[normalizedsexistimagery]

Most posts come from men, but much of this comes from posts that women, who have been more or less brainwashed by sexism, will reblog. At least a third of the posts. It’s impossible to understand how many women can hate themselves and be desensitized to obvious sexism THIS BADLY.

We actually hold back on reblogging much of the ugly, sexist content that’s on here, and only reblog here when it’s especially egregious. Some is so blatant that the posters just get blocked on sight. Some are women who subscribe to this worldview because they think accepting this stuff is a ticket to others’ attention and validation, which makes them look sad enough that no one even needs to highlight it most of the time. We’re not their parents who indoctrinated or otherwise failed them, and not their friends who ought to give them an intervention — let them find out on their own, after POS Hubby #4 wrecks their lives.

This blog just highlights further what is so clear that everyone can see.

EDIT: Late 2023, queueing old drafts.

[thesituation]

my 100% failproof way to handle reactionaries asking why i don’t shave at all is going “because i don’t want to” it works because what they really want is an argument about the merits of feminism, and they’ll draw it out and try to convince you it’s a cult or whatever, but you can avoid it all by sticking to “i just don’t wanna. don’t feel like it” and if they argue with you about it you can use your ultimate ability, which is “i’m sorry i thought it was a free country?” which, believe me, they cannot come back from. they’ll either drop it or start harping on something you didn’t say, and it’s important you don’t take the bait at that point. when they can’t argue with what you say, they assume your beliefs and attack those. and you crucially must be visibly baffled at their change of direction because it will make them seem and possibly feel crazy (which they are). “i don’t want to shave” is a perfect response because truly it all comes down to autonomy and the ability to do what you want. they’ll try to say “feminism makes you think you have to do that” and it’s important to not take that bait. to reiterate that you don’t know what they mean and you just don’t like shaving and that it’s really weird to look into it that deep. this works i promise

[valcritter]

the leftism leaving peoples' bodies as soon as they start talking about "porn addiction" or start agreeing with republican porn ban laws

[not-tyrannosaurus-lex]

anyone posting this kind of horseshit should be legally obligated to work in content moderation for porn websites

[pillarsalt]

[colombinaa]

the leftism leaving people’s bodies when the oppressive system only hurts women

[cryptobotanical]

"This is why girls are so much more employable than young men in all the shitty, less-than-subsistence-level service jobs they’re trying to cram young people into across Europe and America. Girls are better at pleasing other people and plastering on the pretty grin even when we’re screaming inside. That’s what being a girl is. Girls are better at this sort of labour, often called ‘emotional labour’, not because there’s anything in the meat and matter of our living cells that makes us naturally better but because we’re trained to it from birth. Trained to make other people feel good. Trained to serve the coffee, fill in the forms, organise the parties and wipe the table afterwards. Trained to be feisty, if we must, but not strong. To be bubbly, not funny. You must at no stage appear to have a body that functions in a normal human way, that pisses and shits and sweats and farts and falters. Decorate the prison of your body. Make yourself useful. Shut up and smile."

- Laurie Penny, Unspeakable Things: Sex, Lies and Revolution

[normalizedsexistimagery]

"That’s what being a girl is."

"...not because there’s anything in the meat and matter of our living cells that makes us naturally better but because we’re trained to it from birth."

These are directly contradictory statements, and sloppy writing not to have noticed in the editing stage.

[danielwaldorf]

you guys r loving me complaining lately so can i complain about a social media thing. the obsession on many parts of tiktok, instagram, etc. with "hygiene" is actually just an obsession with performing wealth and femininity. no you cannot smell the difference between a girl who exfoliates her arms and one who doesn't. you are saying this to shame people who aren't performing femininity as hard as you. no it is not necessary to have a ten step skincare routine with three different serums. you are showcasing your wealth and encouraging consumption.

