peeves

Don’t You Ladies Realise That Earbuds + Sunglasses + Scowl Discourage Me From Approaching You?

A chap has decided to tell the world (via a Craigslist post) how he finds that women walking along the street wearing earbuds and sunglasses appear “unapproachable”, and how this discourages him from telling many many women he finds attractive along the path of his daily commute the happy news that he likes the way they look. Oh, and by the way, he also thinks fewer scowls would “be nice”.

BFTP: Popularity of long-debunked rape myths: talk about disheartening

Sites aimed at rape prevention should do a better job of checking their facts if they really want to help women and other potential rape victims: parroting long-debunked factoids does more harm than good.

This is a repost: originally published in 2008. Over the last week it’s suddenly started getting first dozens and now hundreds of views per day. Since the original post’s comments were closed long ago, please comment here if you have something to say.

BFTP: The myth of bra burning feminists

In 1968, some activists demonstrated against the Miss America beauty pageant and threw objects of “female oppression” – bras, high-heeled shoes, girdles, curlers – into a trash can. They were arguing about liberation – there was never any bra-burning – but the myth of the feminist as a bra-burner was created by the western media. There was also a crucial word missed in the description of the trashed bras.

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