And laugh (which I did).
The latest "controversy" over sexism in the blogosphere has to do with a pencil sharpener that looks like a submissive female taking a pencil up the nether regions.
Sorry you can't hear my eyes rolling from here.
Sure there is real harassment and sexism in society and specifically in the MSM and blogosphere as well. But most of what passes for same is frat boy claptrap, and is not a real threat to a real strong woman. Sometimes a pencil sharpener is to sharpen pencils, less often is it a deeply offensive political statement, and sometimes it's just absolutely stupid.
I'm actually more offended that the female's head is replaced by the handle than I am where the pencil goes.
And BLOGGERS who think it's a good idea to post a picture of a really stupid, and to some offensive, pencil sharpener? For those, we have a lolcat:
Ah, the old double standard. I guess it works both ways, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteLike you, BG, I'm not offended by stupid things such as the pencil sharpener. What would offend me is if I worked for some guy who expected me to sharpen his pencils using the silly thing.
I've more or less worked for that guy. No amount of outrage would have made a dent in his stupidity. But then, thanks to the complicity of the other females int the office, he could never find his coffee cup.
Choose your battles and fight to win. Sometimes victory is slow, but watching the furrowed brow of the neanderthal as he tries to process where his #1 Boss mug is a delightful treat while you wait.
A post near and dear to my heart. You're right, almost anyone can "get away" with more than a white male.
ReplyDeleteI'm not offended or worried about this, or pretending to be a put upon minority, only stating a fact.
Whether the most offensive thing was the pencil sharpener or the feminist poster, doesn't matter. Someone is always offended by something. It seems to me what matters is that we all spend an inordinate amount of time trying to define something that probably doesn't need to be defined at the expense of real issues that could be fixed.
Let the excoriation begin :-)...or not, as the feeling moves you.
I do agree that the most privileged class in the world is the white male. They a vicious when threatened, and equal rights is the most threatening thing in their life.
ReplyDeleteThey will strike back in subtle, overt and stupid actions. But never think it done just as a joke. They need to find any and all ways to keep the non-white males as subjects of ridicule.
I am male, but growing up Greek in the middle of the white red neck south I learned quickly that I should learn my place. Which it turned out was just above women and blacks but below a Jew, go figger.
So would the pencil sharpener still be funny if it depicted a black man or woman of color?
Hatred is Hatred no matter gender, race, color or creed.
OG
I agree with OG, and I must confess that I'm really tired of the "boys will be boys" defense. Fuck that shit.
ReplyDeleteIf I make a joke about women or lesbians its entirely different than if a white man makes a joke about women or lesbians. Unless he's willing to go under the knife, he will never be a woman -- though if he does, he might be a lesbian! ha
Mariah Burton Nelson wrote a book titled "The Stronger Women Get the More Men Love Football."
For every action there is a reaction -- a backlash so to speak.
We now have a woman Speaker, and a leading presidential candidate that is a woman. So it stands to reason that we will see more of this stuff.
Just as we've seen in increase in hate crimes based on race since Obama hit the campaign trail.
We do have to choose our battles, as DCup said -- but we can still hate all the shit that's out there.
BAC
Thanks folks. I love D-cup's intimation that if that pencil sharpener is posted on a blog the blogger's an idjit. If it's installed at work the boss is a harrasser.
ReplyDeleteI still think the head/handle thing is the most offensive part of it, too.
Suffice it to say, this idgit disagrees, as I've posted said pencil sharpener as part of my now-fourteen part series on the ubiquity of "fun" novelties using disembodied women's bodies as a source of amusement.
ReplyDeleteIf it were one item, I might agree. But there is loads of this cultural detritus, and it has a cumulative effect that we oughtn't ignore.
Again I think it depends on the context. If this thing had a head (which I think we can all agree makes it beyond acceptability) and came in a male version as well as part of a bdsm set, we would think it...what, sick? Or would we shrug our shoulders and think, to each his/her own? What would Susie Bright say?
ReplyDeletePutting an image or icon of a woman's body in a sexual position is sometimes, as in this case, absolutely poor taste and definitely dehumanizing. I don't mind anyone coming over here and denouncing the woman as object pencil sharpener.
What would Susie say? Sometimes putting a woman's body in a sexual position, which CAN be done in a way that is loving and respectful, yes, even if it portrays one partner as submitting to the other, is sexy.
But I also know I'm not going to win this argument. That's fine with me.
I have to agree with Melissa. In fact, I looked at the damned thing and saw a lot more at play.
ReplyDeleteThe depiction of a woman's body with no head (are we saying the mind and face doesn't count?) and four pencils in the picture. (Keep 'em coming boys, I take all shapes, sizes and colors).
Yeah, it's a toy. No, it's not harmless.
What I never get is the "well, what about this?" come back. Instead of talking about why anyone would feel the need to own a decapitated woman pencil sharpener, they pull out something that "offends" men and say "well, what about this?" WTF does that prove?
ReplyDeleteAnd, as a man, I say fuck the men's rights movement. When my fellow brothers and I are learning less than women and in danger of getting sodomized by dildo-wielding women on the way home from the bar, then we'll need a men's rights movement. Right now, not so much.
There are reasons I love being a woman. One of those being that I CAN get away with more, sexually speaking, on my blog. I agree with you on the pencil sharpener. The pencil insertion doesn't bother me in the least but I resent a handle replacing the brain. great post!
ReplyDeletegood Job! :) Very nice!
ReplyDelete