Good afternoon, ladies and harridans.
We’d like to kick off this week by sending massive congratulations to Kamala Harris, set to become the first female, African-American and Asian-American Vice President of the US. Result! There are a lot of things we love about Kamala, but perhaps one of the most heartening is her ongoing effort to highlight the Black maternal health crisis.
This week we’re talking boobs, bitches and and the sex life of the female mongoose. Marie Fury also takes a deeper dive into yet another way women are losing out during Covid.
However, it would be remiss of us not to mention Donald. His behaviour towards women, and lack of respect for the people of Latin America, is simply shocking. Just to be clear, we’re talking about Donald Duck. No, we won’t be mentioning that other guy – that dusty old wotsit has had more than enough airtime, and we are declaring this issue an irrelevant old white dude-free zone. (What was his name again? Fart?). JS
COVID COVERAGE: WHERE ARE THE WOMEN?
Pandemic news coverage revealed to be a total sausage fest
Another entry in the seemingly endless list of things being made worse by Covid: representation of women in the news. Every woman whose voice is included in news stories about the pandemic is drowned out by at least three men, according to a report from the International Women's Media Foundation (IWMF).
Eleanor Mills, chair of Women in Journalism, told the Press Gazette: “Covid has really focused what’s going on in media. It’s made it more obvious and extreme. There’s still a default mechanism in the kind of media brain that when things get serious the default is to ask a man [...] You can move the dial on this – but you need somebody in charge that minds.”
Editors, journalists, writers, and broadcasters: be the one who minds. MF
Read Marie Fury’s full take on the story here.
TIT BITS
Keeping abreast of the latest news, views, and research
Better breast test
A new type of mammogram may detect breast cancers earlier, without increasing false alarms. Known as “3D mammography,” the technique involves taking multiple scans of the breast from different angles and combining them into a single image. Good news for bosom-owners everywhere! MF
It's my pandemic and I'll cry if I want to
If this second lockdown situation is making you want to cry and/or stick your head in a bowl of custard, you're not alone. Whether you believe it's down to crisis-fatigue or because Mercury is in retrograde, this article by the Mental Health Foundation acknowledges that everyone is feeling a bit crap – especially if they have existing mental health conditions – and gives some genuinely good advice on how to get yourself through the whole sh*tshow. RT
The Humper Games
Female banded mongooses start battles with rival groups, then take advantage of the confusion to mate with enemy males, according to new research. The cunning behaviour, known as “exploitative leadership,” benefits females by allowing them to mate outside their own closely related groups, but is bad for males, who are more likely to be killed in battle. Lady animals starting wars? Whatever next? Lionesses ruling the pride? MF
Bye, bitch
When thinking of synonyms for a woman, what does thy mind conjure? You might be surprised that ye olde Oxford English Dictionary lists definitions of “bitch”, “bint” and “wench” (among others). Before you reach for the smelling salts, take heed that Oxford University Press (OUP) has just recently (😶) labelled these terms offensive and/or derogatory in response to a petition. It’s a step in the right direction, but not enough say the campaigners (rightly so). OUP, get out of the dark ages and remove these “synonyms” altogether, ey? RF
Come again?
A fascinating article delves into the work of Princess Marie Bonaparte in the early 1900s. Based on the (batsh*t) theories of her pal Sigmund Freud, Bonaparte sought (through anatomical research and ultimately surgery) to achieve the “correct” vaginal orgasm (as opposed to “immature” clitoral orgasm 🙄) that she believed would cure female frigidity. Bonkers? Absolutely. But the author notes, “Marie’s research, however barbaric or misguided it may seem to modern sensibilities, paved the way for further exploration of female orgasms.” MF
TO THE KRAKEN
Are slender tentacles, inky eyeliner and colour-changing skin that’s always on fleek the secrets to Ms K’s success? No, it’s her ability to snap boats in half.
The murky depths await those who overlook a woman’s success and achievements in favour of their appearance, especially those reducing the history-making accomplishment of an incredible woman to their “youthful beauty tricks”. This type of bullsh*t is so rampant we have repetitive strain injuries from all the eye rolls 🙄. We hope these perpetrators of everyday sexism put on some confidence-boosting mascara to face our resident kraken – waterproof, of course. RF
We’re also chucking in the unnecessarily naked statue of the “mother of feminism”, Mary Wollstonecraft. We appreciate there might be some artistic significance to it, but she deserves a statue that a) looks like her and b) doesn’t give her a massive visible bush.
Feminists Ruin Everything
Misogynistic cartoons I accidentally watched with my toddler
We need to talk about Donald. No, not that one.
Disney+ has been an invaluable resource to me as the mother of a toddler during a global pandemic. But the classic Disney offerings are, as we all know, rife with problems. Enter The Three Caballeros: my offspring loves Donald Duck, musical numbers and headache-inducingly bright animation. A winner, I thought, when Disney’s algorithm helpfully suggested we watch it. Wrong!
Disney have rightly been called out for some of the egregious stereotypes on display in their older films (Jim Crow, anyone?), but although I had my remote poised should things take an unfortunate turn, what I was not expecting was for Donald Duck to be behaving like a befeathered predator. (For the record, this review does not provide a plot summary, because this film has no discernible plot outside sexual harassment and some singing.)
At one point our web-footed hero comes across a (live action) woman selling cookies and becomes, to be frank, visibly aroused. After pursuing her for an entire musical number during which she clearly spurns his advances, she eventually acquiesces; kissing his beak after he presents her with some flowers. At this point the animation could only be described as orgasmic. Snogging a creepy duck tourist seems a big ask for a woman just trying to sell some baked goods.
At this point I turned the film off as watching a cartoon duck pursue and objectify innocent traders wasn’t really a message I wanted my infant son to absorb. I returned once he was safely in bed to see if the rest of the film was just as bad – and arguably, it’s worse. Such as the scene where Donald spies on women sunbathing through a telescope then proceeds to start dive-bombing them on his flying carpet (don’t ask), calling them all “toots” and requesting they “come to papa”.
I will no longer be able to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and see Donald in the same light. Clearly, he is hiding out in a secret house in the woods to avoid prosecution for historical sex offences.
My verdict? Suck it up and watch Moana or Frozen for the 359th time instead. JS
More things heating up our Yumnuts this week:
Photomontage artist Eleanor Shakespeare | Greta Thunberg demonstrating that revenge is a dish best served cold | Discovering Anne Boleyn wasn’t a “heartless scheming seductress” and that the telling of her history was subject to sexism | The #1ofTheMillion initiative celebrating women in STEM | The #womensart Twitter thread – especially this bone-chilling picture of Medusa...
The HEX Science team
🧬Jean Splicer | ☢ Marie Fury | 🧠 Rorschach Tess | 🔬 Rosalind Frankly