The Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Balik has a serious problem with Ariana Grande

Mayim Balik is really not happy about billboards. One billboard in particular, actually, in which Ariana Grande is posing in lingerie and heels.

Writing on Jewish parenting blog kveller, Mayim commented that, while she’s “a bleeding heart liberal without exception,” she’s “old-fashioned” when it comes overtly sexual adverts and media out in public for everyone to see. “I dress modestly,” writes Mayim. “I don’t want my kids learning about sex from billboards. Stuff like that.”

“Which is why a few billboards I have seen lately really bug me,” she continues. “There is one for Ariana Grande, and I will go ahead and admit I have no idea who she is or what she does. Based on the billboard, she sells lingerie. Or stiletto heels. Or plastic surgery because every woman over 22 wishes she has that body, I’m sure. Why is she in her underwear on this billboard though?”

We’re firmly anti slut-shaming, and very pro ‘a woman can wear whatever the heck she likes’. But in this instance, Mayim does seem to have a point. “If she has a talent (is she a singer?), then why does she have to sell herself in lingerie?” she asks. It’s one thing if a woman is CHOOSING to pose in underwear – it’s another thing entirely when she feels she has to.

Of course, Ariana herself probably isn’t to blame for the oversexualisation of women in the media. It’s a massive societal problem, and these days, singers are rarely able to believed to be successful or valuable unless they’re sex up their image. Which Mayim goes on to point out.

“I mean, I know that society is patriarchal and women are expected to be sexy and sexually available no matter what we do in society. [...] I just don’t understand why this is what ads need to look like. What good does it do for humanity or society? Why do I have to be OK with young women literally in lingerie on gigantic billboards? If I want to see women in lingerie, I can walk through any mall with a Victoria’s Secret.”

So, whaddya think of Mayim’s comments? Tweet us @CosmopolitanUK to let us know.

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Lingerie Lovelies Lure Drinkers to Austrian Wine – Wine

A publisher in Austria has been quietly promoting Austrian wine for the last decade in a way that is as old as time itself: with pictures of sexy ladies in their lingerie.

The Jungwinzerinnen (Young Female Winemakers) calendar shows off the, erm, softer side of Austrian winemaking. Twelve women from Burgenland, Neiderosterreich, Styria and Vienna have bared nearly all in order to attract attention for the national wine industry. 

The calendar is the brainchild of Ellen Ledermüller-Reiner, a (presumably feminist) publisher based in Burgenland. The 2015 edition will be the 12th, and for a mere $32 (25 euros), your office or kitchen can look like the bedroom of a 14-year-old boy.

But! It’s wine, so no fear: it’s classy. Ledermüller-Reiner told Decanter in 2011: “It should attract attention and be sexy, but not be cheap or overly erotic.” OK, yep, you sure ticked all those boxes.

Twelve months and 12 women means that the calendar captures a year in the life of the scantily clad winemaker in some detail. Pruning, harvesting, cleaning tanks, lying awkwardly on some stairs clutching a carafe of Grüner Veltliner: it has all been laid bare for the public to see.

The aim of the calendar is to promote Austrian wine, which has been largely devoid of sexiness following the anti-freeze scandal of the 1980s. That’s not to say it isn’t good: Grüner Veltliner and Riesling from above the Danube has held critics’ attention for some time, and vibrant, red Blaufrankisch wines are well on their way to becoming favorites of hipster sommeliers. One can’t help but think that this calendar flies in the face of that image.

There is obviously a lot of demand for the calendar (sarcasm aside, it is, in essence, 12 pictures of nubile women in their underwear). I assume the calendar’s male counterpart is on its way: surely 12 months’ worth of dirt-smeared, topless men would sell a copy or two?

Or, y’know, we could just drink Austrian wine and be adults about it.

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