feminist news round-up 01.04.12

Store covers up pregnant Jessica Simpson

Too fat, too thin, and now, too pregnant. A Safeway store in the US state of Arizona has been forced to cover up the April edition of Elle Magazine that features a heavily pregnant Jessica Simpson on the cover after it received complaints from customers. The image shows a nude Simpson with one hand strategically positioned over her breast, and another wrapped around her belly. Safeway’s director of public affairs, Teena Massingill, said that the decision was made by one employee and was not a company-wide directive. Elle Magazine said in a statement that they have received an overwhelmingly positive response to the cover, and that they couldn’t be happier for her. Surely pregnancy is something that should be celebrated, not shamed, but what do you think? Was the Safeway store employee justified in covering the cover (pictured above)? Or was the almost-nakedness of the image too obscene for the shelves? Tell us your thoughts below!

18-year old gang-rape victim, oksana, dies

An 18 year old Ukrainian woman who was gang-raped, strangled and set alight has lost her fight for life. The attack on Oksana Makar sparked street protests – hundreds of residents took to the streets after two of three suspects, whose families have political connections, were released by police. The young woman’s mother has been vilified for exploiting her daughter by releasing a video on YouTube where she urges a suffering and in-pain Oksana to describe the attack. She also allegedly charged reporters for interviews. All three young men have been charged with rape and one of them with attempted murder.

French student sent home for wearing long skirt

And in what appears to be another example of our propensity to place far too much emphasis on what women wear, a school in France has sent a female student home for wearing a skirt it has deemed ‘too long’. Wearing religious attire in the classroom has been banned in France since 2004, and the maxi skirt donned by the student was considered provocative by the school’s headmistress. An unnamed school official said, ‘We do the same with a girl who comes to school with a bare belly.’ But the student, who removes her hijab before entering the school, believes the school has no right to question her fashion choices.

Kyle Sandilands: guilty of indecency

The Australian Communications Media Authority (ACMA) has ruled that comments made by radio shock jock Kyle Sandilands about a female journalist were in breach of decency standards and were deeply derogatory and offensive, forcing ACMA to begin steps to impose a new licence condition on his employer, 2Day FM. The comments, made in November 2011, angered the 2Day FM audience of mostly young women, and even prompted a petition on Change.org calling for advertisers to stop supporting the show. Among the first high-profile companies to respond were Holden, Vodafone, Blackmores, Telstra, Harvey Norman and The Good Guys. The move by ACMA is a step in the right direction, we say.

Beauty contestant disqualified for being born a boy

A Canadian Miss Universe contestant was kicked out of the competition because she was born male. While organisers refer to the 23 year old contestant, Jenna Talackova, as a ‘real girl’, they claimed they were forced to disqualify her for lying on her registration form that she was naturally born a female. Fans are outraged and are calling for her to be re-entered, but the pageant said there was no way they would go back on their decision. Should biological sex matter in a beauty pageant?

(Image credit: 1)