Riley Gaines & ‘Real Women of America’ Calendar

[RudolphComingIntoLandOver]

Very disappointed but not surprised. I should have known better. The right wing Christian values of America include the sexualisation of women, of course they do - but in an ‘acceptable’ way.

Shit like this is what keeps women in their place. It contributes to the relentless socialisation of girls into believing the only thing they are good for is how men see them.

Also confirms to me that while the gender critical/trans debate is deeply important for me, there are mechanisms underpinning it that really desperately need to be addressed. The same crap that allows for porn and prostitution: the way women and girls are seen as objects for male desire and very little else.

Really solidifies for me how centrist I am these days.

My take is that Riley is producing a calendar that celebrates a traditional, conservative / normal view of women and attractiveness... obviously such a calendar is a million miles away from being a progressive, feminist work, but it is a billion times better than a celebration of "women's beauty" that includes ugly perverted men.

In a very bad world I think Riley and her calendar are a wonderful thing... but I look forward to a better world where this sort of thing is relegated to the history books.

I feel like that’s setting an incredible low bar.

Thanks for commenting though. I’m amazed at the amount of women ignoring the subject on social media.

It's repellent but very American. Can't even imagine it here.

In a world where men are celebrated as women more than women are, then yes, it is an INCREDIBLY low bar to jump to say that I think Gaines' calendar is more progressive than the status quo.

In any sort of sane world this sort of calendar would be dismissed as 70s / 80s sexism, at best.