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Community => Politics and Government => Topic started by: Sigmaleph on January 12, 2012, 09:17:27 pm

Title: How sexist?
Post by: Sigmaleph on January 12, 2012, 09:17:27 pm: OK, so I have a question. Recently, the city of Corrientes (Argentina) announced a contest to choose Miss Summer 2012 and "the best ass of the summer". The beauty contest, when Carnaval draws near, is something of a tradition. The ass part is not. As you can imagine, that didn't go over very well, public outrage, mayor declaring someone else added that line to the press release, etc. Several organizations protesting it as sexist. If you can read Spanish, there's an article on the subject here (http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1439862-escandalo-por-un-desfile-en-corrientes)

So here's the part that got me wondering. Certainly it's far more offensive to rate women by their butts than a traditional beauty contest. But is it any more sexist? The fact that all these people are only protesting it on grounds of sexism now means they think so. My first instinct was the same, but then I realised I cannot find any reason why that's so.

So is it that the sexism is just more noticeable when you talk about women's asses, or is it actually more sexist in some way I cannot think of?
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: QueenofHearts on January 12, 2012, 09:27:54 pm: They are both equally sexist and objectifying. I think the difference between beauty and ass contests are that people rationalize the first one as an evaluation of personal qualities or some junk like that. When they just judge asses it doesn't allow for these kind of excuses.

Or maybe its just the tact involved. I went out to a bar a little while back with a friend and one stranger said I had a nice ass (right beside me and loud enough for me to hear) and I felt offended. Totally sleezy. However if he had told me I looked nice I would have been flattered.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: davedan on January 12, 2012, 09:30:45 pm: Well the same girl would be the winner of both, wouldn't she?
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Rabbit of Caerbannog on January 12, 2012, 09:56:45 pm: I guess the only difference is one contest superficially judges women based on one aspect of their bodies while the other superficially judges women based on their entire bodies.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Cataclysm on January 12, 2012, 10:49:17 pm: Do they do the same thing for the Mr. Summer 2012 contests?
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: clockworkgirl21 on January 12, 2012, 10:52:07 pm: I fail to see how one is more sexist than the other.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Shane for Wax on January 12, 2012, 10:53:56 pm: They're kinda equal to me.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: JohnE on January 12, 2012, 11:17:42 pm: One's just more honest than the other.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: ThunderWulf on January 12, 2012, 11:59:48 pm: What...

o_O So people that go out of their way to get judged on their body are being upset abouting judged on their body?

???
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Osama bin Bambi on January 13, 2012, 12:36:40 am: I think that both are equally sexist.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: deadpandoubter on January 13, 2012, 12:43:01 am: Fuck this touchy feely bullshit, show me some ass and boobs!*

*This post is not at all serious and if you take this post seriously, may the dog gods chew on your fiddly bits
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Vene on January 13, 2012, 01:00:04 am: Quote from: deadpandoubter on January 13, 2012, 12:43:01 am
Fuck this touchy feely bullshit, show me some ass and boobs!*

*This post is not at all serious and if you take this post seriously, may the dog gods chew on your fiddly bits
(http://www.lovelongears.com/angeljr2.jpg)
(http://channelfever.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/blue_boobies.jpg)
[/obligatory]
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Smurfette Principle on January 13, 2012, 01:33:39 am: They're both sexist, one is just more obvious than the other.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Cataclysm on January 13, 2012, 01:35:17 am: Cute ass, Vene.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: anti-nonsense on January 13, 2012, 01:39:45 am: that's an awesome picture of boobies.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Smurfette Principle on January 13, 2012, 01:40:07 am: I love boobies.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: The Right Honourable Mlle Antéchrist on January 13, 2012, 01:40:25 am: Both involve objectification, but people tend to regard overt ogling of ass, breasts, etc. as being much more crude than the focus on facial beauty, likely stemming (at least in part) from cultural ideas about modesty and the normalization of specific objectifications that come with them.

