New App Removes Make-Up from Photos, Shows Women Barefaced

An app now exists solely for the purpose of adding or removing makeup to any photo, with the implied purpose to show women barefaced.

Going by the name of MakeApp, its Apple Store description reads, "MakeApp lets you add or remove makeup from any face! Choose a photo or video, press one button and let the app do its magic!" In an interview with Business Insider, the app's creator, Ashot Gabrelyanov, says he developed the technology to help authorities recognize victims of human trafficking. "In most of these cases, makeup is heavily used to disguise the age and/or identity of these people," Gabrelyanov said. "If human traffickers can hide these victim's identities, their chances of rescue are low. When security services show an image and say, 'Is this your daughter?,' heavily applied permanent makeup often makes the identification process quite difficult. We hope our technology may help families and authorities identify victims for rescue."

It's hard to avoid the app's sexist undertones outside of that specific case (especially when the app's own description lists no such mention). So far, people have used it to show what celebrities look like without makeup. Whether you use makeup to show the world the self you want to be, for a quick confidence boost or as armor before you go out into the world, how you approach makeup is a choice people make for themselves. It gives women (and men) agency—and an app that claims to strip makeup from photos and show the "real" person behind it is just plain problematic.

Just because a person is wearing make-up, doesn't mean they aren't "real."

It relies on the idea that people use makeup to "trick" others. 

This app was probably created by a bitter ex-boyfriend, designed to hurt the women who dumped him.

What say you? Do you think this app is sexist?

The Nonsense

RoboMisogyny.. Yes, This is a Thing

RoboMisogyny.. Yes, This is a Thing

Robo: extracted from robot and meaning robotic.

Misogyny: noun; hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women, or prejudice against women.

Bots such as Apple's Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Microsoft’s Cortana, and Google’s Google Home all show signs of extreme submissiveness. These docile natures not only reflect the feelings of dominance among men, but also reinforce the concept that women are to be made compliant.

Siri in particular, exhibits extreme signs of submissiveness and does what she is asked to do. She never has objections, she's never busy, and she's never preoccupied doing something for herself. In short, when you call upon Siri, she gives you the equivalent of,

"Yes Master."

By and large, people tend to respond more positively to women’s voices. And the brand managers and product designers tasked with developing voices for their companies are trying to reach the largest number of customers.

The late Stanford communications professor Clifford Nass, coauthored the field’s seminal book, Wired for Speech, wrote that people tend to perceive female voices as helping us solve our problems, so we are more likely to opt for a female interface. In the short term, female voices will likely remain more commonplace, because of cultural bias. 

Siri by the way, in Old Norse translates to “a beautiful woman who leads you to victory.”

Siri behaves much like a retrograde male fantasy of the ever-compliant secretary: discreet, understanding, willing to roll with any demand a man might come up with, teasingly accepting of dirty jokes and like the very definition of female subservience, indifferent to the needs of women.

We made this discovery one night while playing with Siri’s established willingness to look up prostitutes for a man in need. When we said to Siri, “I need a blow job,” she produced “nine escorts fairly close to you”. We got the same results when we said, “I’m horny” even with a very female voice. And if you should you need erection drugs to help you through your escort encounter, Siri is super helpful. She produced twenty nearby drugstores where Viagra could be purchased, though how -- without a prescription -- is hard to imagine. We tried mouth-based words -- such as “lick” “eat”  and even an alternate name for "cat" and for each one, Siri was confused and kept coming up with a name of a male friend in my contacts. Of course, one could argue that Siri knows something about him that I don’t, but that's another story.

More troubling, was Siri’s inability to generate decent results related to women’s reproductive health. When asked where to find birth control, she only came up with a clinic nearly four miles away that happened to have the words “birth control” in the name. She didn't name any of the helpful drugstores that stock condoms or birth control options.

The results when asked for abortion info were even worse. Though Planned Parenthood performs abortions (and there was one in my neighborhood), Siri claimed it had no knowledge of any abortion clinics in the area. Other women running similar trials have had the same problem if not worse. In some cases, Siri suggested crisis pregnancy centers when you mention the word “abortion." This was especially suspect seeing as how CPCs don’t provide abortions. They're established solely to lure unsuspecting women and bully them out of the choice to abort.

In response to complaints about this, Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris explained, “These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone.” We don't feel that the programmers behind Siri are out to get women. The issue is that the very real and frequent concerns of women simply didn’t rise to the level of priority for these programmers. Facts such as exponentially more women will seek abortion in their lives than men will seek prostitutes, and more women use contraception than men use Viagra. With that being said, programmers were still more concerned with making sure the word “horny” puts you in contact with an illegal prostitute, than with the word “abortion” putting you in contact with a place that could legally (and safely) perform them.

Siri is an example of how hearing a woman's voice was important, but the actual needs of women were not. Programmers clearly imagined a straight male user as their ideal and neglected to remember nearly half of iPhone users are women. That a tech company that’s the standard for progressive, innovative,and user-friendly technology couldn’t bother to care about the concerns of half the human race speaks to a sexism that’s so interwoven into the fabric of our society, it’s nearly invisible. 

