Peta at it again

So I found this interesting video by Peta, that was aparently supposed to run during the Super Bowl and was not allowed, for obvious reasons.  These people will walk all over whomever to get their point across, and it’s really pathetic.  Let’s objectify women to promote our cause.  Nice work guys!  Women the world over thank you for not being able to walk down the street without experiencing the male gaze because of commercials like this that do nothing but portray women as sexual objects to be possessed.

This is not the first time Peta has done this, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.

I understand what they’re trying to do – really I do – but where do you draw the line between trying to end the inhumane killing of animals for the food and clothing (and whatever else) industries, and exploiting women to get the message across?  Is this really their best option?  I really think they need to rethink their advertising campaigns, because what they’re doing is parading women around as if they’re the meat and not the animals they’re purporting to protect.

Agnes Scott College Opens Its Doors to Road Trip II

Insulting the Intellect, Agnes Scott College Opens Its Doors to Road Trip II: Beer Pong | Bitch Magazine.

I had to repost this article because I can’t believe that Agnes Scott College would allow something like this to happen on their college.  I can not understand why they would open their students up to this kind of harassement, ridicule, and objectification.  As if it isn’t hard enough to get away form the social stigmas of just being a woman, but these intelligent women decided to attend a woman’s college probably to have a safe space where they don’t have to deal with the types of social issues you get at co-ed institutions, like the sexism, the objectification, etc.  Instead, now it’s being thrown in their face and they’re basically being forced into situations they probably don’t want to be a part of.  This part of the article really just gets under my skin:

The students were also subject to horrendous stereotyping as the film crew shot the “Lesbians Until Graduation” scene which only eroticizes lesbianism as nothing more than an experimental “choice” made in the absence of men and, in the movie industry, sells women and their sexual identity as a heteronormative gift for men.

…the scene involved the male protagonists
stumbling upon the room full of these “making-out lesbians” (to
presumably “convert” them?). When we expressed offense, the recruiter
said she was warned about encountering uncooperative students who were
“really into being women” (versus into being objects?).

Other incidents of objectifying the students at Agnes Scott were documented, including reckless behavior of extras working in the movie.  One student reported being told that she was so attractive, she should be careful of being raped.  Another student, carrying a cup of coffee, was asked by an extra to get him one as well. [emphasis mine]

I find that bolded portion to be absolutely disgusting and would consider that a threat that should be brought up to the school, and if the school doesn’t listen, the authorities.  These people should not be allowed this open door policy at this institution especially in light of this nasty behavior they’ve displayed towards the students.  The students are there to learn, not to be harassed and told what they should or should not be doing, be objectified and forced to watch things that are demeaning.  This is misogyny at it’s worst.

There’s More To Women Their Looks

I had something happen to me last night that really bothered me, whereas a long conversation ensued with my boyfriend about it and we both came to the conclusion that men and women see things completely different on this topic.

Last night my boyfriend, my stepson, and I went out to dinner at this really cute hamburger joint that we all like. There were two older men sitting at the table in front of us and they sat facing each other. At one point during our dinner I decided to get up to grab some ketchup for my fries. As I was walking back to our table, I noticed that one of the men at the table was completely turned around in his chair and they were both sitting there staring at me.  What’s worse is that they weren’t really staring at me but at my boobs. This really bothered me a lot. It made me feel uncomfortable, it made me feel small, and it made me feel like a piece of meat. Objectification at it’s worst. I sat down, made a loud comment to my boyfriend about how men who stare at boobs have no life, and they quickly left,  I’m assuming because they had been caught.

I then started asking my boyfriend questions about that mainly along the lines of why the fuck men have to do that when it clearly doesn’t work and only makes the woman feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. He claims that he feels that staring at a woman should be looked upon as a compliment, not as an insult or as harassment.  Are we really supposed to swoon over guys who stare at our tits as if they were the juciest piece of meat they’ve seen in a long time?  Is it really that hard for some men to understand that this kind of behavior is completely inappropriate and not complimentary whatsoever?

I love my boyfriend but in our conversation he decided to compare this kind of visual harassment to calling a woman beautiful, and he really doesn’t seem to understand that the way something is executed is key. Yes, you could call a woman beautiful, but if that’s the first thing you say to her it’s going to come off as a cheap pick-up line and not be viewed positively at all. There’s more to women then their beauty, and in my opinion, people who are considered the most beautiful of all can be pretty ugly because of how they view life and their status in this world.  I think I did make him see the error of his ways.  I tried, as gently a I could, to explain to him that women like to feel as if there’s more to them than just their looks, and that calling a woman beautiful right off the bat is not a good start.  I told him that if you like a woman, and you want to get to know her better, you get to know her first and then tell her she’s beautiful.  Make her feel as if she’s important and matters to you.

The thing is that these guys didn’t really care about me, they didn’t care that I was with my family, and they didn’t care that they were not only disrespecting me but disrespecting the man who in their minds could have been my husband in front of what could have been our child.  Those are men who just don’t care, have no respect for anyone, and did what they did because of their misogynistic views, and it’s these kinds of things that I’m trying to teach my stepson not to do, with a very big long explanation of how doing this is not showing women that you like or love them, but is showing them how much you disrespect them.

Ojectification & Violence Takes Another Life

From the Sun Sentinel:

PLANTATION – During a visit to the neighborhood Winn-Dixie, Olidia Kerr Day caught the eye of a man working in the meat department.

He lavished her with compliments, told her she was beautiful. It was awkward, but she thought he was nice, Day later told her grown son and two daughters. [emphasis mine]

“He told her the first time they met that they had known each other in a past life,” said Day’s son, Edward Kerr, 24.

[…]

Recent interviews reveal how Cevallos deftly wedged his way into Day’s life — and wouldn’t take no for an answer.

[…]

Day rushed out of the house and past Sosa [her boyfriend], who was outside the garage. She screamed that Cevallos had a gun, Sosa told police.

Day then jumped into her 2002 Honda Accord and sped around the corner. Cevallos followed in his 1998 Toyota Corolla. Sosa drove after them.

Both Day and Sosa called 911 from their cell phones. Day screamed to two 911 operators: “He’s going to kill me, man!” [emphasis mine]

She quickly reached the parking lot of the police station at Northwest Fourth Avenue and 70th Terrace, about a mile from her home. Cevallos rammed the back of her car and Day jumped out, barefoot and screaming.

Cevallos shot her from behind, and she fell steps from the station entrance.

Officer Amy Wetzel, 28, ran outside. She fired at Cevallos but missed.

Cevallos shot Day once more before putting the gun to his head and pulling the trigger.

This one is close to home. This poor woman was stalked by this man from the meat department at her local Winn-Dixie and was killed by this man in front of a police station.  What I don’t understand fully from this is what happened with the 911 calls? Why did they have to call twice to let 911 operators know what was going on?  Did the operators not believe that something this serious was going on?

From this article it seems that her niceness was her eventual undoing because although this man was coming on to her and making her feel uncomfortable, she said she felt he was a “nice man” and even allowed him in her house to help her fix the plumbing in the house.

In my opinion, this is a good example of how women who are taught to “be nice” can lead to their eventual demise because it’s more important to “be nice” than to be safe. Some women are taught that it’s a worse offense to be rude to someone than to be safe and I personally have found myself falling into this trap when I felt I was in a situation that was not entirely safe for me. Thankfully nothing ever happened, but the point is something could have.