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 Paddington Bear UNICEF Halloween “Chairbear October is UNICEF month Have your coins ready for Halloween! “A newspaper is something to comfort. the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” 2 John Wir.“ler Derrick Webber, Editor-in-Chief Ian Mollison, Interim Production Editor Derrick Cameron, Advertising Manager Darrell Cole, Sports James Connolly, Systems Manager Jill Noonan, Typesetter STAFF MEMBERS Robert Bodrog, Dawne Chappelle, Shawn Connolly, Kaberi Dasgupta, Cora-Lee Des Roches, Vivian Huizenga, Anne Irving, Bobbi Sue Keating, Susan Kellock, David MacKinnon, Ian Mollison, Lisa Murphy, Claire Murray, Dave Newport, Sam Okello, Ellen Perry, and Chris .§ 'Vessey. omnia This Week’s Contributors: _CIMN, Sean MacIntosh, Kelly VanBuskirk, Laurie Reeves, Michelle Cottreau, Advisory Council on the Status of Women, and the UPEI Information Office. 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