It’s a sexism that only reveals itself in the absurd.

Kinda like when you’re asking a phone what it would take for you to get a little lovin around here.

What's your opinion? Is this a reach or is this form of sexism valid?

Is this even sexism?

Post your thoughts in the comments, we'd love to hear from you.

Thanks all.

WTS.

Apple's sexist work environment

Siri and Cortana sound like women because of sexism

For Shits and Giggles
Cuz Forbes magazine said so
Siri's submissive ass

David Be-A-Betterman

David Letterman has not been shy in hiding his resentment about retiring. I guess the real Dave is beginning to show as a result.

Sexist tweets aren't going to save your job Dave. Get a clue.

David @Letterman stunned his studio audience with a crude, sexist joke this week http://t.co/NNMlw9JZL7
— Page Six (@PageSix) April 22, 2015

Super Sexist Pic

This has to be one of the most sexist pictures I've ever seen on the internet.


The ultimate in assholism. #yuck #intimidatedmen #ridic

Me Tarzan, You..Wait, Who You Again?

How Male Sexual Entitlement Hurts Everyone

Male Sexual Entitlement (MSE): The belief that men are owed sex on account of their maleness.

Rape Culture: The belief that sex without consent is OK (within certain circumstances).

Slut Shaming: To degrade or mock a woman because she enjoys having sex, has sex a lot, or may even just be rumored to participate in sexual activity.

Overvaluing of Male Sexuality: The belief that female sexuality exists specifically for male pleasure; the feeling of entitlement to women’s bodies.

No male sexual entitlement = No rape culture.

Bring back our girls? If men were properly sexually educated, (on subconscious levels especially), there would be no need to bring back our girls because no one would think it acceptable for a woman to be a sex slave. Nor would anyone think it natural to force a woman into marriage.

Why Does Sexual Entitlement Happen?

We've all been conditioned to think female objectification is normal. It’s embedded in the way promiscuous men are idolized while promiscuous women get called sluts.

“Conscious” men may think that playing to women’s emotional needs exempts them from acting in a sexually entitled way, but this isn't true.

Even the most sensitive of men may not see how they participate in MSE. Some men think being sensitive to women’s issues gives them a dating edge.

Where Does Sexual Entitlement Show Up?

In intimate relationships when one partner tries to coerce the other into sex. Some believe that it's a girlfriend or wife’s duty to sleep with her with her partner, even if she doesn't want to. Marital rape only became criminal in all 50 states as recently as 1993.

At work in the form of sexual harassment. Often times, when a sexual harassment law suit is covered in the media, people slut-shame the victim:

"She was asking for it with the way she dressed.."

Rarely are there comments about her being made to feel unsafe in (what's supposed to be) a professional setting.

Toward complete strangers. Guys who touch random women in clubs, men who catcall women as they walk by and men who feel women should be instantly flattered by a compliment.

Such people act like it's their right to look at, comment on, evaluate and use women’s bodies.

How Male Sexual Entitlement Hurts Women

Sexually entitled men may feel it’s their right to leer, make unwanted advances and/or inappropriately touch women. 

Sexual harassment, street harassment, sexually motivated stalking and slut-shaming are all effects of MSE that not only affect women, but can scare them. Guys who take MSE to the extreme believe that women owe them sexual favors in exchange for attention, aggressiveness, or just plain existing.

These men also feel sexually entitled because they think being nice is synonymous with being good. They may be helpful but with an agenda. Pretending to be a decent human being to get sex makes you a creep. Synonyms be damned.

Men who adopt the “I’m nice, do me” attitude help perpetuate the idea that sex is reward, not an act of intimacy between two people. Sex isn’t a reward for good behavior, chivalry, or niceties.

Period.

How Male Sexual Entitlement Hurts Men

Instead of relaxing when they get rejected, their egos get wounded. Someone has denied them what they believe is their right and now they have to choose how to react to it.

Many men learn to be ok with not getting what they want sexually. Some can enjoy just being friends with women, even if they were initially sexually interested in them.

MSE can create a fear of rape for women. Men who react badly to being denied sex can become a part of and reinforce rape culture. Some turn to misogyny to avoid feelings of vulnerability.

The majority of entitled men may not consciously promote a permissive attitude toward rape. They may not all be angry misogynists. They're accountable for the way they treat others, but are also a product of a society that constantly bombards them with images of women as objects for consumption.

We need to focus on both changing our cultural attitudes of entitlement, and model healthier ways of relating to women we’re sexually interested in.

How Can You Avoid Feeling Entitled?

In short, check yourself. If at any point in time you believe you are owed sex for any reason —including being a decent human being — you are thinking in terms of sexual entitlement.

