Kanye West’s Monster Misogyny

January 31, 2011

I really wish I hadn’t seen Kanye West’s leaked music video for his hit song Monster. I was horrified, furious, livid, angry, and sad; I actually didn’t even get through the whole video the first time I saw it.  The sexualized, eroticized, fetishized violence against women and sexist and racist stereotypes is nothing other …

Toy Ads and Learning Gender

November 16, 2010

Created for Bitch Magazine’s Mad World Virtual Symposium

I recently watched afternoon cartoons on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network and I was shocked to find a flood of highly gendered toy commercials. These ads not only market toys to children but it also promotes and encourages gender specific values that are very limiting to boys and …

Top 5 Problems with Glee: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Season 2 Premiere

September 23, 2010

Tuesday night’s season premiere of Glee may have been one of the most offensive hours of television I’ve watched in a long time. It seemed like every minute or two they would make another sexist, racist or homophobic joke. I was afraid Glee was going in a bad direction after the first few episodes …

Retro Sexism and Uber Ironic Advertising

September 21, 2010

Created for and originally posted at Bitch Magazine’s Mad World Virtual Symposium

Marketers are increasingly using Retro Sexism to sell products.  This form of advertising uses irony and humour as a way to distance itself from the sexist and/or racist representations and stereotypes they perpetuate.

Retro Sexism (n.): Modern attitudes and behaviors that mimic or …

The Huffington Post’s Sexist Linkbait Strategy

August 24, 2010

Created for and originally posted at Bitch Magazine’s Mad World Virtual Symposium

Huffington Post regularly uses women’s bodies as an internet marketing strategy to entice viewers and generate ad revenue.
Linkbait (n.): sensationalized and unrelated images and headlines used to draw viewers into other content on a website, it is often used to generate ad …

Interview: Jennifer Berger on About Face and American Apparel

June 29, 2010

Recently I sat down with Jennifer Berger, the executive director of About Face, a media literacy organization, helping girls and women resist harmful media messages. They currently have a campaign against American Apparel’s advertising.
Related Links and Articles:

About Face and visit American Apparel in their Gallery of Offenders.
Views photos from an …

What Liquor Ads Teach Us About Guys

June 22, 2010

Created for and originally posted at Bitch Magazine’s Mad World Virtual Symposium

Liquor ads capitalize on some of the worst (socialized) masculine traits, glamorize them, and sell these behaviours back to us – encouraging and promoting sexism.

Related Links and Articles:

Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and …

Bayonetta: Innovative Advertising or Sexual Harassment Training?

May 18, 2010

Created for and originally posted at Bitch Magazine’s Mad World Virtual Symposium

The widely popular video game Bayonetta has had an advertising campaign that matches the on screen sexism of the game itself.  In Tokyo a large billboard in the subway invited passersby to literally strip off  flyers to reveal Bayonetta naked underneath.  …

The First Canadian Video Game Awards

May 6, 2010

Yesterday may have been the first Canadian Video Game Awards but I doubt they are the first instance of overt sexism in the Canadian video game industry. Last night I attended the first Canadian video game awards and minus the bad dialogue, the sexist jokes and the glorified “booth babes” as stage candy …