As the new owner of an iPod touch, I have been scouring the iTunes app store looking for whatever awesome (free) things I can add to my new toy. In the process, I’ve discovered something sort of troubling.
There’s a whole host of incredibly sexist apps. Tons of bikini babes and hottie slideshows, and that’s just the beginning. As annoying and moderately offensive as those objectifying ones are, others are much worse. Let’s start with fetishes. Of course, you can download babes in your choice of stereotype – Asian models appear to be a big one.
What’s really troubling are the ones where you can control or collect women. It’s more than a little disturbing that there are people out there willing to pay a buck-99 for a subservient digital lady. Or to play games where their bikinis get progressively tinier as your score rises. Or you can control the gal by shaking the phone or making her strip. And lets not ignore the catcalls app. As if it wasn’t bad enough for women, getting comments from real people as we walk past construction sites or mind our own business on the subway, now we may have to deal with some random dude who thinks his new iPhone app shouting lewd things is just hilarious?
Or the pimp hand. Just cuz nothing is funnier than slapping your woman around.
And if anyone is saying, sure, that sucks, but there must be something out there for ladies too, you’re only partially right. Yes there are apps out there for women to ogle some hot dudes, but after scrolling through 62 pages of entertainment apps on iTunes, I saw what had to be close to 100 sexy bikini girl type programs and exactly 2 where you could look at some man candy. And the people being digitally controlled were always women. Not equal.
The existence of a vibrator app doesn’t even come close to making up for it. -Liza
(photo via iTunes)
