You've boiled the issue down far too much to make an effective point. The video is titled "Stop telling women to smile". Neither of the two women interviewed had anything to say about them being harassed by being told to smile (at least, not that they spoke of on-camera).

Sage's point was that telling someone to smile isn't necessarily harassment, and he's right. I tell people at work all the time "hey, come on man, smile" as a means of trying to cheer them up.

There's a difference between that some random street walker hitting on you, making the title just seem... ineffective. Something more along the lines of "Stop Street Harassment" or "We're not a piece of meat", something that actually explains the problem better than the title the artist chose to go with.

At the end of the day, to me at least, this video is trying to make a larger point about smiling = looking good, women need to look good (or are objectified by men so they need to look good) therefore, women must smile to look pretty for men all the time and STOP telling us to do so!

If it's not that, then the real reason it's called "Stop telling women to smile" eludes me.

I'm not saying that it's not a problem. ANY form of harassment is a problem, weather it be racial, gender, sexual orientation, etc. based. But rallying behind someone being told to smile? That's just meh.

And before you ask, no, i'm not saying that there isn't a problem with harassment. And I'm not saying it's a minor one. I'm saying that "Hey babe, nice tits!" is more something to be offended by. I'm not a woman and get told to smile all the damn time.

Essentially that's already how it is in a lot of the world.

When I got married in NZ we had a secular wedding that was essentially a glorified marriage licence signing.

When my friends got married they had a religious ceremony that was.... essentially a glorified marriage licence signing.

As far as the state is concerned, you're married when you sign the documentation. Whatever else you do around that (secular, religious, whatever) is irrelevant.

As for gay weddings and churches, no-one is suggesting forcing churches to perform gay marriages. But once again, this is really, really simple. If you run a business*, you cannot discriminate against either your customers or employees on the basis of ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual orientation.


* and no, there is no special exemption for your business if your business includes art.

@ChaosEngine

i guess i was not clear.
so let me clarify.

i was not defending an artists right to discriminate on the basis of:sexual orientation,gender,race,class etc etc.

i WAS,however,defending an artists right to refuse a commission on their own personal grounds (whatever those might be) and they could do it without making a big deal about it.no need to be specific WHY you refused the commission.just that you wont be able to do the job to the best of your ability and that maybe joe-artist down the street could serve you better.

so you may find darkhands analogy trite and contrived but the basic heart of his comment is true.if his heart aint in it you are gonna get crap as a result.

being an artist for hire is nothing like owning a bagel shop or selling t-shirts.

if i aint feeling it...
i aint doing it.

if you want to project that i refuse because you are gay,or because their is a vagina involved..well..thats on you.
my reasons are my own.
i may share those reasons with you,i may not but i have that right to refuse the commission.

and the artists who DOES share a reason of homophobia or sexism is just dumb and probably not worth hiring anyways.

as for calling out artists who "whore" themselves.
i wasnt thinking of artists who accept money for the work they do.we all have to eat brother and if i used your example,each and every one of us are whores in one capacity or another.

i was actually thinking of the artists who lend their pen,brush,camera and instrument to create propaganda videos,commercials etc etc.

basically anyone who would sell their integrity for a buck.

So just to be clear, if an artist is homophobic, that's ok?

How about sexist? If I hire a photographer for a corporate event to celebrate the hiring of a new female CEO, it's cool for them to say "nah, I think women should be home raising kids"?

How about racist? How about discriminating on religious grounds? How about just ugly people? "I would shoot your wedding, but frankly, you're both just hideous and let's face it you don't need photos reminding you of that"

Fuck that.

The difference between the real situation of someone being discriminated on sexual orientation and @Darkhand's ridiculously contrived example of being forced to write a song about hating cats is that hating cats is perfectly socially and legally acceptable. Discriminating against people based on ethnicity, gender or orientation is not.

If you "take photos, make videos, design clothes" you're not an artist, you're a business. Your business happens to include art but you're already "whoring" yourself by offering your services for money. And the price of doing business is that you agree to abide by laws, one of which says that you cannot discriminate based on certain attributes.

OTOH, if you're a landscape artist who's commissioned by an oil company and you want to say "nope, I am not ethically comfortable with you" then yes, you have the right to refuse.

My analogy has nothing to do with accepting the job and backing out, it has everything to do with WHY they refused these clients service. These people were turned away because of their sexual orientation. That was the photographers own words, it's not contested. 'We don't want to shoot your wedding because same sex marriage is against our beliefs.' That's discrimination. It's really quite simple. If you turn down customers on the basis of sexual orientation you are discriminating. You pay a fine.

The key difference that you are ignoring is that this photographer told the client the reason they refused them service was because of their sexual orientation. If the photographer told the client that they had different artistic views, that would be different, but they didn't. New Mexico's anti-discrimination law forbids for-profit businesses from turning down customers on the basis of sexual orientation. I believe that's a good law because I believe discrimination is bad.
I don't have hate in my heart "dude", it's indignation.

Alas, hope still for my own state of sequester which has told the Common Core to suck a dick.

Yeah, this common core bullshit is nothing but agenda-oriented think-tank implants/appointees working in tandem with politicians and their pals to guide the populous headfirst and forward into how to think like automatons and wage slaves without the capacity or will to fight the powers that bees.

As a Canadian of Asian descent, I just want to back up Colbert, here. If satire is "the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues," then I think he knocked this one out of the park. A lot of folks don't see "Redskins" as an offensive term because they grew up with it being everywhere; exaggerating and applying the same idea to the Asian population really highlights how ridiculous the name of this foundation is, but only because Western culture has only just recently started to agree that phrases like "Ching chong ding dong", "orientals" (unless you're Rob Ford), "gook", "slant", "chink", etc, are actually really offensive. If a pro sports team came up with the name "Vancouver Chinamen" or "Detroit Negroes" today (coupled with stereotypical logos) there would be a massive and immediate outrage. The only reason the Redskins have gotten away with their name is that the team was named long enough ago that the racial slur was widely acceptable to the non-First Nations public.

