Thursday, September 29, 2011

Quick Hits on Pop Culture & Politics: A Collapse, Unproven Rear Toning, A Disappearing Bra, Fresh 'Up All Night' & Sports Fans’ Sexism

Red Sox, A Collapse: Epic. Historic. Implosion. Angry. Heartache. Words are insufficient . . . Baseball is so over for 2011 . . . at least in this house.

Easy Tone’s Unproven Rear Toning Claim: What’s my take-away from the story about the fact that Reebok was forced to pay $25 million to the people who bought their EasyTone sneakers which Reebok claimed would firm up the wearer’s derriere but the Federal Trade Commission said there’s no proof for those claims? There’s no easy shortcut to a hard body.

‘Sleight of Hand’ & The Disappearing Bra at the School Board Meeting: In this day and age, what kind of person would ever think that it’s a good idea to do a magic trick at a public meeting where you pretend to pull off a woman’s bra? The chairman of the Massachusetts School Committee in Abington, that’s who.

The Brockton Enterprise reported that the committee chairman “performed a trick that made it appear as though he and high school teacher Steven Shannon had just ripped the bra off committee member Ellen Killian.”

Good. Lord.

Can you imagine what would’ve happened had a male student done this to a female student in front of a classroom? Or if a male teacher did this to a female teacher at a staff meeting? You’d say, “Unacceptable!” right? So why doesn’t the male chairman of the Abington school board realize that it’s just as unacceptable at his meetings, where they’re supposed to be setting the example for the entire school district?


Fresh Up All Night: It's three episodes into Up All Night, the new Christina Applegate/Will Arnett comedy and I'm hooked. They've managed to take issues facing new parents (exhaustion, lack of interest in sex, feeling uncool, work-home struggles, etc.) and make them seem fresh and new again. I've been reviewing it for CliqueClack TV. Check it out. You'll thank me.

Sexism Aimed at Yet Another Female Sports Scribe: Sportswriter Jennifer Gish wrote a column last week for the Albany Times Union poking fun of the fervent, ever hopeful Buffalo Bills fans and the response she got for her troubles wasn’t simply the kind of “you’re a big idiot” e-mails and comments that columnists typically receive. She was deluged with all manner of misogyny and horrific, personal attacks.

Gish wanted her readers to understand what kind of feedback she was receiving, so she wrote a column detailing some of it, including these comments:

“seen some photos of you and you are as ugly as your story about we bills fans.


we may lose, we may win but you will still be ugly either way.

in response to this story

GO TO HELL

and you may want to consider plastic surgery or something, you are one god awful ugly looking female.”

AND

“YOU SUCK DONKEY D***! That's why females shouldn't be allowed to write articles about sports. You better not write a good article about the Bills now because then everyone will know that you really just a dumb, bandwagon slut.”

AND

“Well great prediction! Maybe your article will help get women like you removed from sports media. You are incompetent and really offered no unique points that haven't already been beaten to death in the past ten years in your tirade against the bills. Glad they could prove a hack borderline blogger like you wrong.


Maybe you should stay in the kitchen next time.”

This vehemence and level of vitriol just doesn’t happen to male sportswriters. And it’s disgusting. But at least the commenters didn’t threaten to try to remove her bra as part of a magic trick at a public meeting.

Image credit: NBC.

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