like sorry but if i scrubbed and scraped myself half as much as you insist is Necessary to be clean i would be red and breaking out everywhere. different people have different needs. and nobody Needs to use a body scrub and a dry brush and a bar soap and a body wash and a body butter and a moisturizing oil every single day. nobody is going to get sick because they wash their body with their hands instead of a washcloth or an african net sponge or whatever other implement you've decided is necessary to get clean. human bodies do not need to smell like jasmine or vanilla or whatever 24/7 in order to be considered clean. like good fucking lord you people are just jerking off cosmetics companies and falling to your knees at the foot of the patriarchy saying i love youuuu oh my goddddd you're so cool and correct and if i increase my shower routine to twenty steps instead of twelve can i please climb up a little bit and stomp on other women with you pleaseeeee

[stickandthorn]

shit like “I’m just a girl” and “girl math” and “girl failure” makes my blood boil. They’re not harmless turns of phrase they’re misogynistic talking points that have been abstracted enough to become palatable and “funny,” but not so much that they have lost their use as tools to demean women. And they’re so insidious because they can fly under the radar. Because it can seem like harmless jokes to make with other women. But when all your jokes are contributing to a narrative of pathetic girls who can’t make themselves real dinner and don’t want to do real math and are really just 26 year old teenage girls, you have to wonder, who does this benefit? It’s like how suicide jokes reinforce poor mental health even when they’re genuinely intended as jokes. But it’s worse, because even if you know you don’t actually believe you’re “just a girl,” there are many, MANY people out there who do. You aren’t just negatively impacting yourself, you’re feeding a broader patriarchal narrative.

[everett-true-daily]

[aetherograph]

Skin gap - Wikipedia

[dailymanners]

#for real though:#the skin gap probably explains a lot of Thermostat Wars#women's clothing is often a LOT more revealing (and made of much flimsier material) than men's clothing

Huh, you know I never considered that but come to think of it, The Skin Gap could be a major contributing factor to these gendered "thermostat wars" you hear about.

Not only that, but I remember a few years ago everyone was talking about these studies coming out showing that the temperature of most office buildings is actually a more comfortable temperature for men, but slightly too cold for women. Again, can't help but wonder how much The Skin Gap contributes to this discrepancy. If you look at the difference between the average business casual outfit for men vs the average business casual outfit for women, it's not just that the skin gap is at play here and the woman's outfit is more likely to be showing skin, but also the woman's outfit is more likely to be made of thin and flimsy material.

[sevensixone]

Seriously!

Let's use some random Google image search finds to compare the amount of bare arms and legs, low/wide necklines, low-cut shoes, etc in this "business casual" wardrobe:

vs this one:

[dailymanners]

Yes, and it's not just that you can see the skin gap at work here (in all of the men's outfits the legs and chest are fully covered, and the same cannot be said of the women's outfits) but also even from a picture you can see how the material for the women's outfits looks so much thinner and flimsier than the material the men's clothing is made out of.

This isn't shaming or berating the women who wear these outfits by any means, this is directed at the clothing industry for marketing and pumping out clothing made of thin flimsy material that leaves large parts of the body uncovered for women, while marketing and pumping out clothing made of thick sturdy fabric that gives full coverage to men (as well as the social norms behind all of that enforcing all of this).

And also, it really can go both ways. I've worked with so many men over the years who do lament that they can't wear shorts to work, especially in an office setting, without either getting looks or straight up being told their outfit is unprofessional and they need to put pants on, and they'll come right out and say they're jealous of their female colleagues who can come to work in shorts, or skirts above the knee, and have that be accepted as a professional outfit suitable for the workplace.

[sevensixone]

If a woman wore a short sleeve skirt suit like this to work, most people wouldn't think much of it:

...but if a man wore something like this, people would think he had lost his mind!

[dailymanners]

#also may i recommend a YA novel called The Obnoxious Jerks#about a group of guys who protest their school dress code by wearing skirts because shorts are forbidden

I just might add that to my reading list, thank you.

As for the examples here, I could see something similar to the bottom outfit being an acceptable school uniform in some places, especially for primary school aged boys.

As for an adult man working in an office? At the very least he would almost definitely get some weird looks and/or snickering from his colleagues, but the chances that he'd get taken aside and told her needs to dress more seriously and professionally would actually be quite high.

This is despite the fact that the top outfit, when worn by a woman, would be perfectly acceptable in the same setting (despite actually having less coverage than the bottom outfit).

if you want more examples of the skin gap, I think this video also does a good job of demonstrating more examples of the skin gap.

