On my walk home from the train, there's a telephone pole that you decided to use as your soapbox. You took a US Post Office sticker, slapped it on the telephone pole, and wrote the following in graffiti-style text:
I can't see your face underneath all that makeup, girl.
Maybe you think you deserve a cookie because you like your women natural. Maybe you think you're sending a liberating, woman-positive message. Never mind the use of "girl" to get this point across. Never mind your male gaze bullshit in which the proverbial woman's (oops, sorry, "girl's") makeup prevents you from seeing what YOU want to see (i.e., her face). Never mind the fact that I, who never wear makeup anyway, am subjected to your stupid little scolding every time I walk around the corner of Lawrence and Clark.
So fuck you, sexist sticker guy, wherever you are. Women neither apply nor remove makeup for your benefit. And they certainly don't give a shit whether you can see their faces. You're a tool.
Sincerely,
An Unwilling Reader in Chicago
P.S. You want a cookie? Here's your cookie. In fact, you don't even deserve this cookie, but I'm really excited about this recent initiative, Feminist Cookies, put together by the 52 Acts Blog. Go check out this neat cyberfeminist project! Especially you, Sexist Sticker Guy.
2 comments:
Yeah, screw you sexist sticker guy! what a stoopid thing to write. I will have to add "I like my women natural" to the next batch of cookies :)
Although it is very likely, how can you nonetheless be sure that a man put the sticker up?
This would not change the fact that the dominant way the sticker seems to function is in the male-gaze way. No matter how we slice it, it is a kind of veiled-imperative which is paternalistic, patronizing, and sexist (no matter who said it).
Still, it seems interesting to consider how readings of the sticker might change if we imagine a different sticker-poster.
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