Hahaha.

I don't know if this was blatant sexism and sex stereotyping, or just store owners being lazy, but a few days ago I visited that newsagent near Hungry Jacks at Central. I think it's called Newslink or some shit? Anyway, I went in to grab a copy of MAD or something to kill some time before Cowie got out. While perusing the shelves I noticed that the magazines had not been categorized by theme, as they usually are, like music, cartoons or fashion. Instead, the wide selection had been strangely bisected into only two classifications: men's interest and women's interest.

This is what Men's Interest consisted of: automobiles, computers, TIME, music, and many identical Miss Photoshop Fake Tits 2009.

This is what Women's Interest consisted of: CLEO, Cosmopolitan, an ENORMOUS array of bridal/parenting magazines, and tacky gossip/reality read mags.

It seemed too ridiculous to be offensive, as if they purposely set out to satirize what it meant to be masculine or feminine. But still, I didn't like it. If there's one thing that gives me the damn shits in the media pertaining to gender, it's the normalized, subtle stereotypes carried out which create an almost subconscious bias that women are less worth our respect than men. And I hate that we're raising a new generation to think that way too.

The huge shelf of publications seemed to reinforce a rippling bunch of stereotypes.

• Men are active, with varied interests and different talents.
• Women are passive, mostly one-dimensional.
• Women are incapable of intelligent/creative thoughts or actions. They're pretty good at filling their lives with obsession over looking good and young, though. And that's all they're expected to do.
• Men are good with technology and current events. Women are also good with current events, but only if the events are about stupid "celebs" and their diet secrets.
• Men like looking at scantily clad women.
• Women like looking at scantily clad women. (Seriously, what is with both men and women's magazines featuring the exact same image of a woman? Shouldn't the latter have a reverse equivalent? I guess it's because women are expected to look sexual but never act sexual. You know, or people hissing "slut" everywhere.)
• Women are obsessed with hooking in some poor soul for a lifetime of commitment, marriage, and babies.

These are just a few, and I'm sorry this newsagent apparently could not afford a less annoying and more convenient way of sorting magazines. I'm wondering if anyone else has witnessed the same thing. But nonetheless, I dream of a time and place in which everyone will love and respect each other, and categorizing by gender will be just as taboo as categorizing by race would be.

By the way, MAD was in neither section. It was tucked up the back with all the other kid's stuff.