From Morgan Freeberg, we have the story of a feminist overreacting about something idiotic and a non-issue to the rest of the world. Shocking, right? In this case, it’s because her daughter came home after getting her school pictures done, and told her mother that — gasp!! — she was asked to tilt her head.
Yesterday was picture day at my children’s school and, according to my kids, the girls were told to tilt their heads while boys were told to sit up straight.
… [T]he classic female head tilt is one of the most annoying qualities of the ubiquitous, submissive princess. In coloring books, toy figures, and on diapers, female figures are most often positioned smiling, eyes lowered, and head tilted.
So of course, that her daughter was asked to tilt her head is obviously an important issue that, if not rectified, will set women’s rights back decades, if not centuries! It’s not an overreaction at all.
Because this is such a deeply, deeply important issue, this feminist crusader bravely confronted the patriarchal oppressors at her daughter’s school… and was told that everyone, actually, was told to pose the same way — boys, girls, and adults.
I communicated with my kids’ school and was told by the principal that boys and adults were included in the head tilt, that he was asked to tilt his head ‘ever so slightly,’ but appreciates my concern, and will talk to them about it.
Sounds like the principal gave her the polite version of, F*** off, I’ve got more important things to deal with. It’s interesting to note that what the woman was so upset over didn’t even actually happen. It wasn’t just the girls told to tilt their heads — everyone was.
But let’s just say her version of the story is true. Who cares? Feminists cannot seem to get it through their thick skulls that, guess what? Men and women are different. They are not identical creatures. But feminists keep on with their futile endeavor, trying over and over again to magically make men and women exactly the same. No one except the bitter harpies currently squatting in the feminist camp would ever look at a smiling girl in a school photograph with her head tilted and start shrieking about OPPRESSION!! SUBMISSIVE!! YEARGHH!
It is because of things like this that modern feminists will never be taken seriously. They obsess over things like being asked to tilt your head in a photograph, and completely ignore real oppression — like gendercide in China and India, or women being stoned to death, beaten, raped, and generally being treated like property in the Middle East. To them, those issues take a backseat to the really pressing matters like… head tilts in photographs. Because God forbid your daughter look sweet and happy in a school picture, right? That’s the real injustice in the world. (The hilarity comes when you see that the bitter feminist upset about the stupidest thing in the world, yet again, had absolutely no idea what she was talking about.)
Keep it up, feminists, and you’ll make yourselves even more irrelevant that you are now… if that’s even possible.
It’s the girl who cried wolf.
How about you teach your precious little daughter that she has some worth beyond her pretty face and her private parts, and then it won’t matter whether she has to tilt her head when the boys don’t? Or maybe that’s a less Mom needs to learn for herself first?
Carol says: Love this post. It is so true. The emphasis at the Democratic convention was all about women’s rights (i.e. abortion) while the vital topics of the economy, foreign policy, immigration were only in the background.
Victor Erimita says: Yep. The nation is insolvent, racing toward bankruptcy, collapse of the currency and an historic loss of freedom, opportunity and prosperity. But hey! We got abortion and gay marriage. And free contraceptives for 30-year-old law students. We have our priorities straight, because we’re the reality-based community.
Carl Pham says: What about the boys being told to sit up straight? Plus if little Jane wants to wear a bit of unofficial color, or fuss over her hair a bit, that’s OK, individuality and diversity huzzah, but if little Joe does the same — bah! Lack of discipline, uncooperative, better Ritalin his little ADD butt before he burns down the school.
It’s actually true that little girls are oppressed by social expectations. We do expect them to be pretty, tilt their heads, abhor dirt, not scuffle on the playground. But, first, we do the same (if not worse) to little boys. We expect them to be solid, disciplined, never cry or be lonely, sit in lines, color within the lines and sit for hours in music class with hands folded (like the girls mostly can) and never whisper or pinch their neighbors.
And, second, a little bit social oppression is quite desirable. Children are not Rousseau’s noble savages — they are not born civilized. They are born selfish, undisciplined, rowdy little fiends (albeit loveable). Their impulses need channeling and guidance, if they are to grow into courteous and thoughtful adults, with appropriate self-confidence and appropriate humility.
Maybe it would be ideal, in some Ultima Thule, to have each child have his external discipline custom-tailored to his unique personality. But the adult world hasn’t that kind of time and energy to spare. The rearing of each child cannot be a work of art that consumes the energy of four or five adults. So…we have to take shortcuts, lay down default expectations, which, while certainly crude — and which the child should revisit when he reaches the age of self-reflection — generally do the job and turn out acceptable citizenry.
TMink says: Oppressed? Really?
I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
Trey
Sam L. says: Where has this woman been, that she does not recognize the compassionate head-tilt?
I notice you have photos of two men on the right side of this blog. They both appear to have their heads tilted.