Not that I'm condoning the discrepancy, simply speculating about the possible causes.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Thejebusfire on January 13, 2012, 02:09:31 am: Why do all these women have almost the same figures? Why are there never any chubby women in these beatuy contests?
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: The Right Honourable Mlle Antéchrist on January 13, 2012, 02:12:35 am: I think we both know the answer to that: Narrow beauty ideals in the media (both literally and figuratively). Never mind that women come in all shapes and sizes, nor that most men appreciate a wider range of body types than are typically displayed in beauty pageants; the entertainment industry is obsessed with Cookie-Cutter Cuties.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Shane for Wax on January 13, 2012, 02:15:55 am: I would vote for both of you in a beauty contest. /creepy

But anyways... I see nothing more offensive about 'best ass'.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: The Right Honourable Mlle Antéchrist on January 13, 2012, 02:18:53 am: I think I'd much rather win a contest based upon my intellect. :)
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Shane for Wax on January 13, 2012, 02:22:48 am: Intellect makes someone more beautiful for me. :)
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: gyeonghwa on January 13, 2012, 06:34:49 am: It would say it's equally sexist thought it's easier to rationalize (but not excuse) the beauty contest because it's tradition. The problem with most pageants is that the models participating in them have no agency to define their own ideals for their personality or bodies. The ass contest is just a more readily obvious manifestation of that.

If that doesn't make sense, it is because it is an ungodly hour where I am and I should be asleep.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Da Rat Bastid on January 13, 2012, 07:58:16 am: Quote from: Vene on January 13, 2012, 01:00:04 am
(http://www.lovelongears.com/angeljr2.jpg)

(http://api.ning.com/files/QTmKq43kRYGItNPriET86yPGFuDxCv91tIJv3FH6Pav*DwCZDioqPaJynjjIPmaf/dat_ass.png?width=600&amp;height=600)
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Old Viking on January 13, 2012, 04:40:27 pm: Some people have one opinion, butt others see it differently.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Sigmaleph on January 13, 2012, 06:19:34 pm: Quote from: Lexikon on January 12, 2012, 10:49:17 pm
Do they do the same thing for the Mr. Summer 2012 contests?
No such contest exists, as one might expect.

@everyone else: So I'm not insane and/or missing something obvious? Yay!
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: N. De Plume on January 13, 2012, 06:20:36 pm: Given what passes for Ã¢â‚¬Å“beautyÃ¢â‚¬Â IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m gonna say they are both quite sexist.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Cataclysm on January 13, 2012, 09:16:53 pm: Quote from: Sigmaleph on January 13, 2012, 06:19:34 pm
Quote from: Lexikon on January 12, 2012, 10:49:17 pm
Do they do the same thing for the Mr. Summer 2012 contests?
No such contest exists, as one might expect.

@everyone else: So I'm not insane and/or missing something obvious? Yay!

Since we don't know if they hold the same standards to men, so we can't explicitly say it's sexist.

If they do have a contest like this for males, and they aren't judged on their looks and butt as much as the females, then it's definately sexist.

@DD- it's sexist that they don't have a male version, although we don't know if specifically judging women by certain body parts in a beauty contest would be more prevalent if they did have a male version, which they don't I suppose due to tradition and other cultural factors. I heard that the most attractive part of a man to most females is their butt, so maybe.
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: deadpandoubter on January 13, 2012, 09:20:48 pm: ...so the fact that they don't have a male version can't mean anything in and of itself?

ETA:
Quote
it's sexist that they don't have a male version, although we don't know if specifically judging women by certain body parts in a beauty contest would be more prevalent if they did have a male version, which they don't I suppose due to tradition and other cultural factors. I heard that the most attractive part of a man to most females is their butt, so maybe.

Okay, I'm getting confused. Are you saying that their traditions and culture in general cannot be sexist toward women because they're sexist toward men?
Title: Re: How sexist?
Post by: Cataclysm on January 14, 2012, 12:13:24 am: No, because sexism goes both ways, although the sexism we're talking about is specific parts of the contest. If the contest was judging her on her face, talent, or even intelligence, it still would be sexist if they didn't have a male version, but the sexism would be much more clear if they did have a male version and held them on different standards.