Jezebel: Gender Roles

Gaga And Chelsea's Uncommon Connection

Tom Matlack — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 11:50:00 EDT

Sometimes pop culture actually gets it right. By that I mean cultural icons can tap into something so foreign, so crazy, so insane that it actually wakes us up to a deeper truth about ourselves through our cult worship of the stars themselves. We don't quite know what's happening until it's too late. More »

Why Do Screenwriters Hate Nerd Love?

Lane Moore — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:45:00 EDT

It's easy to see why this would happen. Many screenwriters who choose to write about high school didn't have a magical four years there and most screenwriters are male. So of course when they write a screenplay about high school, it's going to center around the nerdy guy they feel they were. And in their movie, they are going to get the girl. More »

Is There Danger In The Pink Princess Evolution?

Mike Adamick — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 14:00:00 EST

In our Daddy Issues series, a father of a young daughter seeks guidance, hoping to raise a strong woman. He looks to you, dear readers, for insight. More »

Princess Boy Appears In Pink Floofy Skirts, Made To Twirl By Meredith Vieira

Dodai Stewart — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 10:45:00 EST

Cheryl Kilodavis and her 5-year-old son Dyson, who calls himself "Princess Boy," were on the Today show this morning, and Dyson wore his favorite color: Pink. More »

Female Chimps More Likely To Play With "Dolls"

Katie Luscombe — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:24:00 EST

Researches have observed that wild young female chimps , when playing with sticks, used them as "dolls" more often than the males, who mostly used them as weapons. Previously, this type of gendered play was thought to be limited to humans. More »

Everyone Stop Freaking Out About Successful Women

Anna North — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:15:00 EST

Many women still struggle for equal pay, but every media outlet is suddenly eager to tell us we've gotten too big for our britches. Here's why all those articles on successful women and supposed "role reversals" are missing the point. More »

SATC Still Treated As If It Contains Some Sort Of Lesson

Sadie Stein — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 14:35:00 EST

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In the enlightening article "Keeping Romance Alive in the Age of Female Empowerment," there lies perhaps the most absurd premise in the history of the New York Times. But you don't have to take our word for it. More »

The Problem With Being "Sexy But Not Sexual"

Hugo Schwyzer — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:00:00 EST

I've often quoted Courtney Martin's now-famous line from her Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: We are the daughters of feminists who said, "You can be anything" and we heard "You have to be everything." More »

Can We Quit Complaining About The Decline Of Manliness Already?

Anna North — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 17:38:00 EDT

"'We live in more of a pussy generation now,' Clint Eastwood told Esquire magazine last year." So begins Katherine Miller's rant on — you guessed it — the decline of manhood. Did you know that guys wear scarves now? More »

The Distorted Rules Of “Manhood”

Hugo Schwyzer — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 15:03:00 EDT

In the last few weeks, more than half a dozen gay or lesbian youngsters have taken their own lives in response to bullying or harassment. It's important to recognize the role that homosociality plays in the harassment of GLBTQ youth. More »

The Media Is Way Behind On The Matter Of Men

Anna North — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 16:45:00 EDT

These days every publication and its dad are asking, "What's the matter with men?" Something might actually be changing in America, but the media doesn't really know how to talk about it. More »

British Airways Decides Not All Men Are Molesters

Anna North — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:30:00 EDT

In response to a lawsuit, British Airways has changed its policy to allow men to sit next to unaccompanied minors. And now it's time for everyone else to acknowledge that just being a dude doesn't make you a pedophile. More »

Girls Are Pretty Princesses For Christ, Boys Are Warrior Princes

Irin Carmon — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:16:00 EDT

Sometimes, gendered messages to children are subtly coded. And sometimes, as in the case of the Christian Royal Purpose camps, boys are sword-rattling warrior princes and girls are pink-clad princesses. Check out these videos. More »

The Man Who Wanted To Love Eat Pray Love

A.J. Daulerio — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:12:00 EDT

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Last Friday at 6:05pm sharp, Deadspin editor A.J. Daulerio — an unabashed fan of chick flicks and rom-coms — walked into a theater to see Eat Pray Love. This is what he saw. More »

