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Aug
20
Suck It In or Lose It?
Update: Laurie, co-founder of kirtsy has left a comment on this post explaining that kirtsy’s ad space was hijacked and that they did not approve this ad. kirtsy is currently in the process of refunding the buyer’s money for this ad and getting it removed as soon as possible. Thank you for clearing this up, Laurie.
I was perusing the stories submitted to kirtsy, a social media site for women, yesterday and while I was reading stories deemed popular by women, an ad caught my eye. Yes an ad, something that my mind usually doesn’t even register due to all ads looking the same and my mind possessing a talent to simply ignore entire halves of websites trying to sell me stuff. Upon seeing this particular ad I literally had to do a double take and find out why, exactly, my stomach was featured in an ad.
Of course it wasn’t my stomach, but it surely looked like it; so much in fact that upon first glance, the boyfriend even thought kirtsy had somehow obtained a clear picture of my stomach. Are they stalking me? Hiding outside my bedroom window with their cameras poised waiting for me to put on a pair of jeans? Nope, it’s just another ad made to make women feel bad about their bodies to the point where if they see an ad such as the one pictured to the left here, look down and notice that their stomach looks eerily familiar to the picture, they will surely opt to buy into whatever weight loss product this site “for women” is pushing on women who have low self confidence.
The reason women have low self confidence when they look in the mirror (or avoid mirrors completely) is because sites that claim to be for women are pushing products that are part of a multi-billion dollar industry profiting off of self-loathing.
This ad simply states that there are two options when your jeans don’t fit–Suck it in and be uncomfortable or lose the weight. I don’t know about you, but when my pants don’t fit, I opt to get a bigger pair of pants! I know there are still stores out there who sell pants, right? Why isn’t that an option?
Women out there who find that their stomachs look like the one in the ad or women whose stomachs don’t look like that but feel bad about themselves anyway, go get yourself a bigger pair of pants because you are beautiful and perfect just the way you are. Stop letting a multi-billion dollar industry tell you that you don’t look good. Keep the money you would spend on a weight loss product and go buy yourself something nice–Like some kick ass lingerie!
So kirtsy, you suck and you can lose that ad!
Upon closer inspection of kirtsy’s ad space while writing an email to them about their bullshit ad (sharethelove at kirtsy.com for anyone else who is interested), I noticed an ad for Carson Kressley’s TV show How to Look Good Naked with the following text placed below it:
“The refreshing thing about this show (How to Look Good Naked) is that we’re saying, ‘You know what? You look great just the way you are. We want you to be happy being who you are, and you don’t have to be perfect, and you don’t have to be a zero.’”
Yes kirtsy, we look great just the way we are and we most definitely should be happy being who we are–Even if our stomachs look like the one placed in another one of your ads. I know money for advertising space is swell, but shouldn’t you be a little less hypocritical when accepting ads?
Aug
17
PETA, You Just Make It So Easy
When many people hear someone start talking about PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, many of their minds immediately start freaking out, sending out red flags and wanting to scream ‘NOOOOOO’ at the top of their lungs. The biggest reason for this is because PETA is made up of a bunch of hypocrites; people who believe that animals shouldn’t be mistreated in any way yet don’t seem to give a shit about their fellow humans and even go as far as to say that people shouldn’t buy pets at pet stores because it is the equivalent of buying a human being as a slave. People also shouldn’t call their pets ‘pets’ because again, they make the comparison between having pets and owning slaves. I don’t know about you, but my cat has never once sparked something in my brain that made me start comparing her to owning slaves; but hey, that just may be me–But I doubt it.
