My objection to this advertisement is simple: it is just completely unrealistic to suggest that a band of gang rapists would be that well dressed and groomed. Come on!
yosef’s insight might be more sociopolitically sound: didn’t feminism teach us that it’s a woman’s right to choose to be gang raped?
I mean, we all know that, right? But to just put it right there in the name. Not “slender” jeans or “low BMI” jeans. “Skinny” jeans. And by the way, it’s also a hint: do not wear these unless you are skinny. It’s knd of the same rule as the “super low rise”. Don’t wear them unless they look “super” on you, i.e. you have no hip fat.
When Audrey Hepburn is your model, you’re kind of writing off the size 4 and ups, you know?
(thanks to mirth for recalling my attention to this crisis today)
Feminists do not have to be against beauty. Feminists are for political, social, and economic equality for women. Let’s consider how this all works out.
(more…)
Along with my delia’s sweater (which, btw, looks totally adooorable on!) there was an advertisement insert. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it online, nor do I have a scanner, but it’s disturbingly in keeping with other Herbal Essences sexual-inuendo advertising. There’s a hot girl with great hair on it, and the tagline reads “With hair this great, you’ll have anything but a silent night.” Uh-huh. That was in my delia’s box, people. The same company that asks you when you’ll be graduating from high school as part of its checkout procedure.
Just a heads up, parents. Delia’s is encouraging teenage sex in the guise of hygiene. And promoting Christianity. It’s more insidious than “Hot Cinnamon Sunset”.
I can’t help but think that there’s something insidiously subliminal about naming a tea “Hot Cinnamon Sunset.”
Sexy kitchen aprons? According to some (The Wall Street Journal), an attempt to cash in on an affluent market where the women cook once a month as a novelty, and want to look cute doing it. According to others (indignant left-wing feminists with short hair), a feeble subterfuge created by men to lure women back into the kitchen. And still others (eerily happy neocon feminists with manicured nails) see it an attempt by advocates of difference feminism to help us accept and embrace our true femininity.
My question is: why is it that they haven’t created a Chippendales line for men? Hmmm…perhaps because the myth that women are just as image-oriented and objectifying as men is wrong? Or because it’s right, but women are only just as likely to objectify other women (face it ladies, you’re not watching Alias to see Michael Vartan kick box in a strapless dress.)
Well, it looks like the people at Dove are certainly getting attention from local media outlets. (Thanks for the heads up, Yosef). Here’s some of my own results of a very scientific survey of my friends and family:
“This is exactly what they wanted. We’re talking about it, right?”
“This is kind of like how no one liked Bridget Jones 2 because Renee Zellweger was too heavy to be likeable anymore. No one wants to see a movie where two ugly people make out.”
“I’d rather see a hot supermodel on a billboard than someone who looks like me.”
Although Bill Zwecker’s suggestion that these women are somehow “out of shape” is a bit ignorant. Has he taken a good look at them? They’re not models, but, in my opinion, they all seem to be pretty healthy for their body types. Not everyone is born 5′8″ with small bone structure, a high metabolism, and large breasts. Hey, Bill, I notice you don’t include your weight in those stats, or your advancing age. Frankly, I’d rather have Johnny Depp doin’ the news (and I think I wouldn’t be the only one who might actually watch your show if that were the case), but I don’t send you hate mail.
The optimist in me would like to think that Dove’s new ad campaign is an earnest attempt to redefine the media’s depiction of beauty. But the much more agressive and vocal cynic in me is convinced it’s just another publicity stunt aimed at selling a mass-marketed product. And you can bet your cellulite that a billboard touting a “less-than-perfect” model gets your attention even more than one with a washed-out waif. I know I did a double take; right before I ran to Walgreens to buy a wide array of fine Dove products.
Malignant marketing has done it again. But this time, instead of trying to sell me a $6 bottle of shampoo that will make me look like Kelly LeBroc, they have convinced me that I am only $89 away from looking like Jennifer Garner. These are at a deep discount off the original “Seven” price, so I can pocket the rest of the money, or use it to buy tubs of ice cream to celebrate my new figure!