Narcissistic Men Hate The Women They Can't Dominate

Katy Kelleher — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:45:00 EDT

Here's something depressing: Narcissistic men are more likely to feel hostility toward heterosexual women than gay men, lesbians, or other heterosexual men, according to a new study. More »

Girls Are Pink, Boys Are Blue: On Toddlers And Gender Roles

Hortense Smith — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 12:30:00 EDT

My four-year-old nephew recently answered the front door wearing a fireman's hat, a Lightning McQueen shirt, and a pair of my niece's Disney princess shoes, carrying a purse filled with Matchbox cars. "You're a thesis," I said. "Ka-CHOW!" he replied. More »

Marketing The iPad To Ladies: Pretty Pictures And Louis Vuitton

Dodai Stewart — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:30:00 EDT

Avi and Michal Schick claim that male users in ads read the Times; while female users are "organizing picture albums or reading Nicholas Sparks' The Last Song." And duh, news is for boys! Ladies love luxury. [Double X, Luxist] More »

Meet The Pole-Dancing Men

Sadie Stein — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 18:40:45 EDT

Dancing as "Jungle Cat," Tavon Hargett has developed a bit of a YouTube following for his interpretive and dramatic pole dancing. His performances are kind of beautiful. And yet, as a phenomenon, male pole-dancing feels...weird. More »

Man To Man: On Female Invisibility

Kartina Richardson — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 13:20:00 EDT

This weekend I went clay pigeon shooting. This is when you go to a place where you're the only brown person and machines shoot clay discs into the air and you try to shoot them with a shotgun. More »

Crying 'Single Lady' Kid Redeemed On National Television (Updated)

Jessica Coen — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:00:00 EDT

Earlier this week, a video of a little boy wailing after his dad informed him he's "not a single lady," quickly went viral. His family took to CBS this morning, and the little guy even got to sing a bit. More »

Disgruntled Dude Calls Feminism An Excuse For Partying

Anna North — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 16:40:00 EDT

According to a Daily Dish reader, women have all the luck: they get to "party all through [their] twenties," and then "have a family and be a mom and have a full-time career as well." More »

"'Date Rape' Is An Incoherent Concept": Blaming The Victim, American U. Edition

Anna North — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:40:00 EDT

The latest evidence that today's college kids are getting a lesson in victim-blaming: an American University sophomore's claim that girls who go to frat parties are asking for it, and consent is basically bullshit anyway. More »

Shocker: Warcraft Not Just For Dudes

LatoyaPeterson — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:40:00 EST

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"The new face of online gaming is feisty, foxy and female." The fact that women play World of Warcraft isn't exactly a secret. So why did the Times of London present the game as some new form of online dating? More »

"Maybe Even A Man Or Two": Gender Roles In The Laundry Room

Anna North — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:20:00 EST

Watch this Clorox commercial to find out who's been doing the laundry in Commercial-Land for the past hundred-odd years. Hint: women. "Maybe even a man or two" tried his hand, but he probably fucked it up. [Sociological Images] More »

Study Claims That Women Yell At Men Over Housework In Order To "Feel More Feminine"

Hortense Smith — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:20:00 EST

According to a study conducted at the University of Missouri, female breadwinners often go a bit overboard when it comes to nagging males about housework in order to stay connected with traditional female roles in the household. More »

A (Chat) Room Of One's Own For India's "Third Sex"

Sadie Stein — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

In Tamil, "Thirunangai", means "most respectful woman." Which is still a distant hope for India's "third sex." But the world's first transsexual marriage site is hoping to change that. More »

Samurai Fantasies Helping Japanese Women Escape Dating Reality

LatoyaPeterson — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:40:00 EST

In Japan, women are going crazy over "Sengoku Basara, (Devil Kings)" a historical video game featuring sexy samurai warriors. Hiroyuki Kobayashi, creator of the game, wonders if women are reacting to societal shifts surrounding the role of men. More »

Japan's "Girly Men" Choose Cakes Over Consumerism

Anna North — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:30:00 EST

Another Monday, another trend piece about seemingly-strange Japanese subculture. Today it's "girly men" — young guys who may be straight but still enjoy baking and wearing bras. More »