A lot of people hate PETA, some people think it should even be classified as a terrorist group, which I have to say, I can agree with. The thing is–When it comes to organized groups, some members of a particular group can get a little skewed and a little extreme, hence describing these people as extremists or describing an entire organization, as PETA has proved itself to be, as an extremist organization. (Think of the pro-lifers who deem it necessary and effective to blow up Planned Parenthood clinics regardless of whether or not they actually perform abortions at that location.) You may be thinking to yourself right about now “But wait, just because members of a particular organization go all loony and start taking their efforts to dangerous territory that doesn’t mean these organizations are necessarily bad!” And you’d be correct with that assumption. Just because a wide range of PETA supporters feel it’s A-OK to tell small children that their mothers are going to burn in hell because they wear fur coats or post videos on their websites from PETA that show images that may be triggering, offensive and are just downright disgusting that could be seen by a young audience without as much as a warning posted before the video, it doesn’t mean that the organization as a whole is bad. However, when it comes to PETA, their marketing tactics are not only skewed, but they are so horrendous and in general bad taste that even when they try to explain or stand by their tactics, they come off as arrogant, obnoxious, ignorant and/or belligerent–And that’s being nice. How they choose to market themselves as an organization is their fault and theirs alone and when it comes to what ads they choose to release to the public, it is downright appalling.
PETA has put out severely sexist and just plain baffling ads that they should just stop trying to explain their tactics and simply come up with another way to tote their hypocritical bullshit to the public or hey, just stopping their organization all together is another viable option; I know of a lot of people who would be rejoicing if this were to happen.
After so many people have had negative reactions to their ads, PETA took it to the media in order to clear up any misconceptions people had about why they use naked women in the majority of their ads while the rest of their ads are degrading towards all people; all people who aren’t brainwashed by the many clever methods the organization uses to lure people in and keep them yolked and asking for more, that is.
When it comes to the unapologetic and purely sexist ads PETA uses to get their name out into society, they attempted to defend the nature of their ad to The New York Times, saying:
While cruelty to animals is a serious matter that should elicit widespread public outrage, efforts to reach the public through more serious means often fall on deaf ears in a world in which sex sells and there are both a war and an economic downturn.
Basically they just come right out and say it–PETA wants people to see their ads, have people say “Hey, hot chick.” and move on. That is what happens when you repeatedly use naked models and actresses in your ads; your message is not heard. Their comment also makes it sound as if they had used other types of marketing that simply didn’t work; however, that doesn’t seem to be the case as I went digging around for PETA ads.
In this appalling ad which came out in 2000, we can see that PETA has been using the technique of ridiculing women for the past 8 years at least.
Yeah ladies, how dare you go natural and opt not to shave your pubic region. Even PETA thinks it’s disgusting! This ad actually seems to go against the message they’re trying to get across and just using this ad as an excuse to ridicule women who don’t shave or wax and in turn, not living up to the social expectancy. The right way to go about this ad would be to say for ladies who do go all natural to feel good in doing that and think of animals whose fur is used for making fur coats, fur-lined gloves or whatever and make the conscious decision to not wear fut just because women know how good it may feel to them to not go through the torturous and painful act of waxing. But that’s just me, you know, not looking at it from the sexist goggles.
Ms. Magazine received 150 letters when they asked for their reader’s opinion on the above PETA ad and out of those 150 letters, only 6 agreed that PETA was on the right track and did not deem their ad to be sexist or discriminatory towards women and from my snap judgment, I’d have to assume that those 6 people happened to be PETA supporters.
PETA also likes to use images of naked actresses, or in this specific case, failed actresses with one big hit that did nothing but make her come off as a complete idiot–A lot. A recent 30 second ad spot they put out featuring Alicia Silverstone appeared pretty much everywhere for a good week or so.
The ad spot was put on websites and blogs of supporters and also on sites with webmasters who, like myself, wonder about the credibility of an organization who puts something out that a lot of people most likely turned the sound off for to watch and got pretty much the same effect from it–Hot chick, naked, pool…scene from Wild Things?
Other ads that show the true sexist core of PETA include:
The third ad in particular looks more like it came out of a page of Maxim, but again, PETA wants to shock people, they want people to look at an ad that looks as if it should have came out of a softcore porn magazine, enjoy the image of a size 0 woman and not grasp that the fact that there is even text on the image. The latest ad to be put out by PETA is this little gem:
That is now two ads with the text ‘Be comfortable in your own skin’ written across it and by the nature of those ads in conjunction with the others makes me sense some sort of odd connection; that being the size of the women on these ads.
