The reality of sexism -- a few examples

It is International Women's Day this week. All over the world. this event is marked by women in various ways as they celebrate victories and mark the struggles ahead. Progressive-minded women and men in the youth and student movement across Canada are also finding ways to raise the important issues marked on this day in our communities, work-places and campuses. But, we all know the story. Sooner or later some guy blurts out -- women are equal today and sexism is over. Well, here are just a few anecdotes that friends and readers of Rebel Youth have brought to our attention over the past days. 


Violence against women

The Montreal restuarant Nacho Libre got called out for putting "jokes" about violence against women in its publicity, like "Pick-up line of the day: does this tissue smell like chloroform?" and "I like my beer like I like my violence: domestic." After removing the offensive jokes the owner justified them saying they came from mainstream culture and that the bar has done "much worse stuff than this over the past two years." Link to full story.

Sexism in the sky

A female pilot of a WestJet plane was told, via a note, by a Bible-quoting male passenger that "The cockpit of an airline is no place for a woman." and "I wish WestJet could tell me a fair lady is at the helm so I can book another flight!" The captain's reply: "there are no places that are not for ladies any more." But it turns out that the best WestJet can claim about gender stats for their pilots is that it has over 1,118 men and only 58 women, about 5%!  Link to full story

Valuing women?

Thanks to BroApp, guys will no longer have to deal with the responsibility of texting their girlfriends because the Android app will automatically send personal messages to your girlfriend so that you don't have to. Guys simply have to install the app, enter the name and phone number of their girlfriend and then select messages to send on certain days and times. Link to full story

Rape culture  

The president of the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa recently shared screenshots she had received of a chat between five young men from an opposing slate to her in the student elections. Anne Marie Roy has been president of the student federation since May 2013, and was re-elected this month. In the conversation the men made graphic sexual descriptions about what they wanted to do to her, including a rape "joke" / threat.  At the same time, the university suspended the men’s hockey team with police investigating allegations that several players were involved in a sexual assault in Thunder Bay. Link to full story

The influence of corporate media

The mainstream you tube channel D-news has come out with a new video talking about the impact of corporate culture on perceptions of beauty. They write: "media has a way of glorifying men with large muscles and women who are skinny. This is especially troubling for women, as they see thinness being associated with beauty, leading to eating disorders and women who are underweight. But just how long does it take to affect someone?" Video below.