A bare breast on a t-shirt at a conference

Late to the thread. But happy to read the volume of sensible comments pointing out critcising her reaction, rather than his behaviour, is indeed misogyny.

A couple of comments that are worthy of highlighting:
Metro: At best, they promote "Lean In" liberal man-friendly "feminism" that focuses on changing women rather than challenging the male entitlement culture that makes women quit (or not enter in the first place).

Particularly when the OP is on a tech board for women, that is supposed to be addressing that very issue. A huge case of dropping the ball, because women on boards like these should actually be well versed in Dick Supremacy Signalling, which is what that t-shirt was saying.

Gonegirlfriday decoded it with:
The thing about tshirt slogans and pictures is that they are not really for the wearer (unless you stand facing a mirror all day) they are in the face of whoever you speak to. So they are kind of a billboard for whatever you want to advertise

It is misogyny in plain sight. It advertises what this supposedly woke dude actually thinks of ALL in the women working in the industry. It goes further to actually undermine his diversity project. What a knob. A male-supremacist knob. That this dude actually owns a t-shirt such as that, tells you all you need to know about him and his sexist, objectifying attitudes towards ALL women (somehow, I feel compelled to keep pointing out 'ALL women') as there are women that think they are 'special' and 'cool', and accepted by the boys' club - bad news snowflakes, you actually are regarded as second class - patriarchy does not view their handmaidens any better than the rest of womankind, but they are happy that you will take some of the misogynist workload off them. You will be dumped when you no longer serve any useful purpose to them.

Boys demanding blow jobs at recess has become a bit of a problem recently.

And boys coercing/tricking girls into anal sex is also a problem (BMJ had a study in it on that. That it was becoming "normal" for girls to think sex was meant to be painful, and for boys to think it was normal to make a girl have anal even when she didn't want to)

@gerbilsagain, men used to catcall me when I was wearing school uniform. I wish I'd had the courage to shout something like "go fuck yourself you sick paedophile because I won't". What else do you call a man who expresses sexual interest in a schoolgirl? Two boys sexually assaulted me in primary school, they probably grew up to be the kind of man who thinks a pornographic tshirt is ok workwear. Some of the commenters on here really have no idea what men put women and girls through.

On the plus side boys her age no longer seem to ping bra straps as they did to us.

Boys demanding blow jobs at recess has become a bit of a problem recently.

my older DD has started developing (she's still in primary school) and I wait to see what she is in for. I hope things are different to how they were, better. We'll see.

Mine is 15, she is not particularly "well developed" and looks fairly young but she has had grown men whistling, leering and shouting out of cars at her. Also one shouted "lesbians" when she was with a friend (she was 13). On the plus side boys her age no longer seem to ping bra straps as they did to us.

So can't we find something for all the t shirt guys to start killing other t shirt guys for? That would be brilliant.

I think the t-shirt people are also the same fight and die types.

Wow weirdos alert - people used to fight and die and now snowflakes are wearing a naked woman on a tee shirt - pathetic. Grow up

Wow weirdos alert - people used to fight and die and now snowflakes are hysterical about a tee shirt - pathetic. Grow up

@40isthenew50, when I go to a conference or any other professional environment, I do not expect to be reminded that there are men out there who consider me and other women to be nothing more than fuck dolls or wank fodder. That t-shirt reminded every woman present of that attitude. TBH I'm not surprised that the complainant was upset, I would have been.

It's like having a computing degree and years of linux systems administration / software development / database administration / insert your expertise here means NOTHING to these guys if you have a uterus. It is dehumanising and insulting.

I should qualify that things do appear to be worse in some contexts I think porn has a lot to answer for.

This is the feminism chat board though, right?

That explains why there are so many misogynists here every day telling us to shut up or mansplaining their "perspective", eh?

I agree that in many ways things are better -

No more "lads mags" or page 3 on the bus, no more glamour calendars up in shops, I don;t think they have the thing any more where you buy the peanuts in teh pub and each packet reveals more of the scantily clad woman underneath...

I suspect other things are there that are just as bad. I am age of invisibility now (which is brilliant in my opinion, I feel so much more relaxed when out and about) but my older DD has started developing (she's still in primary school) and I wait to see what she is in for. I hope things are different to how they were, better. We'll see.

If you feel "objectified"

Women feel objectified because men objectify us, openly, blatently and obviously, starting from when we are young.
It's everywhere as well, in imagery. Parts of bodies not a whole person. The submissive poses. Even when men are less dressed they are usually looking at the camera, a person.

Anyway. Probably not any point in arguing on this point. This is the feminism chat board though, right? So, feminist viewpoint is the norm here. Feel free to add opinion, but this whole page 3 sytle "nothing wrong with nudity, you're probably jealous and / or a prude" is nothing excatly new, is it.

Oh Jesus wept I can see why it’s out of order and I’m the fucking MRA....

I’m personally of the view sexism isn’t as rife as it used to be and there is this constant narrative about how women are constantly under assault from men, but if we can’t actually lock down and call out genuine occasions where it occurs then that makes life incrementally harder for everyone.

How the woman chose to communicate her distaste wether by crying, hiring a plane with a banner flying behind it or projecting it on the fucking moon isn’t really my buisness cos she kinda HAD A POINT.

40isnew50

You really ought to google sexual harassment in the workplace, sooner rather than later, for your own good, eh?

You obviously don’t know what objectified means

You do seem outraged 40isnew50.

Women have boobs and in most of the world don't go out in public with them showing.

Women - from the age they start growing breasts - are all too well aware with how many men essentially fetishise this part of us and are very able to reduce us to nothing more than a pair of tits. They look at our tits when they talk to us. They shout stuff about our tits when we're walking down the street.

We don't need to be reminded of all this when at a work conference. We KNOW that men like tits, like looking at our tits. We prefer this NOT to be in our faces, as it were, at a professional conference. It's never a good time to decide to remind women that some men view them as primarily sexual objects, ornamentation, this situation though it's just not on.

Many men can't see the problem. There's a reason for that. They're not interested, they can't be bothered to empathise, they don't care how women feel, and most of all, they don't want to lose their "right" to wear t-shirts with hot women on them, what's the world coming to?

Dear Lord, some of you people really need to get out more. I honestly cannot believe that a tshirt has caused such a stramash. If you feel "objectified" because of a woman's boob on an item of clothing I really do feel sorry for you.

I’m going to start wearing a t shirt of a passive looking young man with his cock out and see how long it takes for men to feel uncomfortable.

13th rule of misogyny: Women are not oppressed! Rape and catcalling and objectification are all compliments, not oppression.

Sorry but what is the drama here. Women have boobs. A guy had a picture of a woman with boobs on his tshirt. Had anyone died? Was anyone hurt? Did the hysterical woman over react? There are worse things happening in the world than a guy wearing an "offensive" tshirt and I wish these amateur dramatists would get over themselves!

Yes women, get over relentless objectification and undermining of your body. You should be happy about boobs on a t shirt. You’re just being hysterical.

🙄🙄🙄

40isnew50
You bumped the thread to say "shut up"? Brilliant!

It’s still not appropriate in the workplace....