(With apologies to Bitch Magazine’s “Jane Petty Criticism Corner”).

Ooh, the Metro. Given away free every weekday to stressed out commuters, owned by the Daily Mail / Evening Standard - there’s always some subtle but annoying gender stereotype being perpetuated in its pages.

On Friday I spotted a story about the Vegetarian Society’s attempt to “sex up” the image of vegetarians by producing a “gastro-porn” / “arty short film” showing vegetables being stroked suggestively in “a steam filled kitchen” (the details are at Rude Food if anyone is really interested).

Describing the film (predictably, the article almost filling Page 3 in the paper), the Metro explained: “At the climax white rice shoots into the air and and an asparagus wilts, juice dripping from its head… One of the most erotic shots is a woman’s hand sensually running up and down the length of a banana.” So far, so predictable. The writer continues: “But the naughtiest scene has got to be a man’s finger gently rubbing a pea that has been left in the top of it’s pod. You really have to see it to understand.”

So… asparagus money shots and a woman caressing a banana are “erotic” but a man rubbing a pea is shockingly “naughty”? Oh, please. Talk about double standards. Into the recycling bin with you!

More petty criticism to come, no doubt.

Posted by Catherine Redfern on 22 May 2005, at 3:53 PM