Earlier this week we had some interesting discussion about sexism and gender double standards in relation to Katha Pollitt’s new book. As with her reaction to the Times review of Pollitt’s book, Jessica at Feministing has again called “sexist bullshit,”  this time in relation to the image accompanying Slate’s Sex Issue. She writes:

Okay, I'm all for sex issues. I'd just appreciate it if a leading online news magazine didn't equate sex with a headless porned out asscracked woman.

 

It’s true, to equate sex with “a headless porned out asscracked woman” would be a dismal and probably sexist editorial decision. Problem is, that’s patently not what Slate is doing. Was the image chosen in questionable taste? Well, I’d say quite poor taste. Cartoonishly pornographic? Yes. But the image is also quite obviously an illustration, defined as “visual matter used to clarify or decorate a text.” In fact, in this case it illustrated an article about the history of the female butt. Here’s another cover image of a sex issue, from movieline magazine: Is the magazine somehow equating a spread-legged Kevin Spacey with sex? Or, more to the point, did the cover image of Jessica’s own book, Full Frontal Feminism, equate feminism with a young woman’s taut, sexed out navel? I don’t think so. These are all illustrations. And, just to be clear, I’m a fan of Feministing. I just think this type of knee-jerk post devalues the force of the “sexist” label.