Saturday, May 3, 2008

"What Do You Call Them?"

Does anyone else think that this Playtex ad campaign is more than a little creepy?

I am particularly unamused by the videos entitled "What do you call them?" I knew it couldn't be long before corporate America reappropriated the feminist rhetoric of The Vagina Monologues, turning it into the same old sexist bullshit, to sell bras to women.

Particularly irritating are these:
"Husband Pleasers." (As if breasts exist solely for the pleasure of men, not for the women or their offspring.)
"Money Makers." (Because women have been taught throughout history that the only way for them to make it in patriarchal economic systems are through their subjugated and sale-able sexuality.)
"Puppies." (Because women are constantly dehumanized by being relegated to status of animals. And we all know how animals are treated in this country.)
"I've been asked to shake the money makers on the subway a few times." (Trivializing the terrorism that is street harassment. I have heard too many stories at the Holla Back Chicago site to think that this is cute. The most recent contribution "I Never Feel Safe" is especially telling.)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ugh, that's so annoying. It's almost as bad as the Bali bra commercials for the bras with the "nipple covers." So you can be as "modest and flawless as possible."
As we all know, only whores have those flaws known as nipples! Are they even trying to sell bras to women anymore?
Nice blog you have here, btw. Very insightful and well written.