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    EldritchKelly Faircloth
    1/22/15 10:01am

    You can be ranked 7th in the entire world in your chosen sport but first and foremost you are a pretty little object who gets asked to "twirl" around by some guy. Remember ladies, no matter what we do and how much success we get we're still just pretty little breathing objet d'art, both ornamental and worthless apart from how nice we look. Oh, you won a Nobel Prize? Look at your pretty dress! You're a Supreme Court Justice? Look at the stems on you! You just won a tennis game? Give us a twirl.

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      Potatoe666Eldritch
      1/22/15 10:09am

      No. Better version: Remember ladies, do nevertheless what you want to do and don't give a * about idiots who think your worth is equal to your looks. Society will get there - not anytime soon - but there is no point of giving up our own power.

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      fortheloveofbeetsPotatoe666
      1/22/15 10:29am

      Um, who asked you? It's not "giving up our own power" to ask that people refrain from being sexist dipshits to us. Do you somehow think that women diminish our own accomplishments by pointing out the obstacles that were and are in our way? FUCK that. "Society" doesn't just magically change on its own—the status quo has to be actually challenged in order for it to change. It's naïve as shit to say that "ladies" should do whatever we want and ignore the idiots.

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    TerrordidactylKelly Faircloth
    1/22/15 9:59am

    Bouchard's mouth fell open and she responded with aslightly befuddled "A twirl?" before cooperating.

    Sexist bullcrap of course and also unfair to Bouchard. Twirling is a serious business and should only be attempted by a professional:

    GIF
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      Mr.DuckSauceTerrordidactyl
      1/22/15 10:06am

      Also is unfair to those who are not ambi-turners.

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      TurnerTerrordidactyl
      1/22/15 10:08am

      Stevie Nicks was the queen of coked out twirling back in the day.

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    MisfitToyKelly Faircloth
    1/22/15 9:58am

    And if either of them said no they'd be humorless bitches.

    BTW, Serena, I can answer: Yes, it is sexist.

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      Pope AlexanderMisfitToy
      1/22/15 12:23pm

      That's the thing that bothers me the most. Like you can tell from the clip that her smile slips a bit and she's thinking, "Ugh... fine."

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    GELLA - LLAPKelly Faircloth
    1/22/15 10:01am

    you can ask about a dress, don't ask her to twirl.

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      JennyWennyatFriendfaceRisesGELLA - LLAP
      1/22/15 10:09am

      Yeah. It's so dicey! Serena Williams has done so much to change what pro female tennis players wear, and she loves fashion and is an icon in that regard. But again, no one cares what male players wear because it doesn't matter. So I can't decide if getting noticed for wearing something interesting is okay because that's a part of her persona and her influence on the sport, or if looking at what a women plays tennis in is bullshit across the board. I don't know. But twirling: THAT is bullshit across the board.

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      GELLA - LLAPJennyWennyatFriendfaceRises
      1/22/15 10:16am

      I do notice what man wear, remember Rafa get up few years ago and now.

      There was an interview after Serena match by i think Mary Joe and all she did is asked about her dress and design, because it was Serenas design. It was totally appropriate questions. But twirling is way overboard and sexist.

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    artless.dodgerKelly Faircloth
    1/22/15 10:07am

    Twirling should only be done by princesses, whether of the Moon Kingdom or of Imperial Russia.

    GIF
    GIF
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      Sipowitzartless.dodger
      1/22/15 10:11am
      GIF

      Had to add my favorite, if you're gonna throw Anya in there.

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      Fist of the Pon Farrartless.dodger
      1/22/15 11:13am
      GIF
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    pandaaaKelly Faircloth
    1/22/15 10:03am

    Dear Serena, yes, yes it was sexist.

    I hope those commentators get their asses handed to them by their bosses. What fucking dumbfuck question to ask one of the world's top tennis players. FFS.

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      Bekabypandaaa
      1/22/15 10:14am

      Yah, fucking exactly. If you cannot think of anything better than outfits to talk about with one of the best female tennis players in the world, consider asking your boss to take you off the sports beat because you are not even remotely good at your job.

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      pandaaaBekaby
      1/22/15 10:22am

      I just looked up how to complain to the station, and they don't take email complaints. There's a form to fill in with an external body for failures of the broadcasting code, which I haven't read but I would guess this doesn't fall under. There's a postal address and phone number but I'm a foreigner so they're not really the best. I'll type up a letter now but it's gonna take it's sweet fucking time to get there.

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    Potatoe666Kelly Faircloth
    1/22/15 9:59am

    The female body on a silver tablet. No no not sexist, not at all.

    Btw, page 3 has been reinstated, apparently it was a joke (ha ha ha) from Murdoch's site that they would stop with the old page 3 concept to get more PR.

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      InsertWittyScreenNameHerePotatoe666
      1/22/15 10:13am

      Can you fill me in on this? I've heard one little muttering about it on Facebook, but other than that I am totally out of the loop. I'm guessing you're talking about The Sun's page 3?

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      Potatoe666InsertWittyScreenNameHere
      1/22/15 10:14am

      http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-309285...

      or just google "page 3"

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    LucyPevensieKelly Faircloth
    1/22/15 12:11pm

    I know they were taken by surprise and responded with instinctive courtesy, and I probably would have done the same thing, i.e. twirled while thinking "wtf??", but I honestly wish they could have just shut it down with a polite but firm "No; I can't give you a twirl." These are elite athletes being spoken to like 5-year olds dressed up in princess costumes, and that shit is unacceptable.

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      picklesandbeetsLucyPevensie
      1/22/15 12:52pm

      He played them perfectly though. Serena already gets a ration for anything she does, so if she refused she knew she'd be hearing about it forever. Imagine the tennis world as Fox News and she's Obama. So she did it in a moment of weakness. Then he asked Bouchard and referenced that Serena (world number 1 and icon) did it which put her in the awkward position of making it look like she was criticizing Serena if she didn't do it too. I wish neither of them had twirled, but understand why they did when put on the spot unexpectedly.

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    UrbanAchieverKelly Faircloth
    1/22/15 10:06am

    Well, some men twirl. They just don't get asked to do so during major tennis tournaments.

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      adultosaur married anna on the astral planeUrbanAchiever
      1/22/15 10:34am

      this weirded me out and then i thought it was because i was holding onto patriarchal ideals of masculinity

      but i think i just think baton twirling is weird. like it's an art and damn it takes skill but something about it is...weird.

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    A Small TurnipKelly Faircloth
    1/22/15 10:05am

    I just want so badly for him to ask Andy Murray to twirl for him. It'd be like asking an especially dour Aberdeen Angus bull with a bad toothache to do a little dance. Please oh please oh please let it happen. I ACHE to see Murray's face.

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      MercyBrownA Small Turnip
      1/22/15 10:23am

      the vision I now have of cranky Andy twirling has made my day! Tyvm!

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