Michelle Obama Told Parents To Stop Babying Their Sons And Latinas Blew Up Twitter With A Whole Lot of "YAS"
BY Alex Portée | October 11, 2017 AT 2:55 pm
By Alex Portée October 11, 2017 at 2:55 pm
Michelle Obama has always been a woman who keeps it real, particularly when it comes to the sexism women experience on a daily basis. In a conversation at the Obama Foundation's Inaugural Summit, Obama dropped some knowledge on how families often inadvertently raise entitled boys and men. In a conversation she held alongside poet Elizabeth Alexander, Obama hit families with some hard questions about their role in creating toxic masculinity, and Latinas were totally there for it.
During the summit, Obama asked families to look at the way they raise their sons, and recognize how that contributes to a world where men and women are not treated as equals.
@michelleobama / Instagram
The former First Lady pointed out that when families raise their sons and daughters differently, they ultimately end up rearing boys who turn into men that inherently believe they deserve special treatment and exploit others.
"I think we pay for that a little bit and that's a 'we' thing because we are raising them. And it's powerful to have strong men but what does that strength mean?" she asked. "Does it mean respect? Does it mean responsibility? Does it mean compassion? Or are we protecting our men too much, so they feel a little entitled?"
And for the most part, Latina Twitter responded with a resounding…
E! News / Giphy.com
Because the truth is, Obama's words ring very true for Latinas living in a household where machismo remains strong.
In fact, a lot of women were quick to show just how close her words hit home.
@Thelifeofsofiam / Twitter.com
Many of us can vividly remember having to cook for and pick up after our brothers and fathers while they lounged around the house and watched TV.
Some of the responses called out the way girls and boys are expected to grow up at very different rates.
This is so real and relatable, because we all have the brother or primo who STILL has no clue about how to turn on the dishwasher. And he's 35.
Even this guy had something to say about it.
@p00fter/ Twitter.com
At 40, you damn well know how to cook and clean for yourself. You just choose not to, and Latina moms often enable the behavior.
This woman's insightful tweet summed up how us ladies end up having to put up with machismo culture in the long term.
@Anu_Malik16 / Twitter.com
Michelle Obama's speech spoke the experience of every Latina girl mopping floors and scrubbing toilets while her brother got to chill and play video games.
Any time she wants to hit back at machismo culture, we will totally be here for it. Because YAS, Michelle, YAS!
Read: Every Year For Nochebuena, My Twin Brother Gets To Go Golfing While I'm Forced To Play Cinderella And Help Make The Lechon, Here's Why
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Another Sexist Man Has Mocked The Feminist Protest Movement Sweeping Latin America By Dressing Up As A Victim
By Araceli Cruz December 19, 2019 at 12:38 pm
BY Araceli Cruz | December 19, 2019 AT 12:38 pm
@Melocontunfacho / Twitter
For the past several years, women — mostly in Latin America — have been fighting for the rights of women. And not just for the rights of abortion and health care, but fighting literally for their lives. Femicide — violence against women — is a real and serious problem in this country. It points to the countless women that have died, been raped, and assaulted at the hands of men and nothing is done about it. What makes this matter even worse is that some men are stupid and senseless enough to make fun of it.
On Dec. 16, a new college graduate thought it would be funny to mark this big occasion by dressing up as a victim of femicide.
If you wanted proof about the "men are trash" movement, you need to look no further than Tomas Vidal who grated from the International Commerce at the 21st Century University in Argentina. This dumbass, and there is no other way to describe him, wore the signature green bandana that femicide victims wear and their supporters. His sign read, "the fault was not mine."
The school was not pleased with his actions. In fact, they were quite mad.
"From the reproachable action during the celebration of the graduation of the student Tomás Vidal yesterday, the authorities of the 21st Century University have summoned him to notify him, that he has started immediately a summary that will establish the responsibilities and sanctions that correspond, depending on his behavior, contrary to the values that this institution promotes and represents, it will not allow any demonstration or behavior that threatens women, equal rights, peaceful coexistence between citizens and respect for differences."
Furthermore, the school has him to resubmit his final assignment and to take a gender course before he leaves the university.
People on social media were not pleased by his actions either. And they let him know exactly how they felt.
One woman said that she not only blamed him for his dumb actions but those that enabled it to happen. "Tomás Vidal is NOT an isolated case. Behind this costume is a friend who created it, one who created it, one who laughed and one who saw and fell silent. One of the most fundamental elements of sexist violence is male complicity, and in this photo, we have its description."
Another woman on Twitter wrote, "Can you imagine losing a sister, friend or daughter in a femicide and then see the publications of the tomboy Tomas Vidal mocking, does not happen for feminism or not, what kind of person can celebrate deaths of women impaled, raped, burned, dismembered?"
Yeah, we'd like to know how his mother feels about her son's actions.
Women around the country are saying "enough" to the violence against women and that "not one more" woman should be harmed. And it's not a laughing matter.
According to a United Nations report last year, more than 50,000 women are killed by intimate partners or family members around the world. But there is some improvement going on, at least in Latin America and that's in large part to the many protests about the issue.
