Things that bug me:

1. Gay men who speak badly about women, but think they are exempt from being sexist somehow. Ie: men who embrace the fetishized designer/decorator/domestic gay, the gay man who shows women how to dress and act like proper women, or "how to look good naked." I thought we always looked good naked. I think it's important to think critically about how this stereotype operates to reinforce hetergendered norms and to commodify gay men. And I think this is one example of how increased media representation of LGBTQ people is not inherently a good thing if it serves to propogate heternormativity and old-fashioned sexism.

2. Male musicians who write sympathetic songs about female sexual & domestic violence survivors they know only from news stories. It seems exploitative, and sometimes contructs the survivor as a perpetually helpless victim, and sometimes as a victim who needs saving by a man. I think that if an artist wants to utilize someone else's experience for art, proceeds should be donated to organizations that support survivors.

(and no, I'm not jumping to persecute every guy who's ever written a song that could possibly be about his mother, grandmother, sister, aunt or even himself. And I respect free expression, but not at the cost of undermining the very idea of a woman's self-empowerment and efficacy.)


Submitted by: Ashley D (via Feminist Fight Club Facebook)