August 22, 2008 Oy…Is that REALLY necessary??? (Sydney Morning Herald uses crotch shot of He Kexin on front page)
The text caption cut from the bottom of the picture says:
“IOC calls for probe into China starShe says she’s 16, but uncovered documents suggest He Kexin is 14. Today the IOC has acted”.
Now…if you are discussing the issue of whether a female athlete meets the minimum age requirement, and are alleging she’s under 16 – MUST YOU include a shot of her crotch, legs impossibly wide, and MUST you then use the word PROBE in the text typed on the bottom of said crotch-shot? I mean REALLY!
Even if you’re going to argue it’s not intentionally provoking comparisons to underage sex with the crotch shot, the editors are hardly naive enough to believe that’s not what people will see it as when they’re looking at an underage girl on her back, legs spread, crotch centre photo – and then to use PROBE??? Let me think of some synonyms more suitable – inquiry, inquest, inquisition.
Anyone else care to offer some alternative words more suitable than PROBE? Like say almost anything?
I mean one minute there is screaming rage over Henson’s images being fodder for perverts regardless of intent, the next the SMH deliberately puts a crotch shot of a girl they allege is fourteen on the front page. Hypocrisy much?
Where is Hetty Johson now?
This post covered this stuff earlier in the Olympics.
Tags: ambiguity in language, China's 'underage' gymnastics star, evocation of sex and underage girls, front page legspread shot of underage girl is 'reportin, He Kexin, oh i'm SURE it was innocent and accidental cos news edi, She has a name - He Kexin, Sydney Morning Herald puts crotch shot of '14' yr old o, the SMH loves a 'cop that' shot, underage, where is Hetty Johnson now
- 8 comments
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Fuck Politeness 
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lauredhel
said
Thanks for screen-shotting it. It’s now “IOC calls for investigation into gymnast’s age”, with a different photo.
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fuckpoliteness
said
Oh, gee, more than just the ‘nutty femmos’ found that objectionable eh?
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theladyisequal
said
That is sick.
Whether she is underage or not.
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fuckpoliteness
said
Yeah, it’s true and I was a bit wierded out after posting that I hadn’t addressed that, so thanks.
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vead
said
a) When i originally say this, i instantly knew it was going to be in your blog.
b) This is the kind of thing we expect from english(as in london) papers, how long before the SMH has a page 3 girl. Perhaps they can just squish it between the two S.A.M. blogs.
c) I remember my puberty when the media purposely avoided that kind of shot and it annoyed me back then cause i was in puberty. oh how I’ve matured.
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fuckpoliteness
said
a) You have insight to my soul Vead, what can I say?
b) Get your point, however *this* is a child, not an adult like the page 3 girls presumably are and while I appreciate the dig at the Two Sams I just needed to redraw that point
c) I’m not how I’d go about congratulating you on this development in your life…
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jacko
said
Wht s mr prngrphc – Chn nd ts prmdttd brkng f C Rls n ntrntnl Tlvsn nd whl m t th bvs, nd ls n ntrntnlly brdcst tlvsn ms-clcltn f pnts wrdng mdcr prfrmncs wth Gld mdls whn mrcn gymnsts clrly wr mr dsrvng f ths mdls vr Slvr? hr mr stpdty t f gnrnt nflflld Lbrls wh nly dlgclly, bt nt xprmntlly dntfy wth vry wrn nd fckng stpd sxst R fmnst rgmnts. prb s ll C cn d s thy r nt N (r shld sy NSD) Chn nd wh gvs sht bt vry mctd ndrg scrwny ssd 14 yr ld Chns grl nd hr crtch. Th prngrphy s fnd n yr cmmnt, yr pltfrm nd hw fckng gnrnt y r – Fck yr fmnsm nd yr stpd slss rgmnt nd grw p! Thy chtd nd s hv lbrls vr th lst 45 yrs wh hv dmpd thr pthtc scl lglsm pn th rst f ndsrvng ntn thrgh th crt systm. Yr snstvts r nt nvrsl nd n n lstns t y spk nymr – sht flws t frm yr mths tht s why! Sht p!!
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fuckpoliteness
said
Jacko, have a coke and a smile and shut the fuck up. While you’re at it, find the largest, weightiest dictionary you can find, look up the definition of pornography and then for shits and giggles hit yourself over the head with the dictionary until basic word-meaning sinks in. Til then? Piss the hell off. No one’s listening to me? Well I’m no Jon Stewart, but regular comments and 35,000 hits say that you’re wrong on that, and it sounds much more to me like you’ve got your knickers in a twist cos no one listens to *you* – which, I’d wager is due to you talking irrational moronic shit like you did in that comment – but thanks for playing.