Why I need feminism #34

No comments needed.

Why I need feminism #33

I was supposed to post this yesterday, sorry about the delay.
For more info on who Sam Pepper is and why I think what he does is wrong and outrageous, have a look here:
http://viralwomen.com/post/laci_green_speaks_out_against_sam_pepper

Why I need feminism #32

For some reason I will never understand, for a girl it seems to be more important to be pretty than smart or strong.

Why I need feminism #31

I've always thought this is ridiculous.

Why I need feminism #30

But then there's plenty of male captains and trainers of female teams and I haven't seen any complaints about that.
Hello double standards!

Why I need feminism #29

Having women and men compete separately might make some sense for some sports, but not for all sports.
Women are not naturally inferior to men as for agility or precision, so in many cases there shouldn't be different categories according to gender!

Why I need feminism #28

We are all different and that's what makes the world interesting.
Why do we have to worry about whether or not we are being "womanly" enough?
If we are ourselves and we are women, then we are womanly no matter how we are.

Why I need feminism #27

As usual, an aggressive response to a completely peaceful plea.
I wish Emma Watson all the best as UN Goodwill Ambassador for Gender Equality.

Why I need feminism #26

No comment needed.

Why I need feminism #25

Nothing excuses violence and abuse. What the victim is wearing is of no importance.

Why I need feminism #24

Not only beauty is difficult to attain...it's simply impossible!

Why I need feminism #23

We should never forget that media do influence us. So abusing of negative stereotypes is dangerous - showing them as normal and acceptable makes them more so.
Women aren't objects. They aren't just bodies. They are whole human beings with a mind of their own.
Showing stupidity as being something desirable is not ok, and it's not ok to make it look funny to take advantage of a brainless woman.

Why I need feminism #22, #FreeGhonchehGhavami

Ghoncheh Ghavami is a 25 years old woman who has British and Iranian double nationality.
She was emprisoned in June 2014 for attending a men's volleyball match in Tehran.
She is still in jaip, no clear charges have been made, she hasn't been able to see her lawyer and her family has only seen her 4 times since her emprisonment.
There are no news as to when she will be released.
Please read this article and sign the petition: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/11102122/80-days-in-prison-for-watching-volleyball-Why-isnt-Foreign-Office-helping-my-British-Iranian-sister.html

Why I need feminism #21

I quite honestly have never understood why men are supposed to earn more and "support the family".
Is there any reasonable argument explaining why women can't do that?

Why I need feminism #20

I think that giving different toys to boys and girls just teaches children to accept socially constructed gender differences that put arbitrary boundaries to the natural development of their individuality.

Why I need feminism #19

No action, no word, no dress is an acceptable reason to hurt others, to bend ir ignore their will, to abuse them. So no victim should ever be ashamed. Only the perpetrators should.

Why I need feminism #18

1 in 3 women. I don't think any further comment is needed.

Why I need feminism #17

"It's dangerous", "it's expensive", "you don't have the time" are reasonable arguments.
"You're a woman/girl" isn't, simply because being a woman/girl isn't a handicap.
That's not a valid argument unless what you're supposed to do is going to a gynecologist.

Why I need feminism #16

Because gender stereotypes don't only harm women.
So many men feel compelled to act strong and/or insesitive just to prove they are manly.
Quite honestly I think that it's b******t.
There are both sensitive women and sensitive men out there. Just like there are both insensitive women and insensitive men.

Why I need feminism #15

As if you needed a penus to drive a car...

Why I need femininsm #14

There really isn't much to say about this, except that I think it gives a terrible and disgusting message to have absolutely average-looking middle-aged men surrounded by young, beautiful, incredibly "hot" women willing to serve them.

Don't people say that media are a reflection of society and at the same time media influences how society is?

DEFINITIONS OF FEMINISM

I find way too often that people misunderstand what feminism is about. There are so many people out there who are against feminism because they think feminists believe in women being superior to men.

Well, I've decided to post some definitions of feminism  to show that it's not true! Feminism is about equality between men and women. Anybody who believes in women being superior to men is not a feminist - it's something else and I agree on being against that.

Please have a look at the definitions below:

Feminism: the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way, or the set of activities intended to achieve this state.

- Cambridge Dictionaries Online

Feminism: The advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.

- Oxford Dictionaries

Feminism: Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment. A feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women.

