Tag: sexism

thevipsupersecretsupperclub:

kaylapocalypse:

me-see-world:

What really sucks about the way Joss Whedon writes is that he sort of has this idea that if he writes about women being strong and confident, that is all it takes for women to appreciate his work. Like, even if the villain constantly belittles a woman for being a woman and people are constantly harassing her and sexualizing her, it’s okay because she’s strong and she can take it.

The biggest difference between Whedon’s version of Wonder Woman and Jenkins is that in Whedon’s version Wonder Woman is A Woman. She (and the audience) must be constantly aware that she is a Woman, that she is Sexy, that she is overcoming incredible odds because she has the terrible disadvantage of Being Born A Woman.

Whereas in Jenkins’ film Diana simply exists. There are some points made by other characters about her being a woman, like when Steve won’t sleep with her because he feels it’s improper, or when his secretary says, “Oh yes, put specs on her, like after that she won’t be the most beautiful woman you’ve ever seen”, but Diana is almost completely unaware of her status as a Dreaded Woman. Her excitement over a baby? She’s literally never seen one before. Her little makeover seen? Spends the whole thing looking for something comfortable she can fight in. She basically never mentions the difference between men and women, never even says that women are better or whatever because she was raised by them. 

Joss Whedon would have never let Wonder Woman forget she was a Woman. She would have constantly been making comments about it, wether positive or negative, as would everyone around her. In Whedon’s heyday that might have flown a lot better, but now women seem to be a little sick of grrrrl power. They just want power. They just want to exist, both on screen and in life, without constant reminders that they are Women and that they must pay for that at every turn.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


now women seem to be a little sick of grrrrl power. They just want
power. They just want to exist, both on screen and in life, without
constant reminders that they are Women and that they must pay for that
at

every turn

If muscle mass has only a small impact on fight abilities, what’s with the prevalence of weight classes? And why are martial arts and boxing champions generally men?

howtofightwrite:

See, you were trying to sneak around it with that start on muscle mass but this is about the idea that women can fight and or fight as well as a man. We get these questions a lot, and the answer is always the same. However, the question itself always displays the asker’s ignorance on the subject matter and about combat in general. You aren’t the first to go, “but boxing!!!” as if it means something or is a winning point. Usually, “muscles” is a go to standard because that’s what so many have been led to believe makes men superior.

When I get these questions, I can always tell this person who asked has never been to a martial arts competition of any kind. If they had, they would know Women’s Divisions are a standard practice. They would also know that with an exception of major tournaments where there are enough participants to justify it, the girls and the boys spar each other at the ranks below black belt. Sometimes, the boys win. Sometimes, the girls win. The breakdown is by age (adults/kids) and belt rank, not by gender.

I’ll tell you though, none of the boy’s in the black belt division
wanted to jump in with the girls. Those girls were vicious. Men’s
sparring was much more laid back, and slower. Women’s TKD… yeesh.

Again, in most martial arts tournaments there are no weight classes. The breakdown is by age and rank, with gender as a secondary when there are enough participants to justify multiple divisions. Weight classes are a boxing tradition and other, similar bloodsports which rears it’s head when they have enough participants to justify one. In many Taekwondo tournaments, you can easily end up with a 150 pound black belt sparring one weighing in at 250. And you won’t know what they weigh anyway because there is no “weighing in”.

I’ve explained before why there are weight classes in boxing. The moment you stop and realize that it’s a sport with a purpose to make money, the reasoning behind the weight classes will become fairly clear. (Hint: it’s entertainment and aesthetics.)

That said, the “boxing champions are generally men” crap is, well, crap. They don’t let women box men professionally, or at the collegiate level. It’s hard to make a case for muscle mass when citing professional sports where women are barred from competing. Now, there was a time when there were women boxers who boxed with each other and against men. In the 1800s, it was called bareknuckle boxing. This is the granddaddy version of modern boxing, when it was all back alleys without gloves or handwraps.

That said, women’s boxing is making a comeback at the collegiate level. There’s a National Champion in Women’s Collegiate Boxing walking around somewhere in the US right now. There are multiple female martial arts champions from a variety of disciplines wandering around all over the world. The UFC has opened a division for female fighters. This is like asking why there aren’t female wrestlers (there are) or female quarterbacks (there are).
One of the greatest snipers in history is a woman.

You just don’t hear about them or the women who did the hard work pushing back to fight for the categories to be re-added.

That said, comparing the restrictions applied in sports to a person’s “fighting ability” is a mistake. You’re not asking an honest question so much as floundering for a popular misconception. It’s essentially the same as saying, “it’s ridiculous for there to be female fighters in this historical fiction because there were no female warriors”.

1) That assertion is patently false.

2) When one gender is barred from participating by the established rules of a modern sport whose history you don’t understand, you can’t then turn around and ask why most of the champions are men.

History makes a case for a lot of female combatants throughout history, but you’re not going to know they’re there if you don’t go looking for them. Their accomplishments tend to get wiped out.

