Here are the highlights from our social media coverage this week:
-Maureen Johnson asked her Twitter followers to imagine what the cover of a well-known book might look like if the author was of a different gender, explaining “The simple fact of the matter is, if you are a female author, you are much more likely to get the package that suggests the book is of a lower perceived quality.” Check out the creative results on The Huffington Post.
-“That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that…Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.” –Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries (via Business Insider)
-Jennie Lamere, a 17-year-old girl, invented the “Twivo” software last month—and won the grand prize at a national coding competition where Lamere was the only female who presented a project, and the only developer to work alone. The program allows Twitter users to censor their feeds from mentioning a certain TV show or character for a set time period to avoid spoilers.- Mother Jones
-“The purity myth is entirely about reminding you that you are not yours. The fetishization of female purity in a world where catcalls are an acceptable form of communication telegraphs one thing very clearly: “Women, stop sexualizing yourselves—that’s our job, and you’re taking all the fun out of it.” The sexualization of women is only appealing if it’s nonconsensual. Otherwise it’s “sluttiness,” and sluttiness is agency and agency is threatening and so, therefore, sluttiness must equal disposability.” – Lindy West on the “purity myth” on Jezebel
-“Zombie Industries CEO Roger Davis told The Huffington Post that the target, a scantily clad “zombie,” will not be available after Monday.” – The Huffington Post
-“Victims of sexual assault did not choose to be attacked. And every time we glorify the sexual purity of a girl, which is a personal and intimate thing, every time we shame girls who don’t match virginal standards that diminish their value as an intelligent, independent human and instead assign their worth to their vagina, we are also encouraging the destruction of their lives at the hand of a sexual assailant.” – Julia Gazdag, HelloGiggles.com
