Despite all the political correctness in this day and age as well as the sensitivity with regards to taboo and controversial issues such as those related to sexism, racism, and sexual orientation, it's very disappointing and shocking that the Saskatchewan Roughriders would publish a new 2024 ad with obvious sexist connotations suggesting that girls are NOT good in math.
One would think that society has learned its lesson when 30+ years ago in 1992 after Barbie suggested women are not good in math when she stated that math class is tough.
One last point is that Canada doesn't have the same amount of controversy compared to the USA with regards to African-Americans, but also having a watermelon (or fried chicken) on an ad automatically connects it to bad African-American stereotypes.
Re: 2024 Saskatchewan Roughriders ad - Sexist
Posted: Wed Feb 28, 2024 1:59 pm
by Hambone
Seemed that way to me but reading some comments over of RF the whole topic of "girl math" has been trending with memes etc on Tik Tok for some time now. Some of the posters said their wives, daughters, girlfriends etc have been using the term and having fun with it long before the ad. Not sure if it's true or not but somebody indicated it was a couple ladies in their marketing department who came up with the idea for the ad. Maybe one of those things that was taken as all in good fun by women in their late teens to early 40s and went over like a lead balloon for those older than that.
Seemed that way to me but reading some comments over of RF the whole topic of "girl math" has been trending with memes etc on Tik Tok for some time now. Some of the posters said their wives, daughters, girlfriends etc have been using the term and having fun with it long before the ad. Not sure if it's true or not but somebody indicated it was a couple ladies in their marketing department who came up with the idea for the ad. Maybe one of those things that was taken as all in good fun by women in their late teens to early 40s and went over like a lead balloon for those older than that.
They don't exactly say it was written by the women in their marketing team and that avoids fingerpointing blame.
Yesterday, we sent an email to you that missed the mark. Our playful attempt at ‘girl math’, a lighthearted TikTok trend created by women where humour is used to explain purchases, ended up not feeling lighthearted at all to our fans.
...
The Roughriders staff is made up of 50 percent women, and we know that our fanbase is also made up of intelligent and creative women too. We value the contributions of women in football, in sport and in our community and that’s why we feel it’s important to apologize for this mistake.
Looking at the graphic from the funny lens knowing the origins of "girl math" from a young woman - it's funny. Since then when I thought I'd buy something expensive my mind on touched on why not use "girl math" to explain to my wife why I blew a few thousand dollars on a questionable purchase. I didn't use the calculation but if I were talking out loud to a friend about buying something neither of us really didn't need , I might have tried to be funny and use "girl math."
I thought the email from the Riders apologizing was brilliantly written and then wondered if it would pass an AI detector. Using free resources the result ranges from 6% to 100% likely AI was involved in it's creation. AI isn't as black and white - at least not free detectors. https://www.scribbr.com/ai-detector/
Looking at the graphic from the funny lens knowing the origins of "girl math" from a young woman - it's funny. Since then when I thought I'd buy something expensive my mind on touched on why not use "girl math" to explain to my wife why I blew a few thousand dollars on a questionable purchase. I didn't use the calculation but if I were talking out loud to a friend about buying something neither of us really didn't need , I might have tried to be funny and use "girl math."
A related analogy I heard years ago was that a women will spend $1 on a $2 item she doesn't need and a man will spend $2 on a $1 item he does need.
Re: 2024 Saskatchewan Roughriders ad - Sexist
Posted: Fri Mar 01, 2024 10:43 am
by Toppy Vann
Hambone's post had me google "Girl Math" and it blew me away the women on X Twitter examples and who has written stories about it.
The Riders were right to apologize despite how the rest of the world's women have tweeted their examples.
I
t’s supposed to be a joke, and like all jokes, it’s not for everyone. You either understand the concept of girl math or you don’t, and it’s not worth getting too upset about if you’re in the latter camp. You don’t necessarily need to know its heritage; that it comes during the 2023 Barbie-tinted Season of Girlhood, or on the heels of the “girl dinner” trend, or that it echoes a 2021 social media motto that posits, simply, “The girls that get it, get it.”
The criticism is it's contribution to stereotypes that are unhelpful and hurtful to many as this article shows when it comes to "boy math" examples which are not "lighthearted."
The deeper meanings of boy and girl math
Once a trend is mutilated and reanimated into discourse, it’s time to bring in an expert. Mary Louise Adams, a sociology expert and associate professor of kinesiology and health studies at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, gamely offered her take on what “girl math” and “boy math” may mean — if we want it to mean anything.
“What I read through this trend is that people still do feel like they live in a profoundly gendered world,” she told CNN via email. “They assume, and their experience confirms for them, that women and men approach the world from quite different positions.”
Some of the discomfort around the whole “girl math” joke has stemmed from the use of the term “girl,” which some people find belittling when used to describe grown women, and its apparent riff on the false stereotype that women are less mathematically capable than men.