And really, this parallels racial awareness in North America; although racism is still very much a thing for people of all races, the First Nations population is still being outstandingly and horribly marginalized with very little support or attention being paid to them or their (still appallingly denied) rights. Here in Canada (in which we boast great racial and cultural diversity, the "cultural mixed salad" vs the US "melting pot"), we still haven't done anything to amend the fact that when we got here we took brutal advantage of a trusting and helpful culture, booted them out to the worst parts of the country and stranded them there.

I disagree with this on a few points.

First up, "we didn't choose to be nerds". er, yeah, you did. It's not skin colour or sexual orientation, it's personal preference. Literally.

At some point you have to own your choices in life. I've always maintained that "you shouldn't judge people on their beliefs/opinions" is bullshit. It's not acceptable to use "it's just what I believe" as a scapegoat for unsavoury beliefs (racism, homophobia, sexism, etc).

Unfortunately, it swings both ways. If we get to tell racists they're assholes, we must accept that people have the right to judge us on our taste in movies, books, etc. If we can't do that, then we are forced to accept that reading Twilight or listening to Nickelback is not up for mockery. That is not a world I want to live in.

Now, that said, of course no-one should be bullied for liking sci-fi or math or science. Those things are awesome, but not even twilights fans deserve to be bullied.

Next up, the whole "it's not you, it's the bully and their own issues".

Sorry, but no. Some kids are just evil little fucks. They're not jealous or looking for attention, they're just mean. It's a nice idea, but honestly, some people just need to be powerslammed.

Label it 'gay' and you're guaranteed it'll sift and this represents the credo of the first sentence on the Videosift fact sheet? Which reads:

"Members submit videos from the best video hosts from around the Net to be voted on by other Sifters with only the best being "sifted" up to the front page."

Historically on this site, anything promoting, showcasing, or challenging homophobia has invariably made it to the front page though by far, many of the offerings do not represent the best video content on the web.

This reminder being not at all for those who love all things gay or even the folks who have an agenda-oriented motivation for posting a shitload of gay-themed videos rather, it's more of an indictment for the cunts who use that statement in the faq's as an excuse to indict others publicly for "not adhering to the stated guidelines" when their true motivation is a personal dislike for a particular user. I call these morons haters who don't know themselves very well.

Really man, call it rain while pissing down my leg, it's glaringly obvious regardless of some paltry, long-winded defense of your actual motivations for littering the site with spamtacular drivel...

Now I'll watch the video and vote according to my personal preference, like the majority of people here do, whether or not they chose to admit it.

Yeah, I'm aware - now - that this commentary-versation was going in a completely different direction than I was taking it. Unfortunately, I sometimes can't resist the urge to respond to the immediacy of what my gut might be feeling... meaning, I started typing my snotty remark before I dove into the meat of what all the previous comments were focusing on. After I hit the submit button, I did realize this fact, but I re-read my post, and was still rather proud of my observations.

So I figured I'd leave my blurb up just in case there was anyone out there who might not be as musically oriented as some of us, but still has an appreciation for viewing some of the ""TOOLS"" that have resulted from the ever evolving technologies of THIS MODERN AGE, as the absurdities they often are.

The rest of you who are taking the other fork in the road of this dialogue, move along.... nothing to see here.

You're attitude is disgusting.

These come out to people on camera videos are usually meant as inspirational or in some way positive, sometimes negative when it goes that way ( usually people with your mentality of ignorance and double slit narrow minded vision. The whole Homosexual orientation in media such as this is the same as other minorities trying to get the same value and respect that is owed and deserved by those different than yourself, it is your mentality that will drive this point until you wieners either die off or change your mind once you take logic into account.

It is not sad that he recorded this, it is sad that this sort of movement has to even exist

The only reality that this woman has to disregard a possible nephew or niece is the one you persist on having, were they can not unite and adopt children who need love and caring, aka FAMILIES.

True dat, and as far as audience's facial responses go, typically German from any region, over-scrutinizing, province and war-remorse-oriented, otherwise, the YT gab from Germans speaks tomes to the same overall sentiments from native speaking Germano-types still caught-up in their own particular brand of dysfunction......buncha tight-assed Vaterland-style motherfuckers kinna pissed that The U.S. bothered' em while they were shitting on the planet typea-volk.

Sandra shines as always, self-effacing giggles when she knows she might be a bit off regionally, and having to look at douchebags in the audience with corn-cobs embedded permanently in their assess and still remaining as sweet and as charming as ever. Much love Sandra, keepin' it real.


NOW. Dicks and pussies climb up my ass with the racism card, and suck you your own assess. Got a fuckload of German in my blood, as well as (insert here, most races, creeds, or colors, though quite possibly no Chinese, all hail mankind's supreme overlords).

Ones' the kind of asshole that reserves the right to refuse service to someone for any reason whatsoever and the other is a type of asshole that reserves the right to sick the laws on you, sue you because the law is so fucked-up that it will let those assholes do that...I don't get your point.

Uncreative, self-centered pricks are everywhere, regardless of race, creed, color, sexual orientation, or fucking intelligence as a whore with their fractured egos in the personality's driver's seat.

'Spoiled 14-year-old girls scream, stamp feet, tweet it, and get their way, news at fucking eleven."

Maybe someone needs to move to planet douchebag??
Just saying.

Did YOU see what I did there? I called bullshit when it screamed at me in the fucking face.

Ahem.

Sexual orientation, my lovely. Not sexual preference.

Not a choice. Born that way, yeah?