My SHIT List

8. VH1's Women to Women, a Bicurious Journey. While flipping throug channels I came upon this treasure which followed married couples to a resort in Jamaica where the wives could explore their homosexual fantasies with other women. The inspiration for the show came from statistics that show that a much higher percentage of women than ever before are engaging in homosexual activities. Look, here's my problem: I am all for expanding the bounds of sexual orientation/acceptable sexual behavior to bisexual and homosexual behavior. I am NOT, however, for expanding the bounds of who can now sexualize women--isn't it bad enough that men have been treating us as sexual objects, do we really need to do it to each other? And since when is homosexuality about sex? I thought it was about love.

7. Julie Bain, editor at Reader's Digest and guest of the Women's Leadership Initiative's panel on Women in Journalism. This women got onstage in LC 102 and told me (and a roomful of aspiring women journalists) that in order to succeed in the world of journalism, we were going to need to "have great hair." And I quote. Also, she mentioned all the free cosmetics and products she gets from advertisers at least three times. Please.

6. Guy Bourdin. I was subjected to his misogynist photography in my photography class, and was told that he has been a major influence on the contemporary fashion photography. Everyone, we now know who to blame for all the f*cked up images of women that are all over Vogue, Glamour, et all. Also, my professor stopped on one photograph in particular to point out the cleverness of the composition: the photograph was of a poolside scene seen over a women's feet that was laying face down in the foreground of the photograph. Facedown, her heels lined up with some men talking in the background. Art?

5. Dean Salovey for refusing to email the Yale undergraduates about the new SHARE center for people who are the victims of sexual assault, harrassment or violence, despite repeated requests from students to please do so. What are you waiting for?

4. The NOGAYS people. What offends me second most, after the incredible homophobia, is that this ad campaign gives a bad name to all of the wonderful people out there trying to use cleverness, wit and comedy to undermine prejudice. Lots of people are doing good work, and we don't appreciate having our methodology appropriated for such negative uses.

3. SAE. Believe it or not, I am about as tired of peddling the trope of the misogynist fraternity boys as they are of hearing me do it. But what else can I do when they parade their new members around campus shouting gems like:

"No means yes. And yes means anal"

2. The Amish school shootings in Pennsylvania. Or, should I say, the fact that in both of the two recent high profile school shootings the perpetrators have specifically targetted women, and no one is really talking about it as a hate crime. Except for Bob Herbert at the New York Times, who wrote an excellent Op-Ed.

1. Men who rape, assault, expose themselves to, molest, harrass, and cat call women. STOP IT. Enough is enough.