you sick of only wealthy women being able to afford "designer vaginas"? Well worry no more! Now hating your genitals is easy, affordable, and comes in packaging that looks like a cross between My Little Pony and White-Out!

Liquid Virgin "work to temporarily tighten the walls of the vagina." The drops also contain Potassium Alum, which according to the website (and I'm super curious as to why they felt like sharing this fact), often appears in cartoons: "The character eats some Alum and their mouth is shown to pucker up. Often seen on Tom & Jerry."

With the Tom & Jerry seal of vaginal approval, how could I say no?

Via Feministe.

This is just horrid. Via ShAARP Session:

"Whoever thought 20 plus years of experience would be a liability?" questions experienced film reporter Lisa Johnson Mandell in this morning's TODAY show segment on "De-Aging Your Resume."

So what exactly is it that folks should do to downplay years of valuable experience? According to TODAY show contributor Jean Chatzky, "For women, shorten your skirts a little bit. Cover your grays."

Lovely.

Apparently it is OK to determine gradients of assimilation when granting people citizenship status in France. According to the BBC, last week, a Muslim woman was denied approval of her application for citizenship because she has not shown that she has been able to assimilate effectively into French society.

Social services reports said the burqa-wearing Faiza M lived in "total submission to her male relatives".

Faiza M said she has never challenged the fundamental values of France.

Her initial application for French citizenship was rejected in 2005 on the grounds of "insufficient assimilation" into France.

She appealed, and late last month the Conseil d'Etat, France's highest administrative body which also acts as a high court, upheld the decision to deny her citizenship.

It appears that no matter how many times Muslim women talk about how their religious choices may not always be directly connected to their experiences with patriarchy, no one listens.

From Janice Turner, who teaches Power of Purity classes in Alabama:

"Girls give in to sex not because they want sex - it's like a hug. If they can get that from their fathers, they won't need it from a boyfriend."

Oh, puke. There are lots of things I'd like to get from my dad - a phone call, advice about what to get my mom for her birthday, a run in the park with our dogs - but some stand-in for fucking definitely isn't one of them.