-Michi

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goldenrubynatsu:

plaidandredlipstick:

cicadianrhythm:

plaidandredlipstick:

the reason male comic book fans work themselves into a frenzied rage over “fake geek girls“ is because they think they can’t get a girlfriend because of their love for comic books (a.k.a nerdiness). if they accept that geek girls genuinely love comic books, then they’re left with the cold harsh reality that it’s not their nerdiness that makes them unattractive to women, but the fact that they are misogynistic condescending dickbags who need to be avoided AT ALL COSTS

It goes beyond just geek girls, too. There’s this recurring thing in male-dominated nerd circles where they reach a certain level of dependence on the concept that they are shunned rebels in an unjust world, and they just cannot fucking let go of it. They break their own communities into factions to ensure there’s always someone to judge and feel cheated by. Look at the gamer variety’s arguments over consoles, or how much they enjoy complaining about ‘casuals’ and ‘care bears’.

This is why the idea that women are invading male nerd’s happy places is at it’s core bullshit obfuscation that cannot be defended by the excuse that oh they just don’t have good social skills.  They don’t want to get away from their issues with pals they can trust. They want to feel wronged. They want to feel like someone has stolen their victories from them. They are kings dethroned by rabble, and the only thing left is to live in the wilderness with their objectively correct opinions while the cruel and stupid masses devour themselves. Clinging to that scornfully righteous feeling of being hampered by society’s foolishness and betrayal is their driving goal, no matter how small the group they’re defining as society has to be to get it. So long as they manage that, the world is simple and they have no reason to grow or learn anything.

Women undeniably catch the most shit from this. Basic american misogyny has done half the work for them, making women both easy targets and easily otherized. The vulnerability that comes from desiring anything that might reject you threatens their narrative of uncomplicated and unquestionable superiority, so women must be EVEN MORE out to get them than most people! The thought that someone so perfect to act as the face of the enemy might be in the same position as them is anathema.

Essentially, they are really fucked up.

As OP said, avoid at all costs.

this is the best and most insightful commentary anyone has ever added to this post, let this version get the next 100k reblogs 

As a nerdy gamer girl, you took all of my feeling that I couldn’t describe over the years and out them into words. Thank you.

jumpingjacktrash:

chickenonabicycle:

truejew:

darthmelyanna:

drst:

kristineirl:

this one’s for all the fat girls who’ve cried in dressing rooms 💗

You’re fine. The clothes are made to be easy to manufacture on machines, not for bodies. The clothes suck, not you.

They’re also manufactured to look attractive on hangers, and very few of us are shaped like hangers. You’re fine.

😱😰😭😭😭😭😭😭😭thank u please more of this type of body positivity I need it

Legit though! I’m a hobbyist seamstress and these are my experiences when shopping mainstream:

For example, most H&M blouses these days don’t even have boobdarts. Which means they will sit awkwardly on literally anyone with boobs, no matter the size. But on hangers or when folded on display? They look fab as fuck. Because hangers don’t have boobs. And the models chosen to show them on the catwalk are usually chosen for their lack of boobage too (unless it’s for lingerie), other requirements including ridiculous size and weight requirements. As for the average (EU available) clothing shops, the worst offender I’ve encountered yet was Zara. Everything’s way too long and way too flat: clearly aimed to look good on the catwalk models but not intended for normal people. At all.

Also sizes are just numbers. Shopping online has taught me that I’m a European M, an American XS-S, and a Japanese L-XL. And then these sizes even vary from shop to shop in the same country: I’m an XL at Apples but an S at Lola&Liza, for example. They’ve also been reducing the sizes of these numbers throughout the years to make people feel bad about themselves and to sell more weight-loss products. Don’t let a number get you down, it does not define you.

So please don’t feel bad about yourself when shops refuse to cater to your size. The clothes they sell are not aimed at real human beings. They are the ones in the wrong here, not you!

every time i read a post about women’s clothing sizes i get so mad.

i mean, it occasionally gets a bit awkward for me shopping for shirts when everything with a big enough chest measurement and wide enough shoulders is too long in the arms, because some designers think men scale evenly in both width and height, and i’m a stumpy barrel man. but at least they’re designed to fit human beings.

you’re not the problem, darlings. you’re lovely. the fashion industry is balls at making clothes, is the problem.

theserendipitousbook:

hansgrubr:

hansgrubr:

hylianatheart:

Girls who don’t lift up other girls confuse the fuck outta me

I just don’t have the upper body strength for it

Wait that’s not what you meant

Three things:
1. You gotta squat down and lift with your legs, so your upper body strength matters less. You would probably be surprised by how strong you actually are.
2. Use your “traditionally feminine” skills such as cooperation and consensus building to get that girl lifted. There is no shame in recruiting a third, or even a fourth girl to help you lift the first girl (and no shame in being a girl who requires a whole crew of girls to lift her).
3. Always get the consent of the girl being lifted. Some girls don’t like to be lifted and that’s okay.

feelgoodfeminism:

Advertisers must convince young women that they are in need of constant improvement without threatening young women’s views of themselves as intelligent, self-directed, and equal. Buzz words like “empowerment,” “self-determination,” and “independence” are sprinkled liberally across their pages. But this seemingly progressive rhetoric is used to sell products and ideas that keep girls doing gender in appropriately feminine ways, leading them to reproduce, rather than challenge, gender hierarchies. An ad for a depilatory cream, for instance, tells girls that they are “unique, determined, and unstoppable,” so they should not “settle… for sandpaper skin.” Feminist demands for political and economic equality—and the refusal to settle for low-wages, violence, and second-class citizenship—morph into a refusal to settle for less than silky skin. Pseudo-feminist language allows young women to believe that they can “empower” themselves at the checkout counter by buying the accoutrements of traditional femininity.

– Amanda M. Gengler, ‘Selling Feminism, Consuming Femininity’