Also, avoid viewing a woman’s role in sex as totally passive. Though women are traditionally stereotyped as having absent or mysterious sexualities, that's a lie. Women have orgasms, horniness, sexual fantasies, everything a man has in terms of sexual desires.

If you’re in a relationship or talking to someone you’re interested in, communicate. This keeps you aware of boundaries, and you can make a space to talk about your desires without demanding that they be fulfilled.

Because sexual entitlement is so normalized, even guys who care about respecting women can be guilty of it. Women can also enable it by passively supporting it or actively participating in this thinking and behavior. Both men and women need to check themselves around this.

WTS

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And countless caveman cartoons..

B*llshit Bondage Chair

I don't like this chair. I get that some bondage fanatics might find this cool or interesting, but uh..

I'm no bondage fanatic. 

Tie me up like some kind of rodeo hand and when I get loose, let's just hope you can run faster than me.

The thought of a woman being positioned like this so someone can have a seat?

Anyone who thinks this chair is appropriate doesn't need a seat. 

What they really need is..

Serious slappage.

G-String clad cowboy optional.

This "bondage chair" was created by Allen Jones ca. 1969. Apparently, there's a Black version of it as well.

The woman perched on the chair in this photo is Russian socialite Dasha Zhukova. The online magazine Buro published this, and due to the uproar it caused, has since been cropped.

It's still bullshit though. 

What say you? Would you feel comfortable sitting on this? What would you think if you saw this in someone's house? What would you think of the PERSON who would buy this?

I'd be like..

I guess that's just me though.

SMH.. what a world we live in, no?

-WTS. 

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How the Media Failed Women in 2013

I will admit, watching this clip was painful. As a proud woman, it can be difficult to witness how women are degraded, especially in the media. Why is it so hard for certain men (usually those in power) to accept that women are great PEOPLE? Not playthings but beings? Evidently for some men, a woman's power is simply frightening. Unbelievable. Some men find it unacceptable that a SHE could be magnificent without a HE.

The malicious and subconscious messages the media help spread about women being inferior penetrate ALL of us. Men, women, sons and daughters. We're all constantly and subliminally being programmed. Almost every medium we can think of is used to propagate the belief that women exist solely for a mens' [sexual] gratification. This is demonstrated in everything from prostitution rings to child brides. If there ever was a theory that was destroying the world, patriarchy is among the top.

Women are all powerful. We are goddesses, mothers, nurturers, supportive forces. We are needed by the elements of nature and her inhabitants. In every species it is the female who delivers the children. Women are the Givers of Life and perhaps men resent it. The 'powers that be' echelon of men have taken oaths and make it their life's mission to hide and distort the truth about women. To make us feel inferior and disposable. Womens' right to vote, right to marry whom they want, and even the right to drive show that men feel the need to control women's actions. Sexually explicit representations of women are found everywhere, from mainstream to underground. Women are globally taught that our worth is contingent upon what we can do for a man, and how attractive we are.

Patriarchy is ruining the world, and the media is a willing participant.

Happy New Year, with an emphasis on NEW.

NEW attitudes make for better tomorrows and better TODAYS.

Womankind.

Yes, we do exist.

An no one would exist, without US.

Now for the clip.

Join the campaign: http://bit.ly/ChangeMedia

1000 Women Stranded Because They Have No Man

More than 1,000 Nigerian women pilgrims remained stranded at a Saudi airport for a fifth straight day Thursday after being denied entry into the kingdom because they were not accompanied by men or "Mahram", an airport official confirmed. The official said that the Nigerian consulate in Jeddah had offered to ensure the women’s return after the annual hajj pilgrimage, but Saudi immigration officials were “sticking to their position.”

The women had begun arriving at Jeddah airport on Sunday (9/23), a report by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, said. “Upon enquiries by the reception team officials of the National Hajj Commission in the airport, they were told that the pilgrims were held back because of lack of mahram,” said the report.

They are stopping women particularly between the ages of 25 and 35 without a male relative. Those over 45 are not a concern to the Saudi authorities." One woman told the BBC that the situation at Jeddah airport has become pretty uncomfortable as hundreds of women are reportedly sleeping on the floor, have been denied their belongings, and are sharing only four toilets.

Nigerian pilgrims’ welfare boards have in the past acted as “mahrams” and visas had been granted on that basis. The report said that officials observed that flights which arrived at Medina airport and that “only Nigerian pilgrims” were affected by the policy.

Last year, nearly three million Muslim pilgrims performed the hajj, which must be performed at least once in a lifetime by all Muslims who are able to do so. Roughly half of Nigeria’s 160 million people are Muslim.

This is ridiculous. So a woman needs a man to accompany her so she can worship God? It was man who made up the rule of the pilgrimage, and now men are trying to tell women HOW to have one? I'm not religious and I'm a firm believer in "to each his own,' but this is just insane. If a woman made the decision AND the long trip as an offering to her God and/or Its tenets, shouldn't that be enough? Should having a penis nearby also be a requirement? Men are so afraid of womens' power. These "mahram" laws make it proof positive..