Yahoo! protesters seeking to be offended
As females and University of Oregon students, we would like to respond to the outrage generated by the recent Yahoo! ad campaign. We feel that the letters appearing Monday, Oct. 2 demand a second opinion. First, we regard ourselves as strong-willed, respected women and we do not find these ads offensive either to females or to homosexuals.
A mild expression of sexual attraction toward a woman taking her top off is hardly indicative of rape culture; this level of extrapolation is absurd. The motivation behind rape is power, not sex. If the genders of the names in this particular ad had been switched (i.e. Jon is about to take his shirt off), we doubt anyone would have complained. Why is this type of sexual desire acceptable but the other is not?
On another note, cross-dressing is not a strictly homosexual practice. Portraying both male and female genders is normal for all humans: homosexual and heterosexual, male and female. Furthermore, Yahoo!’s advertisement does not promote homophobia by depicting a man who has experimented and rejected cross-dressing because it’s uncomfortable.
We strongly feel that these ads, intended simply to grab the reader’s attention, have been misconstrued because people have projected preconceived prejudices onto them. When one views these ads from an unbiased perspective, there is very little — if any — offensive content. Instead of seeking to be offended, perhaps the student body should focus its energy on more constructive ways of furthering equality of all people.
 

M. Suzanne Reynolds

R. Lynn Hilles

Blame squarely on editor
There are a few things in Jack Clifford’s Oct. 2 commentary about the Yahoo! ads that are disturbing to hear from a newspaper editor-in-chief.
Apparently the purpose of the ODE is to sell newspapers, not to disseminate information: “The newsroom writes stories … to fit the space not filled with ads.” Perhaps this was an unfortunate phrasing, but I always thought the purpose of a newspaper was to report news, facilitate the exchange of ideas and enhance our understanding of our world.
Later, Mr. Clifford defended the division of the paper into two departments that “are careful about the information we share” (read: “don’t talk to each other,” it appears) by saying “I don’t want anyone from the sales department … telling me what stories should run in the newspaper.” This is ridiculous. Of course the sales folks should not be dictating story content, but that is because nothing should dictate story content but the events of the story. However, that does not mean that the editor-in-chief should not set advertising policy.
Finally, Mr. Clifford accepted responsibility for the Yahoo! ads and almost immediately rejected it: “The buck doesn’t stop on my desk, even if it does slow down.” Mr. Clifford, as editor-in-chief, it does indeed stop on your desk. That’s what your title means. You do not make every decision in the newspaper’s production, but you are responsible for setting the policies which inform these decisions.

Joshua Madden

graduate student, CIS
 
 

Women constantly under

attack
In response to Brandon Oberlin’s letter to the editor — yes, people DO care, otherwise there wouldn’t have been such an uproar about the Yahoo! ads!
I mean this in the nicest way, but maybe you don’t understand because every second of your life is not subconsciously ruled with the knowledge that you are viewed as a sexual object and nothing more.
You don’t have to worry about walking past guys and receiving blatant stares, comments and other behavior that makes you feel like a piece of meat. You don’t have to worry about the message your clothing is sending, about walking anywhere alone, about date rape, about group mentality and drunk guys at parties trying to cop a quick feel because their friends will laugh. But women understand this because these thoughts are constant. And we are so used to it, in fact, that we often don’t pay attention to it anymore.
I didn’t think anything of the Yahoo! ads until someone said something. Then I realized that there was something wrong. It is so common, this treatment of women, that it has become acceptable and disregarded at the same time. No one gives it a second thought. But we need to, because it makes women feel like crap, to be quite honest. We are good for a hell of a lot more than showing some skin, and it’s about time we were treated with the respect we deserve.

Lindsey Merrell

junior