Tagged: sexism

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Autocompletes of Sexism and Inequality

Yesterday, I read a disturbing article in Adweek. “Powerful Ads Use Real Google Searches to Show the Scope of Sexism Worldwide Simple: Visual For Inequality” by David Griner explores a new campaign idea from UN Women, which used real suggested search terms from Google’s autocomplete feature. The ads, which were designed by art director and graphic designer Christopher Hunt, were designed to illustrate how gender inequality continues to be so problematic that even Google has come to expect it. Being...

Books and arts / Gender & Sexuality

Julia Serano’s "Whipping Girl": A Review

In Julia Serano’s (2007) Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity, the author writes about transsexuality. In particular, she writes about living as a trans woman in today’s society, the immense challenges faced by those in the trans community, and the inability of femininity to rise above the inferior status placed upon it by masculinity. Beyond explaining transsexuality to the reader and detailing the fallacious stereotypes that are often used against trans people, Serano separates...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

Super Bowl Sunday: Football, Ads, and Mixed Messages

nmccoy1 Advertisement air time during Super Bowl Sunday has always been a coveted commodity.  Yet this seemingly trivial marketing dream has historically been used to display sexist ads, most notoriously by beer companies.  Nevermind the fact that Superbowl Sunday is also a time in which violence against women is particularly likely (see article below), we are also now apparently going to be subjected to anti-abortion messages, known as “pro-family messages.” The abortion wars we see played out in such ideological...

Race & Ethnicity Studies / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

The "African" Culture Industry

The category of the Exotic Other has embraced the African female; at least for this season.  The New York Times recently published a fashion article (see below) equating Africa, Tarzan, and tree climbing with sensuous beauty in the world of fashion.  Aside from the glaring issue of the geographic ignorance of these comments, this article reveals the explicit racism, commodification, misappropriation and sexism inherent in media and art that continue to have a negative impact on those who are being...

Gender & Sexuality / Political & Economic Sociology / Sociology of Culture

"Pretty" enough to run for office?

A recent psychology study (see below) at Northwestern University reveals that one reason that we look for female political candidates to be “attractive” is due to human instincts for “mate selection.”  The authors of the study assert that these judgements about the attractiveness of a female candidate occur unconsciously, therefore insinuating that a) mate selection is transhistorical and is based on modern standards of attraction, b) mate selection is heteronormatively essentialized and c) male preferences and instincts are human instincts,...

Gender & Sexuality / Sociology of Culture / Sociology of Media & Communication

The instrumentalization of sexism

by nmccoy1 Discussions surrounding Sarah Palin and Hilary Clinton have brought sexism to mainstream media attention. (see BBC article below)  Beyond the superficial discussions of who women will vote for and who is a feminist, we are losing site of a fundamental and very dangerous problem.  In the tradition of the Frankfurt School, in particular, Max Horkheimer, we are looking at the instrumentalization of ideas and theories for propaganda.  As a system of oppression, sexism pervades social relations and the...