The Weekly Whims Of HatManJim: HMJ Remix 2009

A weather-beaten eye cast over the media: HatManJim looks at a story in the headlines and as a feminist with a penis (Menimist? Femi-meni-mist? I just believe i n women’s rights, I’m not having gender-reassignment. OK?), attempts to map the sexism inherent in the press, without inadvertently saying anything lecherous about breasts.

Let’s have a look at the pick HMJ columns of 2009. OK – there aren’t that many as the column only started in September. But here’s the pick of the bunch:

The Good

Saying hello… HMJ set out shop here with an amusing story about staring at a perfectly innocent woman’s breasts and buckets of liberal neuroses about being sexist.

Get a load of those wonderful toys… Or not. Toys R Us gets a sound telling off from a bunch of Swedish school kids for promoting “outdated gender roles”. Way to go kids! The toy retail giant continues to tussle with the Swedes if this Copenhagen Post article about their Christmas catalogue is anything to go by.

The Bad

Rubbish women in politics… I really expected to get at least a little complaint about this one. Maybe I should have aimed more flimsy, unsubstantial abuse at Hilary Clinton (her inclusion in the “rubbish” was that she wasn’t elected US President… but then, hey, neither was I) to try and make it tie in with my argument. Big up for Nancy Pelosi, though.

Running on a similar theme… There was Sarah Palin and THAT Newsweek/ Runner’s World front cover and a column complete with moral ambiguity and terrible camel toe joke. Palin has since become a best-selling author. And I implied she was stupid. Shows what I know.

The Ugly

Fearless column filler… A not particularly sophisticated critique of Roman Polanski based on the fact that his film The Fearless Vampire Killers was not very funny came in October following the director’s arrest, and can be read here. Another reasons listed for disliking the Polish auteur being that he has sex with children. He is currently in house arrest in Switzerland and, by the looks of it, trying to worm his way through legal loopholes, judging by this BBC report.

Too dirty… Those “hilarious” sexually predatory soap bubbles in an advert about toxic residue caused a bit of an internet stir, described here. The YouTube link to the video has since stopped working. Which is probably a good thing.

The Kinky

Badly drawn babes… Snow White and Marge Simpson get sexually explicit and Hugh Hefner gets a little confused in this column. You have to bear in mind that Hef’s getting on and probably isn’t as sharp as he once was.

And finally… Good old Miss Fat Gay Venezuela gets a look in. Go on, you would wouldn’t you?

So what of 2010? Find out next week.

HatManJim’s column will appear every Saturday.