[dailymanners]

#I didn't think that the skin day explains all the temperature gender discrepancies#but it sure does exacerbate the problem

Indeed, that's why I was saying "contributes to". As someone else pointed out in the comments, androgens do tend to make one run hot, so I would totally believe that men generally do have more of a tendency to run hot.

However, if androgens do tend to make one run hot, that means that the skin gap if anything should run the opposite way than it does in reality. If men tend to run hot, men should be the ones in shorts or skirts (including in formal/professional settings) to help the legs keep cool, wearing clothing out of thin gauzy material for more breathability, and wearing low cut tops to help the torso keep cool.

I think if we swapped the skin gap from what it actually is in reality it would probably make it a lot easier to find an office temperature that makes everyone happy.

[oakleavesofsilver]

It's also important to mention that, yes, women *could* dress warmer... but there's limits to that, too, in a professional setting. There's only so many layers you can add while still maintaining a professional look. Everyone always talks about how business casual (and other office dresscodes) "allows" women to wear lighter, thinner, more-skin-showing outfits, but it's also the opposite. If I wore the same outfit as some of the guys at my office, I'd be considered overdressed and dressing too seriously/severe.

Of course, I can just say "fuck that" and do it anyway, but women are judged (pretty harshly at times) for what they wear, so the pressure to wear the lighter, thinner, colder clothes definitely is there.

[chokit-pyrus]

It's also not so simple as 'woman COULD dress warmer/more modest' because those types of clothes are simply not being sold. I went shopping somewhat recently with my sister to find clothes for a job interview, and every store we went to only had button-ups that were also mesh. Short sleeves. Peekaboo necklines. Tank tops.

Warm, covered clothes straight up just aren't widely available.

[dailymanners]

#i gotta add this is something you really notice as a hijabi#or if for whatever reason you prefer modest wear#its noticeably harder just to find decent-looking/decently made long sleeves or long skirts ( or like. looser trousers )#and usually necessitates some level of layering ( e.g. turtlenecks or undershirts or jackets/jumpers - to cover arms)#and yeah like people have said the materials are usually not great for temperature regulation

It's interesting you mention that, because the woman who coined the term "the skin gap" is an Orthodox Jewish woman, and in her original blog post where she coined the term "the skin gap" she talks about how the women most heavily impacted by this are Muslim and Orthodox Jewish women.

As an Orthodox Jewish woman she realized how it was almost impossible to find clothes in mainstream retailers that fit the standard of modesty for Orthodox Jewish women. But looking across the isle at the men's clothes, it's hard not to notice the massive disparity in tightness / coverage.

[everett-true-daily]

#this is all true#but I should also mention that going on T made me SO fucking warm all the time#I used to hate the thinness of women’s clothes#now I envy it#these standards are fair to literally no one

"These standards are fair to literally no one" is the best and most succinct summary I've seen of this thread.

[dailymanners]

You don't have to laugh at "girl math" or "girl dinner" or "I'm just a girl" jokes. You don't have to laugh at misogynistic humor that demeans women. You don't have to go along with it. You don't even have to sit there awkwardly pretending you didn't hear anything. You are allowed to speak up and say something.

You don't have to be a jerk about it. The most effective yet civil way of dealing with harmful "humor" is just pretending you don't get the joke and asking them to explain. "I don't get it, what's girl math? What's a girl dinner? What do you mean by you're just a girl? Can you explain the joke to me?"

And if you're feeling bold, you can just say (or follow up with) "I think that's misogynistic". That's allowed. You don't have to quietly endure misogynistic "jokes", you can call a spade a spade.

[dailymanners]

It really does feel like we've done a massive backsliding in gender stereotyping over the past few years and it's honestly alarming.

Not just the "girl x / boy x" like "girl math" to mean being stupid and bad at math, or these "lol girl dinner" posts where it's a can of energy drink and half a jar of olives.

But it's also this "pink this" and "blue that", like girls and women posting tiktoks like "being well behaved in the blue store in the hopes he'll take me to the pink store 😇" and 'blue store' meaning, like, a hardware store or a sporting goods store, and 'pink store' meaning a makeup or clothing store, and uh, hello?? Why is this so prolific right now?? Why aren't more people questioning or calling out how grossly sexist this all is??