- Wikipedia

Feminism:

1. a doctrine advocating social, political, and economic rights for women equal to those of men.

2. a movement for the attainment of such rights.

- Wordreference

Why I need feminism #13

The first argument was simply: "Go fuck yourself hypocrite"
Then followed by: "Sorry if you have self worth problems but preaching feminism instead of equality is kind of a problem"

SIGH. I think I'll have to post definitions of feminism.
FEMINISM IS THE MOVEMENT WHICH STRIVES FOR EQUALITY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN! Of course it's not the same as equality, but it's the means to get to that goal!

...And even if you don't agree with me, is it really appropriate to insult me first thing?
Do you really think that you'll achieve anything by doing that? Hum.

#ImNotLooking - The problem of stolen photos

Sure, the Internet is a big sharing space. But supposedly you can also use it to store your private files or to share content with only SOME people. Nobody can deny that. So the fact that somebody puts a picture of him/herself on the Internet, unless this person herself shares it with the general public, does not mean that that picture is no longer private! It doesn't matter if that person is a celebrity either, famous people are still people just like anybody else and deserve to have privacy so long as they wish to.

It seems quite straightforward to me, but it would seem that according to some people it's not that obvious.

Stealing private pictures and sharing them online is a hideos crime - any picture! though of course it is even worse with nude pictures.

Have a look at this link, it was brought to my attention on Twitter and it seems interesting to me. The people who steal private pictures and share them with the general public should be exposed and should pay for their crime.

Looking at those pictures is also a breach of privacy, because they were not supposed to be available to be seen by anybody to begin with. Besides, this is a matter of supply and demand, really, so what about stopping the demand?

Would you like to say #ImNotLooking too?

Why I need feminism #12

As if we could really do anything about it. We can nowadays with surgery, I know, but what I mean is, the natural size of one's breasts is not something achieved through effort and hard work, it's simply genetics! So why should women be laughed at/pointed at/judged because of something they have absolutely no control over?
The size of a woman's breasts does not determine who she is. Besides, breasts are made to feed children, not to entertain the opposite sex! Babies don't care about the size of the breasts, so all sizes should be OK.
We are how we are and that's perfectly ok. Deal with it.

Why I need feminism #11

...which in my limited experience wasn't true.
At any rate the real problem isn't whether Kendo is chauvinistic or not, but rather that according to some people women should not practice it because of that!
As if THAT wasn't a way of discriminating and of accepting discrimination without fighting.
If you want to do something, just do it!

#ImNotLooking

#ImNotLooking because what is private deserves to remain private.
I do not wish to see pictures which were not meant for the general public. It's just a matter of respect.
We have the right to look for anything we want on the Internet? Yes, sure! But we're not supposed to find everything we look for.
If somebody looks for "Nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence" he's not supposed to actually find them... because those pictures were NOT supposed to be on the Internet to begin with!
Let's respect for other peoples privacy and their right to choose.

Why I need feminism #10

As if we didn't both work and as if he didn't live in this house as well... we both make it dirty and we both have other things to do, so why should I do all the house-chores (which I hate)?
Oh, yea, right. I'm a woman.

Why I need feminism #9

It seems like sometimes we are scared or ashamed of doing what's good and what's right.

Why I need feminism #8

That's some double standards!
And I don't think that either of these attitudes are ok.
It's not shameful to have sex with many people, but it's also not something that should make you seem cooler.
It's just a choice, and any choice you make regarding your sexual life should be accepted or at least respected - not insulted or glorified... because glorifying one choice automatically means that you are disapproving of teh opposite choice.

Why I need feminism #7

I never really got the meaning of whistling. To me it sounds like it's similar to giving a grade: "If I whistle you've passed the sexy-body-test, if I don't then you haven't", or something like that.
Well, when I walk down the street usually it's because I have to (or want to) go somewhere, not because I want to put my body on display and be judged for it.
Besides, I'm not a dog, so don't whistle at me. If you really feel like you want to talk to me for one reason or another, then you should come up to me and say "Excuse me Miss" or something along those lines.
Thank you.

Why I need feminism #6

Not only did I get better grades than him, but I also scored at football? How cheeky of me! I should have known my place... (or rather I did, and that's why I didn't take his crap)
And the teacher really did do a great job as an educator *clap clap*

Why I need feminism #5

Because men are supposed to be strong,
Women to be weak.
Otherwise there's something wrong,
Or else you're a freak.

