Discovery Channel Netherlands: Not for women!

[asterroc]

Found via hrafn, the URL says it all.

http://contexts.org/socimages/2009/12/08/the-discovery-channel-not-for-womens-eyes/

Like I said in another recent post, there's reasons I don't usually reveal my gender in a science context, and now the Discovery Channel has joined those reasons.

(Edited to the correct name of the channel: Discovery Channel. Not to be confused with Discover Magazine.)

Comments

[txtriffidranch.livejournal.com]

I've gone beyond a headdesk slam. That made me want to get really, really violent with the advertising twit who came up with that, and positively postal with the Discovery Channel dweeb who approved it. I wouldn't excuse that sort of idiocy from the Skiffy Channel, and coming from any branch of the Discovery Channel is absolutely reprehensible.

[marquiswildbill.livejournal.com]

Apparently some people want to keep the no girls allowed sign up outside the lab. Which I completely fail to understand. At least there is progress being made even if it is of the one step forward 0.9 steps backward kind.

[allandaros.livejournal.com]

WTF.

I expected better of Discovery.

[one4theroad.livejournal.com]

shame on you, discovery channel! i thought you were cooler than that :(

[meig.livejournal.com]

Oy.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

What this tells me is that Kari on Mythbusters really is just there to attract the drooling manboy crowd, and not to give female viewers someone to relate to.

I guess that's probably been obvious to everyone for a long time, hasn't it?

Also, I've been increasingly offended by Mike Rowe's sophomoric sexism, and I don't think it's because I've just gotten touchier about it.

[rosefox]

Favorite comment: "It's silly to think this is sexist, just like it's silly to think Zwarte Piet is racist!" *STAB STAB STAB*

[fireaphid.livejournal.com]

I started hating the Discovery Channel for sexism after finding out about their spin-off, the Learning Channel, which is much more blatant with the content of every single show. Actually, I think that's how I first found out about sexism as a kid, watching one of the reality shows where kids compete against each other in doing things like redecorating a room, because they always split up the boys and girls, taught the boys how to make things look good and the girls how to build sturdy things, and the themes of the rooms were so stereotypical. Anyway, this doesn't surprise me at all!

[seekingferret.livejournal.com]

Women hate watching animals fornicate.

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

*eyebrow* Your assertion is highly illogical.

[seekingferret.livejournal.com]

Good.

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

...what?

Seriously, what the left-handed tap-dancing h-e-double-hockey-sticks is that noise?

I mean, I assume that what's going on is that some dumbass marketroid thinks that the Discovery Channel in the Netherlands is getting a lot of female viewers and not so many male ones, and is trying to stir up some interest among male viewers.

But this is so incredibly dumb that I have to wonder if it's a parody (in poor taste).

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

FWIW I personally feel that children are so indoctrinated to gender stereotypes that most programs teaching children to bridge the stereotypes can only do good. For example, I support efforts to teach middle school girls more math, science, technology, and engineering, since studies show that in middle school most girls "turn off" to the STEM disciplines.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Part of why I picked physics over biology or chemistry was that I was too soft-hearted to want to cut animals up and too skittish to want to deal with explosive or toxic chemicals. You could say I was too girlish for bio or chem. Happy result: LOTS OF MATH! :-D

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I assume that what's going on is that some dumbass marketroid thinks that the Discovery Channel in the Netherlands is getting a lot of female viewers and not so many male ones

Interesting hypothesis. I had assumed they were getting too many highbrow/intellectual viewers and wanted to pander to the masses, and couldn't figure out how to pander to WOMEN masses, only men.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan of Mythbusters because they don't actually perform rigorous science despite their claims to do so. They definitely have the spirit of testing things out, which is great for people to understand, but they could do so much more with the show, such as teaching the reasons why things turn out how they do, and explaining what an actual scientific way of going about it would be.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Apparently some people want to keep the no girls allowed sign up outside the lab.

I found myself thinking in response "well then, we'll just keep up the no boys allowed sign outside the ...." and then realized there wasn't anywhere in the women's realm that men desperately wanted to go.^* Which is even MORE fucking wrong than the rest of this.

^*This may not strictly be true, for example in the very lucrative field of nursing, but there seem to be many more high power / high money / prestigious / exclusive areas dominated by men than by women.

[captain-risu.livejournal.com]

spike tv does not need a twin station... PLEASE! manswers hurts my brainz....

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I watch it for the outrageousness :) It would be nice if they could be more serious about the science, because I think they could do it without detracting from the show, but they do seem to have improved somewhat over the years.