Misogyny. The hatred or
dislike of women or girls. Misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including sexual discrimination,
denigration of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification of women.
Chauvinism. The belief that men are
superior to women. This is closely associated with sexism and misogyny, and other forms of believing that women are inferior
to men, especially intellectually.
Sexism. Prejudice or discrimination based on a
person's sex. Sexist attitudes may stem from traditional stereotypes of gender roles, and may include the belief
that a person of one sex is intrinsically superior to a person of the other.
These are words the Captain is familiar with. Lord knows I’ve
heard them enough!
Three related news stories crossed my bow this week that I
believe are deserving of commentary.
First, the Disney Company announced it was going to change the
look of Merida, the heroine of its 2012 hit cartoon “Brave”.
For those
unfamiliar with the story line, Merida is the 16-year-old daughter of Scottish
King Fergus, which means it’s time for her to be betrothed to a son of another
leading clan. However, Merida is her own person and resists being forced into marriage.
Meanwhile, she stirs up trouble.
Okay, she unintentionally changes her mother into a grizzly
bear!
Oops! My bad!
The movie unfolds with high adventure, and in the end Merida
saves the day, making her the first Disney Princess that didn’t need a man to
save her!
Strong-willed women – young and old – hailed the movie as a
break-through.
But in order for Disney to add Merida to its line of “Disney
Princesses”, it felt the need to change her look a little bit.
The proposed change resulted in howls from people around the
globe, and within the week, Disney relented.
Why would Disney do this to a much-beloved cartoon
character?
Speaking of the proposed change, a spokesperson for Disney
noted that while Merida’s appearance was changed, she still maintained “her
inner essence”.
What “inner essence” does a cartoon character possess?
What “inner” anything?
But I digress…
Which brings us to news story #2.
This is not a new story, but it keeps being revived. And
since we collectively don’t remember anything that didn’t happen since this
morning, we don’t remember that this is not really “news”.
Here’s the scoop: In a 2006 interview with Salon, A&F
CEO Mike Jeffries was quoted as saying,
“In every school there are the
cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. … Candidly, we
go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a
great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong [in our
clothes], and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”
This should come as no surprise from a company that
specializes in petite sizes. What better way to control who wears your clothes
than by controlling the sizes?
A&F is not alone in this practice; it is just surprising
to hear the CEO admit it publicly.
But this may be another reason Disney wanted to alter the
appearance of Merida. Despite her "inner essence", she did not fit the A&F target demographic!
Size XS.
And finally, in the news this week, our good friend Pat
Robertson, who is always good for a face palm!
Pat Robertson, the 83-year-old founder and host of
television's “The 700 Club”, responded to a viewer’s question about her cheating
husband with, “He cheated on you. Well, he’s a man. OK.”
Much to the dismay of his staff, he kept digging. “Males
have a tendency to wander a little bit. And what you want to do is make a home
so wonderful he doesn’t want to wander.”
So again, perhaps this is why Disney felt the need to change
the appearance of Merida. She didn’t yet have a man in her life. But how would
she ever find a man to rescue her and protect her if she continued as that
scruffy, strong, independent-minded, little red-haired girl?
Friends, we’ve still got a lot of work to do when it comes
to gender expectations in society. Most women I know today are quite capable of
taking care of themselves. They are intelligent and capable of earning a living
wage.
And, sadly for the modern-day Cro-magnon men, they aren’t
looking for a man to either rescue them or protect them.
The First Mate has related often how she was told as a young woman that she would never find a husband if she continued wearing blue
jeans. Her response was, “I don’t want a husband that won’t accept me as I am.”
That’s one of the reasons I married her!
One of the reasons!