My message to facebook regarding sexist videos

So. I reported to facebook the three videos I talked about this morning.

None of them has been removed. Apparently they don't breach community standards.

I was quite frankly very upset at this. So I have written a message to facebook, asking to review this decision... and some more as well. Please see below (first in italian, then in english).

"Buongiorno,

Premetto che il mio reclamo non ha esattamente a che vedere con i video, nel senso che non riguarda problemi nell'upload né nella riproduzione di video.

Non ho trovato però un "prodotto" che si adattasse a ciò che volevo dire e perció ho scelto questa categoria.

Oggi infatti ho segnalato 3 video perché estremamente offensivi, segnalazioni che sono state sistematicamente respinte.

Ovviamente capisco che non tutte le segnalazioni possano essere accettate, ma ritengo che i video da me segnalati non siano stati esaminati con la dovuta attenzione.

Infatti, tanto per incominciare, quando si segnala un contenuto inadeguato o offensivo, non esiste una categoria che si adegui al contenuto di quei video: ciò però non significa che tali video non siano offensivi e inadeguati. Non vi è infatti una categoria che faccia riferimento al sessismo e/o alla denigrazione delle donne. Ma non è forse questa una problematica tanto importante quanto il razzismo e l'omofobia? Non è forse possibile essere offensivi e discriminanti senza ricorrere alla violenza e/o al nudo integrale?

Sono certa che abbiate un modo per vedere i video da me segnalati, ma in ogni caso vi riporto qui i link agli stessi video pubblicati su youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDuxFSpwj0M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5mMRiiCwak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa4QsdbuFSI

Vi chiederei gentilmente di guardare e esaminare con attenzione questi video e non di considerarli semplici scherzi, battute... perché non lo sono: sono dei veri e propri insulti alla femminilità.

Il primo video usa delle donne come ignari oggetti sessuali. È, in un certo senso, una forma di stupro.

ll secondo usa violenza sulle donne, le rende oggetti e le utilizza a scopo di intrattenimento.

Il terzo spinge sugli stereotipi e crea un'immagine femminile denigrante.

Mi spiace, ma non ho intenzione di sorvolare sulla questione, poiché a me pare molto grave.

Richiedo che vengano prese delle misure serie riguardo non solo questi 3 video da me riportati, ma riguardo ogni manifestazione simile.

Chiedo che venga aggiunta una sezione adeguata per riportare questo genere di insulto e di offesa.

Esigo che i problemi legati alla discriminazione femminile e alla trasformazione delle donne in oggetti (sessuali e non) vengano presi seriamente.

Cordiali saluti"

"Good morning,

As a premise, please note that my complaint is not strictly related to videos, as it has nothing to do with upload or streaming problems.

However I couldn't find the adequate "product" for what I had to say, so I chose this category.

As a matter of fact, today I reported 3 extremely offensive videos, but my reports have been systematically rejected.

Of course I understand that not all reports can be accepted, but I believe that the videos I reported have not been examined with enough attention.

As a matter of fact, to begin with when reporting inadequate and/or offensive content, there is no section which matches the content of those videos: however that doesn't mean that those videos aren't inadequate and offensive. For instance, there is no section which refers to sexism and/or denigration of women. Isn't that a problem as important as racism and homophobia? Isn't it possible to be offended and discriminated without use of violence or nude?

I am sure you have a way to see the videos I reported, but let me link here the same videos found on youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDuxFSpwj0M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5mMRiiCwak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa4QsdbuFSI

I kindly ask you to watch and examine these videosattentively  and not to consider them mere jokes/pranks... because they are not: they are truly insults to femininity.

The first video uses women as unwilling sexual objects. It is, somehow, a form of rape.

The second video uses violence on women, it transforms them in objects and uses them for entertainment.

The third vido pushes on stereotypes and creates a denigrating image of women.

Sorry, I have no intention of letting go because I believe this situation to be very serious.

I request serious measures to be taken not only regarding these 3 videos, but regarding all contents of this sort.

I ask that an appropriate section may be added in order to report thhis kind of offense and insult.

I demand that problems related to female discrimination and objectification of women (whether it's sexual or not) may be taken seriously.

Kind regards"

Why I need feminism #4

...and anything which disriminates and/or degrades anyone and/or any group of people, should not be considered FUNNY! It's insulting, disrespectful and painful.

