Bus drivers in Brighton and Hove, England, are finding out the answer the hard way: their bosses are forbidding them from referring to passengers as "babe," "love," or "darling" because of complaints.

But critics of the move argued that such terms were part of the region's linguistic heritage, and that people were simply employing traditional Geordie terms of endearments.

So when bus drivers, cabbies and shopkeepers the nation over use words like "luvvie", "darling" or "flower", they are being "affectionate, not patronising", says Tony Thorne, editor of the Dictionary of Contemporary Slang.

"It's only urban sophisticates - usually under the age of 40 - who choose to find them distasteful. It is the 'language hygienists' who choose to see them as discrimination," he says.

"It's folksy - part of a tradition in this country, a momentary affection between strangers. I know people who don't live in Britain any more and when they come back they say how much they like to hear terms of affection, such as the Essex 'babes'."

So, what do you think Neatoramanauts? Is it sexist to call someone "babe"? Link

Men sick of having to pay full price at bars and nightclubs where women get discounts on "ladies’ night" have failed to win sympathy from a federal appeals court, which ruled this week that such promotions don’t violate the U.S. Constitution.

A self-described "anti-feminist" lawyer, Roy Den Hollander, sued over ladies’ night drink specials at several New York clubs, arguing that they discriminate against men. The case went to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan, where judges ruled against Den Hollander on Wednesday.

"The guys are paying for girls to party. I don’t think that’s fair," Den Hollander told the New York Daily News, vowing to escalate his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. "It’s a transfer of money from the wallets of guys to the pocketbooks of girls."

Lauren Frayer of Aol News has more: Link

Ah, misogyny, one of the final frontiers of terrible, terrible inequalities in our society. It’s amazing that only in the 60′s sexism was so prevailent in advertising. Sometimes you see ads these days and think how prejudiced they are, but seeing these makes me think “thank god for the advancements in our society.” Maybe in another 40 years sexism really will be totally gone from the marketing industry, but I doubt it.

Link

A new study from Yale University claims that weight discrimination is more widespread than previously imagined. Some of its findings:

– Men are not at serious risk of discrimination until their BMI reaches 35, while women begin experiencing an increase in discrimination at BMI 27.

- Moderately obese women with a BMI of 30 to 35 are three times more likely than men in the same weight group to experience weight discrimination.

- Compared to other forms of discrimination in the United States, weight discrimination is the third most prevalent cause of perceived discrimination among women (after gender and age) and the fourth most prevalent form of discrimination among all adults (after gender, age and race.)

As for how much control people can exert over their own weight, according to Rebecca Puhl (the study’s author):

We place a lot of emphasis on personal responsibility for body weight. Our billion-dollar diet industry is founded on that premise. Your weight is modifiable. But that does not reflect the current state of science. We know from hundreds of randomized clinically controlled trials that it’s very difficult to sustain weight loss over time with our existing treatment methods. That has compelled a number of expert panels, like the National Institutes of Health, to conclude that we really can’t expect you to lose more than 10 percent of your body weight and be able to keep that off.

Link

(Image by Fanboy30)