PETA wants women to be comfortable in their own skin and to lay off the buying and selling of animal fur. Okay, got it. Now, why is it that these ads specifically tell women to be comfortable in their own skin but only use women who are sizes 0-2, muscular and socially accepted as being the ideal, beautiful woman? Why not get a woman who is vegetarian or vegan to pose for their ads who looks like they actually eat? PETA is basically saying that yes, you should let animals keep their fur because you should be comfortable in your own skin–as long as you’re a size 2 and conventionally beautiful. There is not one other ad from PETA that uses women of varied body shape or size. This assumption is obvious since all of these ads have this fact resonating through them and not one ad from PETA has used a male nude body. PETA obviously respects the rights of animals over women since time and time again, PETA continues to disrespect women and simply throw their naked bodies up on an ad and say “Look at me.”
PETA’s public protests and demonstrations are also a glimpse at the sexist ideas they give their supporters to take part in such as topless women under plastic wrap and fake blood with a label reading ‘Human Flesh’ in an attempt to give the public passersby a shock by reenacting how meat is packaged. A nearly naked woman painted like a snake to bring attention to the way snake skins are harvested. Girls in yellow bikinis while holding up egg-shaped signs that read “Chicks Suffer for Eggs.” And perhaps the display that really rubbed me the wrong way–The one and only time a woman of a varying size is pictured at a PETA demonstration “just happens to be” a demonstration on pigs.
So thank you PETA, for making it so easy for people to not take you seriously, think your organization should be labeled as a terrorist group, shove images of conventionally beautiful women down our throats and objectify more women with one ill-conceived cause than I thought possible. Your organization isn’t worth the time I put into writing this post, but what you stand for needs to be seen.
Aug
15
Carrying Sizes for Real Women? You Don’t Say!
Ever since I bought two pairs of panties and two tank tops from Victoria’s Secret I have been bombarded with summer sale emails. Emails in which the subject cheerily reminds me that it’s summer and that in the summer, the women who shop the sexy lingerie store must go out and buy several swimsuits that look as if they are made up of nothing but string and three strips of small fabric. Of course by the looks of these swimsuits that I am greeted with like a punch in the face as soon as I open the email, they weren’t exactly thinking function here. I have been receiving these emails every single day for the past three months. Three months! You would think they would catch on that no, I’m not particularly interested in the three strips of light weight fabric held together by string that they are trying to sell me, but then I remember–I am a number. I am a figure that goes into their sale reports. I am a random name @ random email provider like so many other women that were sent a catalog, said “ooh, cute!” and then bought two pairs of panties and two tank tops online and now forever must suffer while their unsubscribe page politely tells me that I will be removed; apparently that means I will be removed when they damn well feel like it.
I suppose that it could be viewed as a somewhat positive thing that Victoria’s Secret likes me so much that they refuse to stop sending me their daily and sometimes twice-daily emails because I recently received another email from them. This one was not of the “Buy this swimsuit or die!” nature as they shoved their airbrushed, eating disorder-inducing model down my throat, but was about their brand new revelation that they seem to be very excited about since I received this email three times.
Apparently Victoria’s Secret thought it would be a great idea to widen their range of bra sizes, as their sizes have sucked tremendously many, many times.
So you would think this is a victory and all ‘hooray’ for Victoria’s Secret. I, however, knowing better, looked into it a bit more since their new sizes would mean that I could actually shop for bras through them because sometimes, yes, they have a lot of sexy stuff that I would love to be carried in a size that could fit approximately two small honeydew melons in.
Victoria’s Secret is now carrying their new, full coverage bras (new? what? *looks around*) Over 20 bras, the majority being plain, boring, one color types up to a size 40DD. Now let us turn our attention to the advertisement for these bras once more.
In what universe does this model wear a size 40DD bra? She doesn’t look to have scary implants and her stomach does not look to be the stomach of a normal woman who wears a bigger size bra cup than a B. So while Victoria’s Secret now claims they offer a wider range of sizes, although they should really put a disclaimer that says ‘for online purchases only’ because they do not carry a bra over a cup size of a C in their store–I know, I’ve made that mistake before; they simply refuse to show the public a normal sized woman. Nice ab indent, model of supposed 40DD bra; really. Psh.