Sexist videos... and why they ARE NOT funny

Today, as I do most mornings, I woke up and went through my facebook home page.

While doing so, I found that one of my contacts had shared the following three videos:

Free sex prank

Bottom percussion

Shii, the Wii for women

... what a great way to start my day! Now I feel extremely irritated and offended.

What all three videos have in common is sexism.

The first one, Free sex prank, is actually borderline rape. Women become unaware participants in some sort of porn video. To call that a prank trivializes the serious disregard it shows towards women, their wishes, their integrity and their sexuality.

The second one, Bottom percussion, objectifies women to the extreme and makes violence on them seem right - it's ok to smack women's butts since they sound like music! So basically women aren't seen as whole human beings, but rather as just as an assembly of parts that you can use for your own pleasure and entertainment.

As for the third, Shii the Wii for women, though one might see it as a simple joke, it quite honestly isn't. And if it is, then it's at any rate a sexist, irrespectful joke that should not be allowed and which should most definitely not provoke laughter. It makes stereotypes look like something trivial, it makes women's issues look like jokes and it perpetrueates an extremely discriminating image of women. And in the last part of the video, women are sexualised one again: basically it makes it quite clear that doing sexual services to men is a "woman's task", just like ironing and cooking OF COURSE.

Imagine these same videos featuring people of colour. They would be seen as racist, as insults, as socially unacceptable.

So why are these videos treated as mere funny jokes?

I'm appalled.

Gender Equality Pills is now on Twitter!

You can follow day by day my 365 reasons for needing feminism on Twitter!
https://twitter.com/G_EqualityPills

Why I need feminism #3

Shouldn't we all be free to wear whatever we want without worrying about "provoking" somebody and fear for our own safety?

This way of thinking transfers part of the responsibility from the rapist to the victim ("she was wearing a mini skirt at night in the street... she was looking for it"). How unfair is that?!

Why I need feminism #2

Apparently arguing back when you disagree with somebody isn't feminine and it would also seem that no man would want a girlfriend who doesn't always agree with him... at least according to this guy.

Why I NEED feminism - Why THE WORLD does

Have you heard of the "I don't need feminism" movement?

If you don't know about it, have a look:

http://why-we-dont-need-feminism.tumblr.com/

https://www.facebook.com/idontneedfeminismbecause

There are quite a few people out there who disagree with feminsm (that's no news, really), and many people who not only disagree but are actually completely against it. Fair enough, we are all entitled to have our own opinions. But whether these opinions will be respected and pondered upon or simply cast aside as b*****it, well, that depends on the arguments that are behind them.

So I decided to have a look at this movement in order to be able to express a matured and reasoned opinion.

And guess what? It's just as I expected.

Most of the reasons given for not needing feminism are the following:

-I don't hate men, so I don't need feminism

-I like being sexy, so I don't need feminism

-I feel like I'm being treated equally, so I don't need feminism

-I'm a man, so I don't need feminism

-I'm a man and I don't hate women, so men don't hate women, so we don't need feminism

-Women harrass men too, so I don't need feminism

-I don't believe that women are better than men, so I don't need feminism

-I like doing housechores, so I don't need feminism

-I like to be treated like a princess, so I don't need feminism

-I know how to take a compliment, so I don't need feminism

..There are several others, but just to give you an idea, that's more or less what most entries say.

Well.

Fisrt of all, this shows how most people don't really know what feminism is about.

Feminism isn't about placing women before men or believing that only women have issues.

Feminism is about believing that there should be no differences in the way women and men are treated: ALL SHOULD BE RESPECTED AND TREATED FAIRLY. Which quite frankly doesn't happen.

If you have never felt this inequality on your own skin, look around you and see how many do. Because you are fine (and lucky), it doesn't mean that everybody else is, so saying that you don't need feminism because you are being treated fairly is pretty much an egoistic point of view.

Besides, pardon me, but I don't believe that there is any woman out there who has never been treated differently just because she is female - maybe there are just many women who don't pay attention to certain details, like difference in wages or jokes made.

If you like being sexy and being told so, that's perfectly fine. But are you happy with people thinking that that's either your only value or your most important characteristic? You are? Well, fine. But are you happy when you have a hard time finding somebody who doesn't just want to have sex with you? Are you satisfied when you're being "used" once and then cast aside? Are you ok with not being asked what you would like, with giving pleasure to your partner but not feeling that he does the same for you? Hum.

