So Bean @ Lawyers, Guns, and Money thinks it’s misogynist to put pictures girls in Bikinis on the front page of the New York Times in article about wealthy Russian traveling more.
Okay, I’d agree it’s kind of tacky, but is this really something we should needs to be denounced. Sure the New York Times seems to have picked a picture based on the same criteria as the Sport Illustrated Swimsuit issue, but do liberals really need to come out against girls in Bikinis?
Calling it misogynist, or as suggested in the comments “sexist” suggests it’s an absolute wrong. There’s nothing wrong with using the female (or male) form to sell publications, they just shouldn’t be sneaked into newspapers were people reading actual news.
Filed under: Culture | 2 Comments
Tags: Bean, Guns, Lawyers, LGM, Money, New York Times
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I’m not even sure I’d go so far as to say it’s not legit to put bikini photos in news coverage, as long as you don’t let it turn into a nonstop flesh-o-rama. In this case it looked clear to me that the photo editor was selecting from a batch of pix of this Russia-themed resort in Turkey, and this was the most striking photo of the bunch. It is a striking image, and it’s not staged by the photographer. Like it or not, photo editors are selecting from imagery that plays on cultural stereotypes — I imagine the other options to illustrate this story might have involved a big fat Russian guy holding a bottle of vodka in a speedo, shots of badly dressed middle-aged Russian matrons, etc., which are equally based on prejudice and stereotype. Visual imagery of humans is inherently look-ist. You don’t want your news coverage to degenerate into a jiggle-fest, as FOXNews does with its constant stories on plastic surgery, spring break etc., but if you’re covering beach travel, a shot of some ladies in bikinis is well within the bounds.
As a libertarian, I am in favor of public nudity, and I think criticism of the NYT pic is nonsense. I think a large portion of the American public needs a stern smack to the face, with the message that everyone has a body, accept it, seeing people naked or quasi-clothed isn’t bad, sex isn’t bad, chill the heck out. (As a libertarian, I was tempted to say “chill the f*** out” because I am against censorship, but I tempered my message to maintain your mediocre blog as a “clean” haven for modest ideas)