Angela Me, Chief of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told NPR last year that in 18 "Latin American countries have established the criminal offense of femicide, the killing of a female because of her gender. This is a clear signal that this is not acceptable.
In addition, many countries have adopted laws, such as restraining orders, to help protect women from intimate partner violence. They are also providing training for police and prosecutors to heighten their awareness of these issues."
Here's another lesson for Tomas Vidal. Perhaps he should learn this dance and maybe his soul will be awakened with kindness and empathy.
Something is clearly mentally wrong with Vidal for him to think it was okay and funny to make fun of a movement that is addressing a serious problem in the world.
READ: The Murder of a Teen Mom By Her Boyfriend is Raising a Discussion Around the Prevalence of Femicide in Abusive Relationships
sexist menProtestsFeminism
Peloton's Stocks Drop 10 Percent After Holiday Ad Sparks Backlash Over Sexism
By danielli December 3, 2019 at 4:47 pm
BY danielli | December 3, 2019 AT 4:47 pm
Peloton / YouTube
Peloton's latest advertisement for it's $2,245 stationary bikes is sparking both outrage and satirical videos that mock the unlikely journey of a wife being happily surprised to receive exercise equipment from her husband for Christmas. "Ok, you ready," the husband asks his wife, with one hand holding the hand of a young toddler and the other covering her eyes. "A Peloton!" she happily exclaims when she sees the exercise equipment. What ensues is a 25-second supercut of her 'journey' of waking up at 6 a.m. to leave her sleeping husband in bed while she rides her bike and ends with her telling the camera, "A year ago, I didn't realize how much this would change me. Thank you." Later, we find out that the supercut video is one of her own making, meant to be a thank you gift to her husband for buying the elite stationary bike. When the video cuts, she turns to her husband on the couch, seeking his approval, as he rubs her back and laughs.
The Internet is breaking down every problematic aspect of the advertisement, down to the worried look on the 116-pound protagonist's face as she says, "I'm a little nervous," to the point that Peloton's stock has actually fallen by 10 percent. The video has been viewed on YouTube 1.1 million times, liked just 978 times and disliked 7,200 times.
Problem #1: Misogyny. All the misogyny.
CREDIT: @PELOTON / TWITTER
Peloton marketed their campaign as "The Gift That Keeps On Giving." The montage of this thin woman telling her husband, "Alright, first ride. I'm a little nervous, but excited. Let's do this," has elicited a wide range of reactions. Some people are concerned about her performance of gratitude for a husband who, let us repeat, bought her a piece of exercise equipment for Christmas. Given that the woman's gift to her husband the next year is a montage of her fitness journey, some are concerned that "the gift that keeps on giving," is marketed toward husbands who want their wives to get fit for them. Last year, Peloton created a similar advert that depicts a husband buying his rail-thin wife a Peloton and called it "Get What You Give – Hers."
Problem #2: Would there really be no emotional complexity to being surprised to receive exercise equipment from your life partner?
CREDIT: @EVAANDHERIUD / TWITTER
"Nothing says 'maybe you should lose a few pounds' like gifting your already rail-thin life partner a Peloton," tweeted Siraj Hashmi (@SirajHashmi). "My husband got me a Peloton bike for Christmas! Nothing weird about that. You get me." Twitter personality Eva Victor jokingly says in her own satirical remake of the advert. Victor hushes, "It's 6 in the morning and my husband is still sleeping," only to scream with rage about what kind of person buys their wife a stationary bike for Christmas. Eventually, she delivers the same line as the Peloton wife about how much the last year has changed her. "I didn't realize how much this would change me. I want a divorce," she smiles at the camera and offers her husband divorce papers. This is the far more likely response to that kind of gift.
Problem #3: Countless professionals signed off on this advertisement.
CREDIT: @THEDWECK / TWITTER
Twitter user Tobias Hirano (@tobihirano) works in advertising, which is what "makes the Peloton ad even funnier when you realize how much goes into this stupid shit. Like rounds of approvals on concept, script, storyboard, edit, color, graphics. Late nights, millions of dollars, entire jobs created for this ad!" he tweeted.
Problem #4: The demographics of Peloton's upper management.
CREDIT: @MIKESINGTON / TWITTER
"The Peloton ad sucks, all Peloton ads suck…," tweeted Mike Sington (@MikeSington), "but here's my question: is there a single person of color than owns a Peloton bike? The whole company smacks of white privilege (skinny white privilege). I've got an idea- let's take a peek at Peloton's senior management team." It's no wonder why the company's stock has fallen by nearly 10% percent today alone. "We all need to treasure the things that bring us together as a nation, as a people. Collectively hating on this Peloton ad is that thing," tweeted Renee Klahr (@reneeklahr).
Meanwhile, Twitter user Vanessa Contreras (@VanessaL_Castro) is asking the question on all our minds: "Am I the only Latina that looks at the word #peloton and just thinks of the word pelota? 🎾🏀🏐 every. time." Nope. No, you are not the only Latina, Vanessa. 🙋🏽‍♀️
Watch the full ad below!
READ: A Restaurant In Peru Has Been Fined $62,000 For What Many Say Is Blatant Sexism
sexismOutragePelotonAdexercise
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