Of course this doesn't always happen, it's not always the case, there are many many men who don't see women that way. But if you look at the amount of female nudes and porn aimed at men that you can find out there, the amount of images and entertainment material which treats women as mere sexual objects, you'll realise that there are many people out there who do see women as just that: sexual objects.

If you are fine with that, well, what can I say? Congrats.

However the point is, women who wish to be seen as more than just that should have the right to be seen as such.

And we all know perfectly well that not all men are sexist, that not all men despise women, that not all men treat them as objects and not all men hurt them. Thank God there are many men out there who treat women well! But there are still quite a few men who hit and rape women. And the real point is, those aren't the only unfair things a man can do to a woman. It can be requests, expectations, words, even looks.

Often it's not even men who are sexist towards women, but women towards other women. And I suppose that that's caused by many women thinking of certain attitudes as normal, and they reproduce those behaviours because they just don't stop and think about the real reasons and meanings behind them. Where does your hatred for different body tipes come from? Why do you expect all women to shave? ...

Another important point is, being a feminist doesn't mean that you are against make-up, against fashion, agaisnt house-chores, against marriage, or against motherhood. It simply means that you believe that any woman should have a right to choose for herself about these things. A woman shouldn't feel uncomfortable going shopping without any make-up on, she shouldn´t feel ashamed of going to the beach unshaved, she shouldn't feel that if she remains unmarried she will always be on the edge of society and she certainly shouldn't feel that she needs to be a mother in order to have society percieve her as a fulfilled human being.

It's hard to get past these expectations that are so much embedded in our societies and ways of thinking. It's hard to free yourself from them and actually make your own choices, decide whether to wear make-up because you feel like and not because you should or whether you'd rather just not wear any. Of course this sounds trivial, but it's just the bottom line example of a ladder of compelled choices we make.

It's not like by being a feminist you are automatically free from these choices, by the way. I myself am a feminist but can't bring myself not to care about what people will think if I wear shorts without shaving. Being able to make certain choices (from the most trivial up to the most vital) is not just a matter of what you believe in, but also a matter of what the society you live in is like.

Based on all these considerations, I have come to the conclusion that I need to do something against a movement which basically is against choice and respect.

So what I've decided to do (and I hope I will keep it up), is to post a selfie every day with one reason that I have for being a feminist. Starting today.

Look at my boobs! .. oh wait, this was a song contest, wasn't it? - Guarda le mie tette! .. oh scusa, questo era un concorso di canzoni, vero?

Last week I happened to watch the Eurovision Song Contest.

There were some interesting entries... and a really shocking one.

Please have a look at what the polish entry looked like on stage:

No, I haven't mistakenly uploaded a photo from some private and secret porn folder. It really is a photo of what happened on stage at the Eurovision Song Contest.

The "dance" (though it seems like an insult to call it so), featured girls showing their extremely big breasts and moving in a rather explicit way while doing house chores.

There would be so many things to say regarding this that it's hard to decide where to start from.

I would start by posting a link to an article which is rather interesting - though lacks some deeper comments. It is an article posted on metro, you can find it here.

Now, as I said, this article doesn't say all that I would like to say, even though it conveys some interesting facts and opinions.

I think it is rather troubling that in the UK this song got the most votes, as the article states.

What is even more troubling is that this song was placed 6th by the votes of the public in the final and ended 14th because of a much less favourable vote on the judges' side.

My country (Italy) was the second country to give Poland most votes after Germany.

This says a lot about the society we live in and how it perceives women.

You can see more data on this wikipedia page.

The article I linked above also states that the female UK judges placed Poland at the bottom of their list - it would appear it was just the women though. I think it's outrageous that only women see how degrading this is and that men do not stand against this sort of entertainment too.

I am a little perplexed at what they say in the article regarding the reason for disliking this song: the main problem is not that this sort of show is not adequate for families, but rather that it objectifies and sexualises women in an extremely obvious and irrispectful way. It places women in the place to which they have always been confined - the house, doing house chores - while also portraying them as willing sexual objects.

While looking for the lyrics of this song, I stumbled upon another interesting article, in the sense that it gives a different perspective on this song - a perspective I completely disagree with.

You can find the lyrics and the article here.

