As reported in The Guardian:
The Greens senator, Sarah Hanson-Young, has won an apology from “lads’ mag” Zoo Weekly over a July 2012 issue depicting her near-naked, arguing women rarely take a stand over sexism and “my daughter needs to know I did”.
“As a mother it is a huge concern that my own daughter can Google my name and find images of my face Photoshopped on to the body of a near-naked woman,” she said.
“Women are too often victims of sexism and too often they stay silent on the issue. I believe that it is important that women see their political leaders stand up and call out sexism when they see it.
“Young women need to see their female leaders taking a stand against sexism. My daughter needs to know I did.”
Zoo Weekly had promised to host a 'boat load of asylum seekers' in its offices if Ms Hanson Young participated in a swimsuit or lingerie photoshoot, when she refused, they did it anyway via photoshopping her head onto the body of a bikini model.
It was after this stunt that Zoo Weekly then published its "hottest asylum seeker" competition. A two-page spread in its July 16 2012 issue asked asylum seekers to send "pics and a short story about your tragic past".
The text read:
"Are you a refugee not even the immigration minister could refuse? Then we want to see you!
"We're looking for Oz's hottest asylum seeker, so if you've swapped persecution for sexiness, we want to shoot you (with a camera - relax!)."
Refugee advocate Matt Darvas launched a successful petition calling on Zoo Weekly to pull the competition and issue an apology.
Whilst the apology extended to its treatment of Ms. Hanson Young, her photoshopped images remained on its website for sometime afterwards.
Congratulations to Ms. Hanson-Young for taking a stand against sexism and achieving this positive result.
Why does Coles and Woolworths continue to sell this misogynist all-ages 'men's mag?'
23 Year old Melbourne woman Laura Pintur has launched a petition calling for Coles and Woolworths to bin Zoo Weekly.
The 'men's mag' is 'unrestricted' which means there are no age limits on who can purchase it. Zoo's own market data reveals that 36,000 boys aged 14-17 are amoung its readership and it's core target is 'men' aged 16-40.
Collective Shout recently released footage of 10 and 12 year old boys purchasing the magazines from both Coles and Woolworths.
The petition has climbed to over 36,000 signatures - add yours today.
Click here to sign the petition
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