Hustler magazine is coming under fire for Photoshopping a picture of a U.S. conservative commentator to make it look like she's performing oral sex.
The image of S.E. Cupp - a contributor to Glenn Beck's online TV station GBTV - appears under the headline "Celebrity fantasy" with the caption: "What would S.E. Cupp look like with a d--- in her mouth?"
"S.E. Cupp is a lovely young lady who read too much Ayn Rand in high school and ended up joining the dark side. Cupp, an author and media commentator who often shows up on Fox News programs, is undeniably cute," reads the accompanying text. "But her hotness is diminished when she espouses dumb ideas like defunding Planned Parenthood. Perhaps the method pictured here is Ms. Cupp's suggestion for avoiding an unwanted pregnancy."
The image has conservative women crying foul. Michelle Malkin wrote that this is typical of attacks on right-wing women from the left, many of which are sexualizing and dehumanizing.
"Conservative women are waging the counter-offensives against leftist degradation for themselves that no one else will wage. Whether it's Palin or Ann Romney or Nikki Haley or S.E. Cupp or a local grass-roots activist mom, right-wing sisters are pushing back," she said.
Speaking with Beck about the picture, Cupp said: "It's just embarrassing because it will be out there forever. The fact that I work really hard, and I'm an Ivy League-educated young woman with a pretty good job doesn't matter when you look at a photo like this."
But Hustler is defending the page as "satire."
"I'm able to publish this because of the Supreme Court case I won in 1984, Flynt v. Falwell," publisher Harry Flynt said in a reference to a ruling that free speech rights prohibit public figures from suing over emotional distress intentionally inflicted upon them.
The case centred around televangelist Jerry Falwell, who sued Hustler over a parody ad that depicted him having sex with his mother in an outhouse.
Source
The image of S.E. Cupp - a contributor to Glenn Beck's online TV station GBTV - appears under the headline "Celebrity fantasy" with the caption: "What would S.E. Cupp look like with a d--- in her mouth?"
"S.E. Cupp is a lovely young lady who read too much Ayn Rand in high school and ended up joining the dark side. Cupp, an author and media commentator who often shows up on Fox News programs, is undeniably cute," reads the accompanying text. "But her hotness is diminished when she espouses dumb ideas like defunding Planned Parenthood. Perhaps the method pictured here is Ms. Cupp's suggestion for avoiding an unwanted pregnancy."
The image has conservative women crying foul. Michelle Malkin wrote that this is typical of attacks on right-wing women from the left, many of which are sexualizing and dehumanizing.
"Conservative women are waging the counter-offensives against leftist degradation for themselves that no one else will wage. Whether it's Palin or Ann Romney or Nikki Haley or S.E. Cupp or a local grass-roots activist mom, right-wing sisters are pushing back," she said.
Speaking with Beck about the picture, Cupp said: "It's just embarrassing because it will be out there forever. The fact that I work really hard, and I'm an Ivy League-educated young woman with a pretty good job doesn't matter when you look at a photo like this."
But Hustler is defending the page as "satire."
"I'm able to publish this because of the Supreme Court case I won in 1984, Flynt v. Falwell," publisher Harry Flynt said in a reference to a ruling that free speech rights prohibit public figures from suing over emotional distress intentionally inflicted upon them.
The case centred around televangelist Jerry Falwell, who sued Hustler over a parody ad that depicted him having sex with his mother in an outhouse.
Source
This comment is part of the problem, tbh.
Just no.
What you are doing is acting as though a woman dressing a different way would change things, but it wouldn't. You're deflecting from the truth, and that's that a lot of men will view women in an objectified fashion no matter what she does - which means that acting as though they 'deserve' it if they wear a low cut top with a push up bra is both wrong and stupid. It's easier to go 'oh, but if they wore ~this~ things would be different' than it is to admit the truth - society is full of misogyny and men need to change their attitudes and stop blaming women in general.
You said up above that you agreed with a commenter who said that women will be sexualized no matter what they do, so I don't understand why you can't see that if you really believe that, you'd understand that men need to take some responsibility for their behaviour, rather than women changing the way they dress.
...Oh, FFS. NO.
Yes.
Because it is not a woman's responsibility to not be objectified. It is the responsibility of everyone else not to objectify her.
And in life.
BECAUSE THEY SHOULD KEEP THEIR GODDAMN EYES TO THEMSELVES
If I like the way my breasts look in a low cut top and a pushup bra, that is NOT an invitation for other people to ogle and sexualize me.
Please point out to me where people EVER say men shouldn't dress a certain way if they want to be taken seriously and not seen as sex objects. Go on. I'll wait.
And while you're Googling that, make sure to google "the male gaze" and maybe "feminist theory 101" and save everyone here a lot of trouble.
How dare you suggest she educate herself on these topics. It's not like she joined this political news blog to read all those horrible stories about how often men are gross and oppressive to women, okay?
Very, very egregious opinions.