Seth MacFarlane & The Oscars: Sexism Gone Overboard?

Sunday night, I curled up with some Ben & Jerry's and watched the Oscars. I love Seth MacFarlane- I watch his shows all the time because I think he's so hilarious. However, little by little, I started to become offended by what I was hearing. The first thing was the "Boob Song" which ended up coming off as extremely degrading to women.  Next was one of the worst jokes, "'Django Unchained' was the story of a man fighting to get back his woman, who has been subjected to unthinkable violence. Or as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it, a date movie.” 

My jaw dropped.

What are you saying, Seth? Domestic violence is okay? Domestic violence is funny? 

Vulture and Buzzfeed have already written articles about the horrendous treatment women received during the Oscars. Seth didn't fail to mention a crude joke about women dieting until they're sick before the Oscars. Don't forget his joke about the Kardashian women having a beard. Oh, and how women are difficult as seen in the movie "Zero Dark Thirty".

Another interesting thing you can see in the comments on Buzzfeed is a lot of men trying to justify MacFarlane's actions. Many men's reaction to this is "You can't take a joke?" Truth be told, I can. But this was just one too many. Another stupid reason men seem to be using is "That's his sense of humor! What'd you expect?" I get it. Put it in your cartoons, Seth. But when you're in front of adults and millions of other people...save that crude sense of humor.It was simply just inappropriate. 

I would say "typical men" but that would sexist, wouldn't it...?

Gender Discrimination or Business?

This video explains the story of an Iowa woman, Melissa Nelson, who was fired from her job in a dental office after her boss claimed she was "simply irresistible". Boss James Knight claimed her clothes were "distracting" because they "accentuated her body" and he would ask her to cover up with a lab coat. She had been working for him for 10 years. She claimed that she didn't wear tight clothing; rather, loose scrubs she wore under her lab coat. Both boss and employee would text back and forth and Knight would say inappropriate things to her (for example, that her inconsistent sex life was like "having Lamborghini in the garage and never driving it"). Then she got fired because he said she "jeopardized" his marriage and she was just  "too sexy". After suing for gender discrimination, the all-male jury did not find Knight guilty.
If she was a guy, this would have all been avoided.

Sexism at its finest.

When I saw this, I was in shock. This perverted, unprofessional boss is going to fire a 10-year employee because he can't resist her? And the jury doesn't find him guilty of gender discrimination?! I don't know how anyone can hear this woman's story and truly agree with the "it wasn't gender discrimination" side. If she were a man, doing the same job as her, making the same money, with the same boss, this would have never happened. I wanted to jump into the screen and stand up for her!

Whats's your opinion? Gender discrimination or the right thing to do?

The Friend Zone: A Men's Only Land?

    In this video by CollegeHumor, Eve and Adam seem to have some chemistry in the beginning. Adam takes this as a sign, but his advances are shut down by Eve. She makes up excuses as to why she can't be with him, and goes on a date with the serpent. Ha ha. Adam has been put into the infamous Friend Zone.
The "Friend Zone'' is a term that describes when a guy likes a girl, and they are close, but she would never want anything more than a friendship with him.
    You would almost never hear of a girl being put in the Friend Zone. When I argued my guy friends about the fact that a girl can definitely be put in the Friend Zone, they laughed at me and denied all my arguments. Sexism is definitely present here.
    My reaction when I saw this video was laughter followed by me saying, "Any guy who sees this can probably relate so well." Guys believe that they are constantly being put in the Friend Zone by girls they like. In that moment, sexism is present because it gives them the sense that most girls use guys to have them as friends and talk about stuff they can't talk about to their girl friends. It's a stereotype against women. However, it's not true in most cases, because women don't always want the guy to only be their friend, and we can and have been put into this dreaded place.

If you told a guy that, they wouldn't believe it.

    A Chicago Tribune writer writes about the Friend Zone and describes it as: "When a guy agrees to be friends, he's forced to stifle his attraction while regularly seeing and talking to the woman he's attracted to. She discusses her love life and has the audacity to ask his advice on it. He performs occasional 'manly' household and automotive favors for the women. Essentially, he does everything a boyfriend would do – without the benefits."
     Notice the word choice in this excerpt. It speaks about the male being shut down by the female. Males have this idea that it's all the woman's fault. They think that there's no possible way that a girl can be put in the Friend Zone; women are the bad guys.

What do you think? Is the Friend Zone a "Men's Only" Land? Or do women roam around in there too?