Bringing Home The Bacon: Women Making Small Gains In Work, Wages

LatoyaPeterson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EDT

As the recession marches on, a number of news outlets have begun to examine the data surrounding issues of gender. Their conclusion? Women, more than ever, are becoming major players in the workforce. But what does this actually mean? More »

"Girls Only": My Cleaning Trolley

Kate Harding — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:40:00 EDT

On the upside, the design seems to encourage janitorial ambitions more than housewifely ones; at least she might get paid for cleaning someday. On the downside, it's a pink cleaning trolley branded "Girls Only." Barf. Sob. Barf again. [Buzzfeed] More »

Parenthood Widens Political Gender Gap

Kate Harding — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:20:00 EDT

New research presented at The American Political Science Association's annual meeting last week found that parenthood makes women more liberal and men more conservative. Which raises the obvious question: What the hell were Sarah Palin's politics like 5 kids ago? More »

Is The Word "Tomboy" Obsolete?

Anna North — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:40:00 EDT

The new, girlier incarnation of Dora the Explorer prompts The Minneapolis Star-Tribune to examine what may be a dying breed: the tomboy. More »

Read It And Weep

Sadie Stein — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:40:00 EDT

"Boys invent things. Girls use what boys invent." Some are calling hoax, others "1970s children's book." [Contexts] More »

"Manly" Women Considered Menace To Society

Katy Kelleher — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:40:00 EDT

Officials in the UAE have launched a campaign designed to protect their country from "manly women," or what they describe as the "fourth gender" (read: lesbians). More »

Gender And The Academy Awards

Hortense Smith — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:30:00 EST

Monica Hesse of the Washington Post wonders if having separate Oscar categories for Best Actor and Best Actress is really necessary or fair, seeing as the other major Academy Award categories aren't separated by gender. More »

Are Women To Blame For The Loss Of "Kitchen Economics?"

Hortense Smith — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 15:30:00 EST

Are you a modern woman, working 40+ hours a week, struggling to pay off your student loans, and living off of convenient, pre-packaged meals? Well guess what? Gill Holcombe is pretty disappointed in you guys. More »

Boys Who Like Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Ballet

Sadie Stein — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 14:00:00 EST

So far this week, the Times has brought us two feel-good stories of boys doing "girly" physical activities — specifically, double-Dutch and ballet — and triumphing! But we're guessing things aren't usually that easy. More »

Gender Normative Toy Ads Are Back • U.S. Male Teachers At A 40-Year Low

Maria — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:20:00 EDT

• Remember the gender normative play house Rose Petal Cottage? Well now she has a sister, Sweet Lily Castle! • A 76-year-old woman whom the NYPD called a "pickpocket terrorist" was arrested for the 37th time for stealing a wallet this week in New York. • This month has been a horrible time to attend a wedding banquet in China where almost 300 guests at four different weddings fell ill from food poisoning. • More »

The Princess Diaries: Can Little Girls Handle Disney?

Sadie Stein — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:20:00 EDT

Yesterday on EW's Popwatch blog, Mandi Bierley pondered watchingSleeping Beauty, with her soon-to-be niece, realizing there are worrisome things in it. “The first gift the good fairies bestow upon the baby Princess Aurora is beauty, and she is engaged at 16,” she writes, adding, “Seriously, what do you do?” More »

Pfizer Sues Man Over 'Viva Viagra' Rocket • Accidental Brunette Gets Lawsuit Thrown Out

Maria — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:20:00 EDT

• A man in New York is being sued by Pfizer for towing a large fake missile around Manhattan "for fun" on September 8 with the words "Viva Viagra" printed on the side. • Oh, and apparently authorities at the Lincoln Tunnel never checked to see if the missile was real or not when he drove by them on September 8. • The "pregnancy pact" school board in Gloucester, Massachusetts is expected to vote tonight whether schools should distribute contraceptives to students. • A new study has not found enough evidence to say that circumcision reduces the risk of a man getting HIV when engaging in anal sex. • More »