[lookataleaf3000]

i always think about that study where they had adults hold a baby, and when they were told the baby was a girl the adults said she was cute and small, and when they were told the baby was a boy they said he was big and strong. they rated the baby’s ability to do things and tendency towards certain toys differently. they even held the baby differently. (x) or when they rated the baby’s physical ability to do various tasks such as climbing up a slope differently, (x) & when they measured how much parents told their girl children vs. their boy children to be careful and stop being so rowdy (x), & when they measured how often girls and boys were told to be quiet. (x) this was, obviously, all unconscious behavior in the adults. they’re not all like, raving sexists who outspokenly believe that women can’t do stuff or that girls really should just be quieter, be more still than boys. like its not even counting the direct, actual messages, its just literally how every single person in your entire life treats you, and if asked they would probably deny that its even because you’re a girl. how the fuck am i supposed to believe this doesn’t affect a child’s development when its literally constant throughout the entire process 

[puttingherinhistory]

This shit starts as soon as early as when someone’s still a fucking embryo. I’ve heard the saying “discrimination starts as soon as you leave the womb” but it actually starts earlier than that.

[normal-with-adhd-is-a-joke]

Conservative beauty standards are back with a vengeance which means it's especially important to go out this summer with bellies out and bodies unshaved. Also be unapologetically disabled with mobility aids and wearable medical devices and stim toys and ear defenders and all that stuff. You need it. People need to see it. Everyone needs to be reminded that life is unquestioningly more enjoyable when you're not living inside an arbitrary set of rules created by people who are offended by all the wrong things.

[phantomrose96]

You can be talking to someone and she'll be like, "Oh I made a silly mistake. Women don't deserve voting rights teehee." And you'll be like, "What." And she'll be like, "Oh I'm sorry! That must sound so bad out of context. No it's this Tiktok meme where, if you're a girl and you do something dumb, you say 'Women don't deserve voting rights teehee.'"

And you'll be like, "That sounds bad." And she'll be like, "No no. It's totally not that bad. It's just a meme. Men say it too. Like if a man does something silly he'll be like, 'I am like those women who do not deserve to vote.'" And you'll be like, "Does that make it better?" And she'll be like, "Well there was one guy who tried to make 'Men shouldn't vote' a popular meme. But it never caught on and also he got yelled at a lot."

And then you drop it there because like, you're harshing the vibe.

[wake-meme-up-inside]

God this makes me think of this screenshot:

"it minimizes you as a person" really wraps up my entire discomfort with the whole "oh but i'm just a girl" thing when used in most situations.

[aries-of-spades]

[self-loving-vampire]

I am serious. We can't keep doing things like "curiosity = bizarre male quirkiness"

[romancefairy]

"i could fix him" well i actually think he's sexier when he's killing people

[normalizedsexistimagery]

And here we see evidence of the type of mind that wrote letters to Charles Manson, and even today get into "true crime" and do the same with new murderers. The same kind of woman who will not only allow a man to kill or abuse her own children, but participate with him and cover it up, taking his side over theirs.

Posts like these are framed as cute jokes, but it's obvious they're only half-joking. Women like this are everywhere, and their mindset starts as young girls.

[sadiec0re]

photographed by xiu xiu kong for fruits magazine

[dhaaruni]

If liberal men want me to be less of a ~heteropessimist~, they should probably stop whining about how men are #oppressed while frantically hiring crisis comms guys to clean up the fallout from their decade-long and very close friendship with an accused rapist.

[dhaaruni]

5 days apart

[dhaaruni]

This kind of whataboutism just gives liberal men a permission structure to treat liberal women like shit and bully them into silence because they're harming the cause, although to be fair, they're already doing that now so women might as well just take the L here. (x)

Wesley Lowery was a famous BLM reporter, and assaulted many Black female journalists. He guilted them into silence by invoking the tacit understanding that it was Black women's responsibility to "protect Black men." Sound familiar?

Journalists attest to experiences of sexual misconduct with Wesley Lowery.

Lowery rose to prominence as a reporter and media thinker. Women in the industry say he engaged in sexual harassment and assault.