This article endorses the theory that this song is a satyrical reply to xenophobes. It is an interesting theory, but I do not see any ground to actually believe that this is what it is.

Even if it were a satyric representeation of slavic girls in order to "fight against xenophobes", I do not think they went about it the right way.

As a matter of fact, I doubt that the people who voted for this song actually saw this as satire. I think that what they saw and liked were nothing more than young women acting in what could be defined as a sexual arousing way - though I would say it was an utterly disgusting and insulting way of acting.

Even the lyrics do not seem to be ironic but just shallow and provocative.

The lyrics talk of "Slavic girls" as hot women willing to prove how good at giving pleasure they are.

If I were slavic, I would feel deeply insulted.

At any rate, I feel insulted as a woman.

If we are to fight against stereotypes, I truly believe that this is not the best way to go. As a matter of fact this sort of show could lead to the opposite outcome.

What I would see as the best way to fight against stereotypes is to act in the exact opposite way: this would show how wrong stereotypes are and how different from relity they are.

I am no expert, but this is what I believe.

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Settimana scorsa ho finito col guardare l'Eurovision Song Contest.

C'erano alcuna canzoni interessanti.. e una decisamente scioccante.

Buttate un occhio a com'era la canzone polacca sul palco.

No, non ho caricato per sbaglio una foto proveniente da una cartella nascosta e segreta piena di file pornografici. È davvero una foto scattata sul palco dell'Eurovision Song Contest.

Il "ballo" (anche se mi pare un insulto definirlo come tale) consisteva in ragazze che mostravano il proprio enorme seno e che si muovevano in modo piuttosto esplicito mentre facevano delle faccende domestiche.

Ci sarebbero così tante da cose da dire sull'argomento che non so da che parte iniziare.

Incomincerei da un link a un articolo che mi sembra abbastanza interessante, anche se mancano alcuni commenti più profondi. L'articolo `stato pubblicato su metro, e lo potete trovare qui.

Come dicevo, questo articolo non dice tutto quello che io vorrei dire, anche se espone delle opinioni e dei fatti interessanti.

Mi sembra piuttosto preoccupante che nello UK questa canzone sia stata quella che ha ricevuto il maggior numero di voti, come afferma l'articolo.

Ciò che mi sembra ancora più preoccupante è che il pubblico ha aggiudicato il sesto posto a questa canzone, anche se poi è arrivata quattordicesima a causa di voti decisamente meno favorevoli da parte dei giudici.

Il mio Paese (l'Italia) è stata seconda solo dopo la Germania per il numero di voti dati alla Polonia.

Questo dice molto riguardo la società in cui viviamo e come percepisce le donne.

Potete trovare più dati su questa pagina di wikipedia.

L'articolo nel link sopra riferisce inoltre che i giudici di sesso femminile dello UK hanno posizionato la Polonia in fondo alla classifica, ma pare che siano state solo le donne. Mi sembra oltraggioso che solo le donne si rendano conto di quanto questo sia degradante e che gli uomini non si oppongano anche a loro a questo tipo di intrattenimento.

Mi lascia un po' perplessa la ragione per cui secondo l'articolo questa canzone non dovrebbe piacere: il problema principale non è che questa canzone non è adeguata a un pubblico composto da famiglie, ma piuttosto che oggettifica e sessualizza le donne in modo evidente e irrispettoso. Posiziona le donne nel luogo al quale sono sempre state confinate (la casa, sbrigando le faccende domestiche) e contemporaneamente rappresenta le donne come oggetti sessuali consenzienti.

Mentre cercavo il testo della canzone, ho trovato un altro articolo interessante, nel senso che offre una prospettiva diversa: una prospettiva con la quale sono completamente in disaccordo.

Potete trovare il testo della canzone e l'articolo qui.

Questo articolo difende la teoria secondo la quale questa canzone in realtà è una risposta satirica rivolta agli xenofobi. Una teoria interessante, ma mi sembra infondata.
Anche se fosse una rappresentazione satirica delle ragazze slave mirata alla "lotta contro gli xenofobi", non credo che questo sia il modo giusto di farlo.
Sinceramente dubito che le persone che hanno votato per questa canzone la considerassero come una satira. Penso che ciò che si è visto e che è piaciuto non fosse altro se non delle giovani donne in atteggiamenti che si potrebbero definire sessualmente eccitanti, anche se io li trovo semplicemente disgustosi e ingiuriosi.
Anche il testo non sembra ironico ma semplicemente superficiale e provocante.
Il testo descrive le "ragazze slave" come donne sexy pronte a dimostrare la loro abilità nel dare piacere.
Se fossi slava mi sentirei insultata.
In ogni caso, mi sento insultata in quanto donna.