This whole marketing scheme has me a little confused, to be honest. Why is it such big news that Victoria’s Secret has finally realized not all women come in sizes 0-2? What made them realize it now, rather than before? Why do they have the audacity to market themselves as the place to shop for sexy lingerie yet refuse to cater to all women?
Like I said before, I’ve made the mistake of trying to shop in one of their stores. I walked in, had a stick of a woman approach me and ask me what I was looking for. I replied with I was just looking, thanked her and moved on to peruse through the displays and racks of items. I came across something that I thought was nice and went back to the same woman who had approached me when I had walked in, asked her if they carried what I had in my hand in any other sizes because I didn’t see the size that I needed on display. She looked at me rather smugly and said ‘I think you will have better luck shopping online rather than in the store for the sizes you’re looking for.’ I felt like I had been punched in the gut, fell to the floor and had a gaggle of size 0 women crowding around me throwing Twinkies at me. It was a very Carrie-like scenario of what I had going through my head in just the few seconds I stood there, utterly dumbfounded. I gave her an ‘oh no you didn’t’ look, handed her the item I was carrying and walked out.
I’m not saying that Victoria’s Secret is the only company who markets this way, but they are one of the most popular and their marketing tactics are rather disgusting. I will not be shopping there anymore, I know that much and probably shouldn’t have when I made my purchase a few months ago; but then again, I thought it was going to be that one time and I would have my pretty new stuff and that would be the end of it. I didn’t anticipate on being on the email list that refuses to unsubscribe people.
Jul
31
Body Image, Magazines, Tyra Banks
Okay, so I love Tyra Banks. I have seen every episode of every season of America’s Next Top Model several times, I have seen quite a few episodes of her show and would probably see all of them if they were available online, as I don’t particularly spend much time out of my office and there’s no television in here. All things considered, I think that Tyra Banks is a feminist role model, so this isn’t an un-feminist guilty pleasure.
And with that, this is perhaps my favorite clip of Tyra–Ever.
May
6
Happy International No Diet Day!
Today is International No Diet Day, which I think is a fabulous day to celebrate!
I believe that women should not be seen purely as sex symbols and that there is no such thing as a “perfect weight.” So often, when women are trying to reach their “perfect” weight by going on a diet, they become obsessed with weight loss and diets in general to the point where their perfect weight keeps getting lower and you fall victim to the evil life of anorexia or bulimia. People so often forget that there are physical and mental health risks when going on a crash diet that at first you swear is temporary.
The diet industry manipulates people into believing that they will never be seen as attractive or sexy unless they are a size two which is not only disgusting, but something that the diet industry should be of ashamed of themselves for. However, they do not feel ashamed or sorry for the amount of lives that they have ruined while reinforcing the idea of being the perfect size, specifically to women. Making billions of dollars per year, the industry understands the minds of women; they understand that if they make women believe that they aren’t skinny enough or that they aren’t beautiful, that they can ultimately cash in on other people’s self loathing and that is both terrifying and disgusting.
So today, in celebration of International Diet Day, I am urging people out there not only to break away from their diets today, but for good. It has been proven that diets do not work and if you lose weight at first, weight management is a bitch and more often than not, people not only gain their weight back, but they put on more weight from binge eating after starving themselves or not allowing their bodies the necessary nutrients that it needs to live.
If you are dieting to lose weight for health reasons, it is always wise to get the facts about diets or to consult your doctor and stress that you will not be taking pills, drinking weight loss beverages and etcetera and see if they have any other ideas as to how you can effectively lose weight and maintain your health.
Today would be a great day to strip down, maybe take a nice bubble bath, drink some wine and then afterward, look at yourself in the mirror–Yes, completely naked. While some may not like what they see, you must realize that your body is solely yours and putting it through hell will not make you feel better and ultimately will not make you look better. You are beautiful just the way you are and no one else has any right to tell you or lead you to believe any differently.
You may also want to check out a fabulous, fabulous post, A public service announcement from your body and also check out some fat acceptance blogs, such as the Big Fat Blog, Shapely Prose, or some others that are listed ideally on the Shapely Prose blog.
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