Maxim slammed as 'sexist' article teaching men how to 'cure' feminists resurfaces

Daily Mail​

4 hours ago

Weeks after Maxim was slammed for its list of 'unsexiest' women, the men's magazine has come under fire again.
Another article from the early aughts has now resurfaced, this time, taking aim at 'unshaven, militant, and protesting vegan ' women.
Titled 'How to cure a feminist,' the controversial article listed four ways for men to tame feminist females - along with a photo series showing the woman gradually undressing down to a bikini.
The piece, written in November 2003, was recently shared to Reddit where offended users immediately rushed to the comment section to share their thoughts.
'How to cure a feminist,' read the title, with the words, 'Turn an unshaven, militant, protesting vegan into an actual girl!' written underneath.
The article was then split into four different steps which included: 'Win her over,' 'Open her eyes,' 'Treat her right,' and 'Shift her focus.'
Over the first step there was a photo of a woman wearing low-rise baggy jeans and a tank top with messy hair, a cigarette in her mouth, and no shoes; she held up her arms and showed off her hairy underarms.
'A feminist is just like any other woman: she won't give you the time of day if you don't know how to approach her,' the advice began.
The article then went on to encourage men to 'pretend to share her beliefs.'
'Hide your lack of feminist knowledge and show her how much you value her opinion by asking intelligent questions,' the magazine joked, giving examples like, 'What must women do to earn equal pay for this equal work?' and, 'Has Gloria Steinem's marriage hurt the feminist agenda?'
The second step, as per the magazine, was to 'open her eyes.' The accompanying picture showed a woman in bootleg jeans, sneakers, and a slightly cropped pink fitted hoodie and her hair looking sleek and straightened.
'Don't wait for her to think differently - give her some options,' the publication wrote.
'Begin by discussing "lipstick" feminism, which is far more moderate than the combat-boot variety.'
Jennifer Baumgardner, who co-authored Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and The Future, was quoted encouraging men to not avoid talking about things like 'shopping, makeup, or boyfriends.'
The article then advised men to 'sign her up for Bust, a feminine-light mag that says women can be independent, strong, and relatively hairless.'
Third step, was to 'treat her right,' and it assured men you can 'treat a feminist just like you'd treat any other girl.'
'As long as you're not overbearing she won't object to your opening the occasional door or picking up a check,' the article read.
Along with this piece of advice was a snap of a naval-bearing woman in a short shirred white skirt and a tiny matching top. She also had white high heels and her hair was in pigtails.
The fourth step encouraged men to 'shift her focus,' with a large 'cured' stamp over the picture of a scantily-clad woman.
'To preserve any chance of getting your chin buttered, you'll have to re-shizzle her feminist-tinged interests so you can actually spend time with her,' Maxim wrote.
They then quoted Michelle Weiner-Davis, the author of The Sex Starved Marriage, who said to 'focus on the things you have in common.'
To paint the picture of a cured feminist, the women in the picture was posing in only a red and black lingerie with black heels on and heavy eye makeup.
While it's not entirely certain if the piece was sartorial or not, fuming users took to Reddit to slam Maxim over it, branding it as 'ridiculously sexist.'
'Awfully bold of them to disguise their bimbofication porn as relationship advice,' one user snarked.
'This just sums up the nonsense that was the early 2000s. The media was always taking hot wrong takes when it came to women, like all the time,' chimed in another.
'We were living in the wild wild west, I can't believe some of the stuff that was allowed to air or printed.
'There needs to be some sort of gender course that's specific to the early 2000s.'
'Gay "jokes," feminism "jokes" [were] aplenty in the early '00's. Movies like American Pie that released around the period exemplify this and man does it not hold up at all today,' agreed another.
'Strange how some still argue that these things are fixed and that we shouldn't speak up against them.'
The men's magazine, which is known for featuring scantily clad celebrities, also came under fire last week after a list that it published of the 'unsexiest' female celebrities resurfaced.
The list contained five female stars and a brief description for each one explaining the reasoning behind their placement on the list.
Sarah Jessica Parker, Amy Winehouse, Sandra Oh, Madonna, and Britney Spears were amongst those who made the cut.