Offensive material in the media

[Ofelia]

So today I was reading ABC Online (That's the Australian Broadcasting Corporation by the way) and came across a remarkably offensive article in the section, The Drum. If you want to make up your own mind, it was called, "Ditching the Pink".

I have certainly never seen anything of its ilk on that site before and oddly enough have not come across too many things recently that, as a transgender person, find offensive. I was wondering if perhaps society is making ground in terms of treating us with respect and as equals, or if other people have a different experience with the amount of ignorant or offensive material they come across in the media?

Ofelia...

[LoriLorenz]

LOL!

I'm pretty sure the article you are refering to is a satire. 

[Contravene]

I looked up the article and read it. It was just a pathetic attempt at humor which I doubt anyone would get much of a laugh from anyway so I wasn't too offended by it but I can understand how others may be. The author claims he's "a writer, comedian and poet with no journalistic qualifications whatsoever". Apparently he's not that great of a comedian either.

It seems to me that the media in general is much more tactful in how they discuss things like gender identity or LGBT issues. I'm not sure if it's because people are becoming more sensitive towards transgender issues or because they just have to be politically correct lest they lose their jobs. The last I heard of anyone in the media saying disparaging things about transgender people was when the whole Kimberly and Beck thing happened - two radio personalities who made fun of trans people on their show. I believe they were fired for making those remarks though.

[Ms Grace]

Satire relying on tired old cliches. I wouldn't consider it offensive though.

[Ofelia]

I know that it is satire but it really irked me. It is like making satire about domestic violence or women's rights for equal pay. It perpetuates stereotypes to the unenlightened and... well, we fight so hard for tollerance and acceptance. It just really upset me today.

[Cindy]

Send a complaint to ABC media watch. They are pretty hot on these issues

[Mai]

a problem with satire articles, is that there are way too many people in the world (certain areas in the US especially) who are too stupid to realize it is satire and take satire articles as though they are serious news.

i have a couple people on my facebook who cant seem to understand it that i have been trying to educate on the nature of satire.

[Dee Marshall]

Yeah, some people on my Facebook were having a big argument about something from the Onion! Who takes the Onion seriously?

[Tysilio]

It's satirizing the culture of rugby, and stereotypes about the color pink, both of which are worthy targets, IMHO.

The whole point of the piece is that these are "tired old clichés," and that the culture of rugby has a helluva lot more important things wrong with it than the color of the referees' jerseys.

[Daisy Jane]

Yeah, some people on my Facebook were having a big argument about something from the Onion! Who takes the Onion seriously?

Sadly, a lot of people take it seriously. Otherwise the website literallyunbelievable.org would not be so successful.