WITH ALL the discus- sion of sexism going on now, the meaning of the word can become mud- died. The Gem has turned to what I hope is. recog- nized as an authority on the subject, the PEI Ad- visory Council on the Sta- tus of Women. Documents they courteously provided included the following def-

initions:

Sexism: discrimination based on gender

Sexist language: lan- guage that excludes one sex or gives unequal treatment to women and men.

Sex stereotyping: lan- guage, attitudes or repre- sentations which tend to at- tribute particular roles and characteristics to people on the basis of their sex, with- out taking them into con-

sideration as individuals.

The controversial word- ing of the Mary Brown’s advertisement reads “Just call for the best legs in town.” This, in itself, does not fit the first definition since gender is not dis- cussed. Nor does the ad ex- clude one sex or give un- equal treatment to either sex because, again, there is no mention of gender. A specific sex is implied only in the name of the company- the female name Mary Brown. the phrase sex

However, “best legs...” is a stereotype familiar to us all. Because the legs being referred to are those of a chicken and not of a female, I do not believe the ad can be said to be literally sexist. However, the stereotype of a female’s legs as being sex- ual objects is so entrenched

in society that the sexism is implied. The member of the Ad-

vi-

sory Council I spoke to was aware of the ad in question but did not seem to think it was outrageously offensive. The Women’s Rights Co- ordinator for the Atlantic

Region. of Canadian Uni- versity Press thought the

ad was too mild to warrant censorship.

Censorship is an issue here as well. I cannot tell an advertiser that we can’t run an ad because it is “sex- ist.” I must provide ex- act details as to why. Let- ters written in have stated the ad is “obviously” sex- ist, but that is not enough. If The Gem were to censor without clear reasons, this paper would be reduced to a reactionary rag.

The

Gem

follows the Canadian Uni-

versity Press statement of Principles, which dictates that we must guard against racist, homophobic, or sex- ist material appearing this paper. We must also act as an agent of social change. The ad itself does not ap- pear to fall within the defi-

nitions of sexism that I have found, but the sexist ele- ment of “best legs...” is a play on an almost ar- chaic sex stereotype that objectifies a woman’s legs.

That stereotype is best left to completely wither away through disuse along with the many other sexist phrases in the English lan- guage.

To aid this inevitable process, The Gem _ has asked the advertiser to modify the ad. They agreed to change the wording and the new ad appears on page 3.

I-am very glad that The Gem has been able to stim- ulate some discussion on campus and through that discussion, increase aware- ness of sexist language. It is a slow battle to eliminate sex stereotypes in writing but The Gem, along with many other newspapers, al- ways attempts to provide non-sexist writing in arti- cles and features. I do not believe that ‘by run- ning the ad for the length of time it was necessary to nurture this discussion The Gem has grievously of- fended anyone.

COPYRIGHT | EDEN TOYS, INC. 1984

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