Se si vuole lottare contro gli stereotipi, credo sinceramente che questo non sia il miglior modo di farlo. In realtà con questo genere di spettacolo si potrebbe ottenere il risultato opposto.
Personalmente direi che il miglior modo per lottare contro gli stereotipi sia comportarsi esattamente nel modo opposto: in questo modo si dimostrerebbe quanto gli stereotipi siano sbagliati e quanto siano lontani dalla realtà.
Non sono un'esperta, ma questo è ciò in cui credo.

Are you washing your hands or having sex? - Ti stai lavando le mani o stai facendo sesso?

Let's get down to business.

Recently I saw a picture on Facebook which made me extremely upset, because it touches two of the themes I feel most sensitive about: the sexualisation and the objectification of women. Yes, both things at the same time.

What upsets me most is that this picture was thought to be funny by the person who published it and the comment written on top of it was: "How to get a man to wash his hands". Here's the picture.

Now. I need to breath deeply a few times before starting: that's how provoking, disgusting and unacceptable this appears to me.

First of all, it's insulting to women as they really do become just objects. Not even full objects, actually, but part of them. Just an accessory to make sinks more "enjoyable". The poses have obvious sexual references, especially if you imagine a man washing his hands there... How disrespectful is that?

This basically implies that it's ok to use women as pleasure objects and that it's even ok to make a joke out of that. I don't believe that's acceptable at all.

As a matter of fact, I think this is disrespectful to men as well, especially if combined with the sentence I wrote above. The message I get from this is that men are dirty animal-like beings (no offense to animals) who do not care for personal hygiene, so much so that they need a sexual input in order to wash their hands.

What is needed to motivate them to have a shower, then?

I truly think this is insulting to all those sensible men I know to be out there.

This sort of stuff should be forbidden, just like nowadays a toilet in the shape of a man of colour would be forbidden (righfully so!).

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Mettiamoci al lavoro.

Recentemente ho visto su Facebook un post che mi ha fatta alterare moltissimo, infatti ha a che vedere con due degli argomenti che mi toccano di più: la sessualizzazione e l'oggetificazione delle donne. Sì, entrambe le cose contemporaneamente.

Quello che mi infastidisce particolarmente è che la persona che ha pubblicato quetsa foto pensava che fosse divertente e il commento era: "Come far sì che un uomo si lavi le mani". Ecco la foto (vedete sopra).

Allora. Devo respirare profondamente un po' di volte prima di dire qualsiasi cosa: trovo che questo sia provocante, disgustoso e inaccettabile fino a questo punto.

Tanto per iniziare, ritengo che sia profondamente insultante per le donne dato che le trasforma in semplici oggetti. Anzi, a dirla tutta, non le trasforma neanche in oggetti ma solo in parti di oggetti. Sono solo accessori che fanno sì che i lavandini siano più "piacevoli". Le pose hanno ovvie connotazioni sessuali, soprattutto se si immagina un uomo che si lava le mani lì... Quant'è irrispettoso?

Questo pare implicare che sia ok usare le donne come oggetti di piacere e che sia anche ok riderci su. Penso che questo non sia assolutamente accettabile.

A dirla tutta, penso che questo sia irrispettoso anche verso gli uomini, in particolare in combinazione con la frase che ho scritto sopra. Il messaggio che mi trasmette è che gli uomini sono creature sporche e animalesche (mi scuso con gli animali per l'offesa) che non badano all'igiene personale a tal punto che è necessario un input di natura sessuale per spingerli a lavarsi le mani.

Di cosa hanno bisogno come spinta per farsi la doccia, allora?

Credo davvero che questo sia un insulto a tutti gli uomini ragionevoli che ci sono al mondo.

Questo genere di cose dovrebbe essere proibito, proprio come al giorno d'oggi sarebbe proibito un gabinetto a forma di uomo di colore (più che giustamente!).

Yes, I'm a woman. And so what? - Sì, sono una donna. E allora?