LS says: First World Problems.
Oh click to look at the face of Margot Magowan! Yeah, that’s a spicy meatball, huh?
But wait, there’s more:
Here’s one with the classic feminine tits-to-the-side, hither-look-over-the-shoulder
But wait, you just can’t not look at this:
Yep. Margot with … wait for it … her HEAD TILTED
Oh dear. You don’t suppose that Feminism is a cry for attention, do you?
Go for it, Margot.
mike says: go here and look at what this woman looks like:
here is what i wrote at here site.. i doubt it will pass moderators..
http://margotmagowan.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/the-bookbinders-daughters/#comment-5893
OMG you used the ‘so very sexist and woman demeaning’ head tilt in this photo.. gasp! my god, you almost look like you are tilting your head like ‘ann romney’ did in the convention!
also, look how much of your chest is exposed with that super sexist woman demeaning plunging neckline..
and why oh why did you grow your hair out that long… do i see highlights? what kind of self appreciating woman are you?
this entire BLOG IS RIDICULOUS…
thank god i don’t live ANYWHERE NEAR YOU and can’t be harassed by your ridiculous and over blown views and reactions..
reference:
http://margotmagowan.wordpress.com/2012/09/19/teaching-your-daughters-to-pose-like-a-girl/
Michael Ronayne says: When I first read about this post over at Instapundit, I assumed that girls were being given special training on how to avoid facial recognition systems while boys were being setup for surveillance by the feminazis at DHS:
“Neat trick for avoiding facial recognition when being photographed”
http://goo.gl/7T5xK
Then I realized that women were complaining about it. Well I for one demand gender equality; both girls and boys should title their heads in support of freedom from the surveillance police state.
JeremiadBullfrog says: I’m a guy, and every single professional photographer I’ve dealt with for schools has made me tilt my head in various directions. It has to do with the lighting and making sure your nose and chin don’t reflect more and look abnormally huge.
But no. They seek out opportunities to play the victim where it isn’t there. And to make matters worse, your attempts to reason with them are taken as proof positive of your ignorance/complicity in the oppressive scheme. There’s no way to talk with people like this because they’ve condemned you before you’ve opened your mouth.
tom swift says: “modern feminists will never be taken seriously”
But they ARE taken seriously, seriously enough to screw us over royally as a society and an economy. The insistence that men and women are the same is the assumption behind all gender-based affirmative action. And affirmative action means lowering standards until the people you want to see in any particular position suddenly qualify. Work and professional standards have been perverted in this cause, and we’re all paying the price, even if some of us are too thick to realize it.
Joe Doakes says: I was always asked to tilt my head, to minimize flash glare off my glasses. Now I know why I turned out rotten – I was picked on!
.
It’s simple penis envy. They can’t grow one, so they gotta cut one off to make it fair.
Keep yours tucked in boys…
Thucydides says: But doesn’t Obama tilt his head when giving a speech? Does that mean he is being submissive?
Points for feminists to ponder
Steve S. says: She should be grateful that the rest of her life is in such good order that such things as this are actually important to her.
Probably bored out of her mind.
B. Durbin says: I work with a professional photography company right now, and here’s the dirty little secret: If it’s done right, that “head tilt” actually straightens your head up. First thing you do is turn your body slightly away from the camera. Then you turn your face back to the camera… and when you do that, you actually lead with your forehead slightly. So the photographer tells you to tilt your head just a bit… and you no longer look as though you’re falling over.
That’s your standard pose. Head tilted towards your back shoulder. Now, in senior portraits, there’s one difference between the genders, and that is that the photographer can choose to forego the standard pose for a girl and tilt her head toward the light, but that’s not going to come up on school photo day.
Oh, and I said “done right.” There’s any number of groups that don’t know why the tilt is there, and they’re apt to do it wrong. But I’ve worked both behind the camera and behind the scenes, processing photos, and I guarantee that doing it right looks the best for all concerned.
rastajenk says: At least they’re not shooting pix in sets of three with a number in front of the child: “Look straight ahead…Look to the right…Look to the left…”
Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.
Greg Field says: Ummm, shouldn’t you be using the word Feminazi? Goes along better with the tone of your story. Here’s a bone for you. The term “feminist” has much broader meaning and implications in today’s world than it seems you are aware of. If this woman was off the deep end in overreacting and she was a feminist it doesn’t mean anything as far as feminism in general and what it stands for. What do you fear from feminists and strong women to make you go all Rush Limbaugh over this? Now if you’re NOT threatened by strong women and DON”T want to be compared to Rush Limbaugh (I don’t know, maybe he’s your hero) you might want to look into women’s issues and see what feminism is really about. Hint: they don’t burn their bras anymore, and yes, they shave their legs and armpits. You can start there.
23 Comments