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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Miss GB stripped of title for having sex

27 replies

iremembericod · 18/06/2016 09:12

www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jun/17/miss-great-britain-title-sex-itv2-love-island-zara-holland-alex-bowen

Just when you thought this sexist objectifying contest couldn't get any worse. The current winner has been stripped (love it when they use this word in such a humiliating way) of her title because she had sex and that just isn't befitting of Miss GB

The slut shaming is off the scale.

I feel like she may need some feminist hugs

OP posts:
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Sallyhasleftthebuilding · 18/06/2016 09:20

She had sex on a TV reality show - not sex in private -

Is this what we want for our daughters?

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PotatoBread · 18/06/2016 09:22

She wasn't stripped of it for having sex, she was stripped of it for having sex on TV. Big difference.

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treaclesoda · 18/06/2016 09:23

TBH I don't have much sympathy for someone who would enter a Miss GB contest or go on a reality TV show.

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LIZS · 18/06/2016 09:24

She brought the title and therefore the organisation into disrepute by her public behaviour. Most jobs would have similar in the contract. Whatever happened to self control Confused

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originalmavis · 18/06/2016 09:27

Well it is a beauty pageant. If you go in for that guff then you follow their dumb rules.

I can't get worked up over a woman choosing to enter that sexist, caveman bullshit then whinge when the sexist, caveman bullshit rules are enforced.

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Shakey15000 · 18/06/2016 09:29

I've little sympathy either for anyone getting involved willingly in trash TV. It's not like no-one wouldn't know what these programmes are like unless they are spectacularly dumb.

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SmallLegsOrSmallEggs · 18/06/2016 09:34

She was in a beauty pageant.

And then she went on a show that appears from the article to be about seeing how quickly you can 'couple up' so other people can watch you having sex.

So basically you have got to get a man, as quick as possible? Boak.

Do they count same sex couples? Do I even care?

I think she needs an intervention and I think the real feminist and social issue is how fucked up are things that either of these two shows even exist?

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emilybohemia · 18/06/2016 09:38

I have sympathy for her. She's twenty and the show has had a negative impact on her and left her feeling that her value lies in her sexual attractiveness. Increasingly, she seemed to suffer from low self esteem in the show and a need to 'prove' her worth.

Taking the title away from her is slut shaming and confirms how chauvinistic the competition is. At times, the show also treats the female contestants like they're in a meat market. I feel for Zara in the midst of a society that values looks so much and I quite like her for her realness. I worry about the impact of all this on her mental health after the show as there have been so many negative comments about her. Predictably enough, the blokes on the show don't get the same judgement.

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LassWiTheDelicateAir · 18/06/2016 09:38

There was a long AIBU thread about it. I didn't post as most posters were outraged by the fact she had "been stripped of her title" overlooking the enormous elephant in the room of why the hell does Miss GB even still exist? (I didn't know it did and am depressed to find out its corpse seems to have been reanimated)

Muhammad Ali was stripped of his title for refusing the draft for Vietnam- she is not quite in the same league.

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emilybohemia · 18/06/2016 09:40

Yes, it is fucked up that both exist and the show is very misogynistic and outdated. No opportunity for same sex couples to 'couple' up either.

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TeiTetua · 18/06/2016 13:11

I can't get too worked up over someone who knowingly participates in a rotten system, and then gets treated rottenly by it. Two rotten systems actually, the contest and the TV show. And she wasn't physically hurt and probably got well paid for her time. One should not inquire into how much she enjoyed the sex (if it was real).

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VestalVirgin · 19/06/2016 16:51

Is this what we want for our daughters?

No ... but neither is being "Miss GB" what I would want for my daughter.

It is stupid. This nonsense thing is about beauty, so why do they strip her of her title because she had sex, whether on TV or not? Does having sex make her any less beautiful?

It's not a "be a role model for our daughters" competition, it's a fucking beauty pageant.
They basically give her the title of "Woman most men want to fuck", and then complain when she actually lets men fuck her. It's so ridiculous.

So, makes no sense. She really should have known, though. Perhaps she doesn't really mind. Whatever.

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Anniegetyourgun · 20/06/2016 12:44

She's likely to remain semi-famous for a lot longer this way than by holding the title blamelessly for a year. Whether that was a factor in her decision to act as she did I am not in any position to comment, but it won't necessarily be a bad thing for her career in the long term.

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BarbarianMum · 20/06/2016 13:44

I sat next to a couple of 'Miss World' contestants on a long-distance flight some years ago. Other than keep their make-up flawless (this was a lot more work that it sounds, I don't wear make up and was by turns horrified and impressed by the amount of work it took) they were busy writing their personal statements on how they would make the world a better place if they won. They explained that the winner does a lot of touring, supports charitable causes, makes speeches about empowering women etc Certainly it was clear that you are supposed to act as some sort of spokesperson for the Miss World brand for the year of your victory and I guess I can see how shagging virtual strangers on TV conflicts with that. Not sure I'd count it as slut shaming though, although without a directly comparable 'Mr World' competition it's hard to be sure.

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scallopsrgreat · 20/06/2016 14:22

I think the fact that there isn't a 'Mr World' competition with the same expected standards of behaviour, says it all really.

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originalmavis · 20/06/2016 15:27

Wasn't Arnold Schwarzenegger Mr Universe?

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LassWiTheDelicateAir · 20/06/2016 22:46

Mr Universe is a body building competition. It's not really comparable.

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originalmavis · 20/06/2016 22:56

I know, bad joke.

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LassWiTheDelicateAir · 20/06/2016 23:42

Sorry.

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Lilacpink40 · 20/06/2016 23:46

I don't watch much TV and this post reminds me why I don't!

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CoteDAzur · 21/06/2016 22:12

So having sex is gets you disqualified but being male doesn't? Confused]

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FrameyMcFrame · 23/06/2016 07:55

It seems she invested a lot if time and money into getting this title, why should she then have it revoked for doing a blowjob? It wasn't even broadcast on t.v, just implied that she'd taken part.

I'm very Angryfor her, I may not agree with her choices but it's extreme misogyny to PUNISH her for having sex.

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originalmavis · 23/06/2016 08:53

But that's the rules. if even I know that then she certainly would have. I believe you can't have had kids either.

Now the cynic in me is wondering if she did it on purpose with her eye on more lucrative reality TV deals? I'd never have heard of her if s hadn't happened.

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KittyLaRoux · 23/06/2016 09:04

She broke the rules that she agreed to.

Its that simple.

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catsinhats · 29/06/2016 22:02

The title is misleading and it is a non-story designed to be hot PR for the girl, the TV show, and I'm sure the beauty pageant as well. URL is also keyworded for the search terms "Miss" "stripped" and "sex" which should tell you something about the quality of this piece of poorly manufactured internet news.

Bleh....

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