If you happen to be particularly distracted by the amount of cleavage out on the loose today, you won’t be alone , for today is Boobquake.
Yes, Boobquake.
Jen McCreight, a “liberal, geeky, nerdy, scientific, perverted atheist feminist trapped in Indiana” who runs the blog Blag Hag, set up Boobquake as a response to Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi’s comment that:
"Many women who do not dress modestly ... lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes.”
Our own K.A. Laity noted that the sexual power of women was enough to start earthquakes, and McCreight’s Boobquake is setting out to do just that.
What started out as a blog post and a “joke” Facebook event has quickly gained over 41,000 “likes” and, not surprisingly, “Boobquake” is already trending on Twitter in the UK. (And I’m sure as soon as the US wakes up, it will be trending world wide.)
So what exactly is Boobquake?
As McCreight put it...
“On Monday, April 26th, I will wear the most cleavage-showing shirt I own. Yes, the one usually reserved for a night on the town. I encourage other female skeptics to join me and embrace the supposed supernatural power of their breasts. Or short shorts, if that's your preferred form of immodesty.
“With the power of our scandalous bodies combined, we should surely produce an earthquake. If not, I'm sure Sedighi can come up with a rational explanation for why the ground didn't rumble. And if we really get through to him, maybe it'll be one involving plate tectonics.”
With all of the attention to Boobquake, you can imagine that those who think that cleavage is sexist and antifeminist had a cow about this. But McCreight assures us that this is not meant to be offensive:
“I just want to apologize if this comes off as demeaning toward women. To be honest, it started as silly joke that I hurriedly fired off since I was about to miss the beginning of House. I never thought it would get the attention it did. If I would have known, I would have spent more time being careful about my wording.”
If you want to get your feminist panties in a twist because of all the cleavage and, erm, objectification involved in Boobquake, you can. But personally I think you should just laugh and take this as over 41,000 people (give or take a few due to the perverts) agreeing that women being blamed for earthquakes and adultery because of our immodest dress is fucking ridiculous. (Also, the word BOOBQUAKE is just fun.)
Plus, McCreight also encourages people to “help out the victims of inevitable natural disasters” noting that “dress modestly won’t end earthquakes”.
So, if you’re not down with cleavage but still agree that Sedighi’s comments are ridiculous, why not give to the Red Cross or the Ayaan Hirsi Ali Foundation?