Since this is my first entry on this blog, I think I should explain who I am and why I decided to do this.

Well, I'm just a 25 years old woman like any else. I'm not an expert of women's studies or feminism. I simply listen and observe. And then I ponder.

When I do - and that is basically all the time - I often get upset.

I get upset at how society subtly gives us messages that aim at setting our standards on how women should be, how men should be, how each gender should behave, what is right and what is wrong.

I don't agree with those set standards and I think it's sad that so many people (including myself, of course) are influenced by them to a much larger extent than they can possibly imagine.

That's why I listen, observe and ponder. I want to make up my own mind without being influenced by arbitrary standards. I'm not just talking about standards regarding women here -I'm talking about standards regarding men as well.

I really am nothing more than an observer who wishes to share.

I have always felt that I could do much more than what people expected from me - "you're just a girl"

I bet so many of you have heard that phrase.

Every time somebody told me it was just to be expected that I could not do something since I was a girl, well, they motivated me to try harder. I've always wanted to be stronger than the boys in my class, faster than them, smarter than them, just to prove my point. I didn't always manage, of course, but at least I wasn't always losing and proving the stereotype right.

Because of this attitude of mine, I wasn't always popular, especially as a teenager. I was slapped by a classmate once. The reason? I had scored at soccer and told him to stop it when he started insulting me. The teacher said nothing and I was too proud to ask anything of him.

I was often bullied about my looks, I was called names and made fun of for having good grades.

I've never been bullied very harshly, but it was bad enough.

Things got better after puberty, but I've still been told "you're not very feminine", "you're sort of manly", "you're a bit scary", "your boyfriend must have a hard time"...

Yes, I try to be strong.

Yes, I'm outspoken.

Yes, I'm a woman. And so what?

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 Dato che questo è il mio primo post su questo blog, penso che sia doveroso presentarmi e spiegare come mai ho deciso di fare questo.

Sono solo una donna di 25 anni come tante altre. Non sono un'esperta di studi sulle donne o di femminismo. Semplicemente ascolto e osservo. Poi rifletto.

Quando lo faccio (cioè praticamente sempre), spesso mi altero.

Mi altero perché la società ci lancia subdolamente messaggi mirati a stabilire i nostri standard per quel che riguarda come dovrebbero essere le donne, come dovrebbero essere gli uomini, come ogni sesso dovrebbe comportarsi, cosa è giusto e cosa è sbagliato.

Non condivido quegli standard prestabiliti e ritengo sia triste che così tante persone (me inclusa, ovviamente) ne vengano influenzate molto più di quanto possano immaginare.

È per quetso che ascolto, osservo e rifletto. Voglio farmi una mia opinione senza essere influenzata da standard arbitrari. Non parlo solo degli standard che riguardano le donne, ma anche di quelli che riguardano gli uomini.

Non sono altro che un'osservatrice che desidera condividere le proprie osservazioni.

Ho sempre creduto di poter fare molto più di quanto la gente non si aspettasse da me - "sei solo una femminuccia"

Scommetto che molti di voi hanno sentito quest'espressione.

Ogni volta che qualcuno mi diceva che era normale che non potessi fare qualcosa perché femmina, bè, mi motivava a dare il meglio. Ho sempre voluto essere più forte dei miei compagni maschi, più veloce di loro, più intelligente di loro, solo per dimostrare che avevo ragione. Non ci riuscivo sempre, certo, ma almeno non perdevo in continuazione dimostrando che lo stereotipo era veritiero.

A causa di questo mio atteggiamento non ero sempre ben vista, in particolare quando ero adolescente. Una volta un compagno di classe mi diede uno schiaffo. La ragione? Avevo fatto goal e gli dissi di smetterla quando incominciò a insultarmi. Il professore non disse niente e io ero troppo orgogliosa per chiedergli di fare qualcosa.

Spesso sono stata maltrattata per il mio aspetto, sono stata insultata, sono stata derisa perché prendevo voti alti. Non ho mai subito maltrattamenti pesanti, ma era sufficientemente dura.

Dopo la pubertà le cose sono migliorate, ma mi sono comunque sentita dire "non sei molto femminile", "sei un po' virile", "fai un po' paura, "dev'essere dura per il tuo ragazzo"...

Sì, cerco di essere forte.

Sì, esprimo la mia opinione.

Sì, sono una donna. E allora?