- So much for the genius
A couple weeks ago, I blogged about an ad for right wing bumperstickers and such that was on DailyKos. Well, now there's a new ad in town. I was blog hoppin yesterday, and I came across a post snarking about the "sanctimonius women's studies set." Of course my intrest was piqued. Turns out Kos' knickers were in a knot because those persnickety feminists expressed disgust at an ad that Kos was running.
The ad in question is for the New Gilligan's Island reality show. It features the new Mary Ann and Ginger having a big ol pie fight/ wet tshirt contest. I saw the ad, thought ug, and pretty much blew it off. Until I read Kos' post. And the comments. To be fair, there were quite a few comments (from men even!) that defended the women that complained. Most, however, sounded something like "Titties! Titties are good! I like me some titties!" and "what the hell is wrong with you people!?! These woman are expressing their sexuality! You're trying to censor women's sexuality you patriarchal prude!!" and my personal fav, "I have a lesbian friend, and she said it was HAWT, so its can't be offensive!!"
Um yeah. And this on a "progressive" site. Gives me so much hope for the future. Not. So, anyhoo, I could spend a good hour or two detailing why the ad is offensive, why people have a right (and a duty, IMO) to complain about its presence on the site, etc etc, ad nauseum, but there are a million feminists out there who will do it better, so I'll just comment on two points.
First off, let's look at the lesbian friend argument. K, let me explain something. All lesbians are not alike. No, really. We may have some things in common (Indigo Girls, flannel, the hots for Angelina, really good sex lives...), but we're not clones. We're not even all feminists. Actually, in my experience, most lesbians aren't feminists. I know, blows my mind too, but there ya go. So. Your lesbian friend's opinion of the ad means no more or less than anyone else's opinion of it, and it most certainly does not represent the thoughts of all lesbians, or all feminists. I have a male friend that thinks the ad is gross. That doesn't mean all men think its gross (obviously), so seriously, shut the fuck up already. "My friend the *fillintheblank*" isn't a good argument for or against anything. Shut. Up.
On to the "stop censoring women's sexuality" crowd. And can I just say how surprised I was that there was at least one woman among the men arguing this point? Cause really, how could you possibly believe that? OK, granted, a lot of women fantasize about lesbian interactions. But I have never, ever, ever in my life heard or read anything EVER about women fantasizing about having a pie fight and wrestling around on a table. With another woman. To sell a fucking TV show. I mean come on people, the ad is so obviously geared towards men. Its not selling female sexuality, its selling male fantasy. Period, end of story.
In summary: is the ad offensive? Hell yes. But no more than the rest of the ads on the net. What makes it over the top is its placement on a site that claims to be progressive. And, of course, the "shut up bitch, da menfolks is talkin!" attitude expressed by so many of the commenters on that site. And they wonder why the Democrats are losing women voters. Pfft.
For those wondering why advertising is important, check out this article.