Offender: Huffington Post

Media Outlet: Huffington Post website

The Offense: Who Has the Best Chest in Hollywood? (Photos, Poll), posted 9/26/09

NOW's Analysis: The Huffington Post exposes its tabloid side in this cheesy and insulting poll. Readers are invited to look at photos of women celebrities in which their breasts are prominently featured and then rate them on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is "gross" and 10 is "gorgeous" -- seriously, this is not a joke.

Yes, the Internet is full of this kind of exploitative, sexist junk, but shouldn't we expect better from the Huffington Post? The website links to a previous contest where readers voted on men's chests, but that's just a little different, don't you think? Women are constantly judged and rated on their physical assets and sex appeal, and the Huffington Post really doesn't need to be in the business of encouraging this practice. Not to mention, how old was the grade school boy who devised the rating scale? The use of the word "gross" is so degrading and juvenile that the folks at Huffington Post should be embarassed.

Take Action: Write to Huffington Post and tell them to stop exploiting women. You can also post a comment under the story itself (but you have to have an account).

Lisa Bennett, NOW Communications Director, September 28, 2009

More offenders in : Objectification of Women, Sexist Piggery, Internet, Media Hall of Shame

Rank this item with our Misogyny Meter: Currently 3.15/5 1 2 3 4 5 i

Spread the word:

Update: Milbank and Cillizza apologize and "Mouthpiece Theater" is canceled.

Offender: Writer/Reporters Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza

Media Outlet: The Washington Post website, posted 7/31/09

Offense: In a video segment called "Mouthpiece Theater" Milbank and Cillizza suggest beers that various political figures should have drank, had they been invited to President Obama's "beer summit." For Hillary Clinton, Milbank suggests "Mad Bitch" beer.

NOW's Analysis: In a stunningly unfunny video, two male reporters smirk their way through a long list of obscure beers with funny names, matching them up with politicians. Representatives Dennis Kucinich and Henry Waxman are poked fun of for looking like an "elf" and a "troll" respectively, while the fact that Senator Robert Byrd is "old" and perhaps "peculiar" is meant to elicit a laugh. Once you're working for one of the biggest newspapers in the U.S. shouldn't you really be past teasing people based on their appearance or other traits like age? Not these guys.

Milbank is no stranger to making snarky comments concerning Hillary Clinton, but when will it ever end? She's our secretary of state, for cryin' out loud -- isn't calling her a "bitch" crossing the line? Well, apparently it is. The Washington Post must have received enough complaints that they took the video down the same day it was posted. This is evidence that when enough of us speak out, it does work. But we still can't help but wonder how this kind of stuff slips by the editors in the first place. The video reeks of frat boy attitude and offensive humor, and it is out of place on the website of a serious newspaper.

Take Action: Write to The Washington Post and thank them for removing the video, but urge Ombudsman Deborah Howell to take this on, to demand that the website's editors hold their content producers to higher standards. Ask Howell to demand that no woman be called a "bitch" again on The Washington Post website or in the publication.

Lisa Bennett, NOW Communications Director, August 3, 2009

More offenders in : Sexist Piggery, Internet, Media Hall of Shame

Rank this item with our Misogyny Meter: Currently 3.16/5 1 2 3 4 5 i

Spread the word:

Offender: Carl's Jr.

Media Outlet: Online video competition open to the public

The Offense: Fast-food chain Carl's Jr. is currently holding a contest entitled "Hot Chicks Eating Burgers," which promises a grand prize of $1,000, an all-expense paid trip to Las Vegas, and a chance to be in an upcoming commercial for the hottest chick eating a burger.

NOW's Analysis: The fast food industry seems increasingly determined to use the hypersexualization of women as an avenue to peddle their bargain burgers. In the traditon of its previous commercials featuring Paris Hilton and Padma Lakshmi eating burgers in outrageously sexy ways, Carl's Jr. has launched the "Hot Chicks Eating Burgers" contest. The webpage for the contest touts two videos: The first is a minute long segment of a woman sensually consuming a burger, whose actions range from inviting looks at the camera to deliberately sucking a slice of pineapple from the sandwich. The second is the most recent famous "hottie" endorsing Carl's Jr., Audrina Patridge, eating a burger while on the beach in a bikini. Once that video ends, the famous Carl's Jr. tagline, "More than just a piece of meat," appears with overwhelming irony above a link which reads "Click here to see more of Audrina being hot."

This form of advertising is particularly dangerous, since not only does it encourage the objectification of women within the media realm, but it actively seeks to cultivate self-objectification in the average woman. By issuing this contest, Carl's Jr. actually pits women against one another to see who can be the most provocative, sensual, sexual object possible, all to the end of selling burgers.

Take Action: Tell Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, the two sponsors of "Hot Chicks Eating Burgers," what you think of their "contest."

Jess Hobbs, NOW Communications Team, July 11, 2009

More offenders in : Advertising, Objectification of Women, Sexist Piggery, Media Hall of Shame

Rank this item with our Misogyny Meter: Currently 3.14/5 1 2 3 4 5 i

Spread the word: