The Sexism Question

Got called out for sexism the other day. Sneaker Girls said the site was using women’s bodies to seem provocative while basically just demeaning them. First I didn’t care—that’s what happens when you make provocative stuff. Then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

They’re not wrong about what we do. The whole aesthetic is built on being crude, sexual, and irreverent. We use a lot of women in a lot of ways, deliberately. I don’t pretend it’s thoughtful or careful. It’s horny, it’s irreverent, that’s the point.

Is that sexist? I keep circling back to the same answer: no, because the people working here are smart and thoughtful. Hannah, Asumi, Ines—they’re not trying to demean anyone. We put too much work into this to do it just to hurt people. But the more I sit with that defense, the thinner it feels. Good intentions aren’t actually an argument. You can be a good person and still make something that hurts people.

I still think what we’re doing is worth doing. But I’m less sure that you get to just shrug off the criticism. Maybe the real answer is simpler: we make sexual, provocative content that uses women’s bodies. Some people rightfully call that out. Whether that’s sexism or style—I genuinely don’t know the answer.