Really?

Last night me, zohra and (occasional F-Word guest blogger) Charlotte Cooper went out for a meal near where I work… and walked passed a local restaurant with this ‘interesting’ sign on the street.

This kind of thing reminds me of what Melissa at Shakesville often says, about how ridiculous it is that feminists are portrayed as searching out things to take offense at.


Your Comments

cakeorbed said:

You can tell that someone thought they were being *really* clever when they wrote this. What is this even advertising anyway? The actual restaurant? Yeah, cos that makes me wanna eat there.

Posted on 29 May 2009 at 11:32 AM

Saranga said:

Lovely. No really I think it's hilarious and tasteful. /sarcasm off.

I reckon people would still say that we're searching out stuff to be offended at, becasue so many folks would think that the sign is just a bit of a laugh. Funny in't it? Because people still think it's acceptable to judge women on how much sex they've had. And you know, having sex makes you a rank prospect.

Whatever.

Posted on 29 May 2009 at 12:22 PM

The Boggart said:

@ Saranga

True; but remember, not having enough sex also makes you a "rank prospect", although the slippery,treacherous boundaries of what is considered "too much" and "too little" are constantly shifting, and funnily enough almost always out of the control of the average woman...

Posted on 29 May 2009 at 12:57 PM

Jennifer Drew said:

Feminists have no need to 'search out things' because one only needs to walk down a main street to be constantly bombarded with sexualised degrading images of women and girls or be forced to endure men and boys catcalling or shouting sexual insults to women and girls. But it is all 'humorous' is it not?

Posted on 29 May 2009 at 1:32 PM

Amy said:

Really? I mean, it's crude, but I find it completely hilarious. I really like sexual humor though, of all kinds. I think this is definitely a personal taste thing.

Posted on 29 May 2009 at 2:56 PM

Saranga said:

@ the Boggart: True true. Heavens, however is a modern woman meant to comport herself these days? You'd almost think we were meant to achieve this mythical 'acceptable' status.

Posted on 29 May 2009 at 3:13 PM

prolly said:

Am I an idiot? I don't get it. "The slag of Shoreditch"? What does it mean?

Posted on 29 May 2009 at 4:05 PM

Diane said:

Prolly - it's advertsing something called "El Paso", maybe a beer?

Amy - it's not just crude, it's misogynist. No one who respected women could come up with that.

Posted on 30 May 2009 at 3:45 PM

Jess McCabe said:

@Diane - It's a restaurant

Posted on May 31, 2009 12:49 PM

Rob M said:

Amy - it's not just crude, it's misogynist.
It's calling a restaurant a slag. It's a tad baffling (although, hey, it is in Shoreditch,) but i'm not convinced it's misogynistic.

Posted on 31 May 2009 at 2:07 PM

Jess McCabe said:

@Rob M It doesn't really matter that it was directed at a restaurant, not a person, it doesn't mean that the 'joke' is any less misogynist.

Posted on June 1, 2009 12:31 PM

Bal said:

I saw that same sign a few weeks ago and it said 'more shooters than Hackney Central' I guess they're just writing 'shocking' stuff to grab attention. Attention grabbing is what advertising is about I guess. Also I think slag is pretty much a gender neutral term now I know plenty of blokes who sleep around that get called slags, sluts and whores. Either way it's not very funny, just like most of Shoreditch.

Posted on 01 June 2009 at 11:36 PM

Have your say

In order to keep this blog as a feminist and friendly space, comments will be subject to some rules. We do not seek to censor debate: the beauty of the internet is that anyone can set up their own blog or website to express their views.

  1. This blog is a safe and friendly space for feminists and feminist allies. Debate and critique are welcome where it is constructive and deepens analysis or understanding. Anti-feminist comments will not be approved. We get to decide what's anti-feminist.
  2. All comments must be approved by one of the bloggers. For this reason, there may be a delay before your comment appears.
  3. No sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, classist, ablist comments, comments which make personal attacks on any blogger or commenter, or comments that are otherwise deemed offensive by us will be posted.
  4. Trolls will be banned from commenting. We get to decide who is a troll.
  5. No anonymous comments - please feel free to use your real name or make one up, though.
  6. Be nice.

Please note that your email address will not be displayed on this website. All comments are checked, prior to being published on this site.

top ^

Latest Posts
New feature: Painful vagina? Your poor husband!
Samira Ahmed, behind the scenes with C4 news
Hidden Herstories: Women of Change, see it for free!
New feature: Adventures in self-publishing
Talk/discussion: LGBTI Rights in Uganda, March 21 in Manchester
UN climate finance panel a boys' club
Greater Manchester Police failed DV victims, say IPCC
Christie Elan-Cane: Fighting for legal and social recognition outside the societal gender system
The Second Sex: lost in translation?
Are you a Good Girl? Mama Says Good Girls Marry Doctors
More posts
Latest Comments
Kiki on International Women's Day, Million Women Rise, and trans inclusion
Lynne Miles on International Women's Day, Million Women Rise, and trans inclusion
Kiki on International Women's Day, Million Women Rise, and trans inclusion
Ally on Oh, journalism...
Suswati on Oh, journalism...
Sarah on Gok Wan: Not so Nice After all?
Cycleboy on Hollywood glass ceiling is shattered, but women are still losing out in film and TV
Amy Clare on Sexism in the atheist community: not rational, not reasonable, not funny
Davina on Sexism in the atheist community: not rational, not reasonable, not funny
Philippa Willitts on We Are Women Too
More feminist bloggers
There are plenty of fantastic UK feminist bloggers around. For a fantastic introduction to feminist blogging, go to the Carnival of Feminists website, which showcases the finest feminist posts from around the blogsphere, including many from UK blogs.
How to contribute to The F-Word
Got something to say? Something to review? News to discuss? Well we want to hear from you! Click here for more info
Events
Check out our events listings for info on some of the fantastic feminist events going on up and down the country. Please get in touch to tell us about events we've not listed yet.
Small Print
All blog posts are the views of the individual post author, and not those of The F-Word.

Inside this section

Blog Home
Archives by Month
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
More Archives
Archives by Author
Abby O'Reilly
Amy Clare
Anne Onne
Barbara Felix
Bill Savage
Carrie Dunn
Catherine Redfern
Grace Fletcher-Hackwood
Guest Blogger
Helen G
Holly Combe
Jess McCabe
Joanna Whitehead
Jolene Tan
Josephine Tsui
Kate Smurthwaite
Kit Roskelly
Laura Woodhouse
Lola Adesioye
Louise Livesey
Lynne Miles
Milly Shaw
Philippa Willitts
Samara Ginsberg
Sokari Ekine
Sunny Hundal
Suzi FemAcadem
Syma Tariq
Yvonne Howard
zohra moosa
News prior to April 2005
XML feed Feeds
Latest Blog Posts
Latest Comments

Contact Us

This webpage lives at: http://www.thefword.org.uk/blog/2009/05/really