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Degrees of Feminism

Thalassa

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I consider myself a feminist, and some people might even consider me quite an outspoken one, but I'm not an extremist feminist...and anyway, I was looking at some old television advertisements, and this was considered the number one most sexist ad in their top ten list.

[video]http://www.adweek.com/video/sexist-ads-goodyear-133391?auto[/video]

The weird thing is, I didn't find it sexist. I thought it was sweet. It was more protective, than insulting. Like in my mind I thought it meant the intention was for one's wife to be safe. I can see how some women would find that disempowering, but I didn't think it should have been the number one most sexist ad. There are worse ones out there, like beer commercials. In fact I thought some of the commercials in the thread were sexist, some not so much, like they were just digging. There was a commercial in the top five that was just like an 80's commercial of little girls playing with kitchen and washer and dryer sets. I didn't think there was anything inherently sexist about that one, either.

I'm just bringing this up as a topic because I'm usually very aware of misogyny but I just don't necessarily see it everywhere.

What about you?
 

Ivy

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Seriously? "When a woman's at the wheel..." isn't sexist? I thought it was hilarious, but yeah, it was totally sexist. The dramatic music and all the hazards she might run into because she's not a good driver because she's a woman... totally sexist. In the beginning of the ad I can also see the aspect you mention, of protectiveness, and I do think that's sweet, but come on. "When a woman's at the wheel" is just... I mean, it's the kind of thing I'd expect to see on a fake SNL commercial, it's so out there.

I think feminism gets a bad rap because a handful of seriously outrageous idealogues get set up as strawmen (strawwomen?) and are then attacked as if they represent all feminists. I've been a stay-at-home mom for most of my adult life, loved being pregnant and having babies and being literally tied to them and nursing them, and even now I only work part time and am otherwise supported by my husband, but I don't back away from the term "feminist" because some people have decided it means "man-hating hairy hosebeast."
 

Ivy

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BTW, there's one commercial up there that I LOVE, the "Mayhem" commercial where he's a teen girl in an SUV. I mean, yeah, I guess it's kind of sexist, but I still love it.
 

Orangey

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Seriously? "When a woman's at the wheel..." isn't sexist? I thought it was hilarious, but yeah, it was totally sexist. The dramatic music and all the hazards she might run into because she's not a good driver because she's a woman... totally sexist. In the beginning of the ad I can also see the aspect you mention, of protectiveness, and I do think that's sweet, but come on. "When a woman's at the wheel" is just... I mean, it's the kind of thing I'd expect to see on a fake SNL commercial, it's so out there.

Agreed. It's so egregious that it's hilarious.

I think feminism gets a bad rap because a handful of seriously outrageous idealogues get set up as strawmen (strawwomen?) and are then attacked as if they represent all feminists. I've been a stay-at-home mom for most of my adult life, loved being pregnant and having babies and being literally tied to them and nursing them, and even now I only work part time and am otherwise supported by my husband, but I don't back away from the term "feminist" because some people have decided it means "man-hating hairy hosebeast."

Yeah, that's why I hate it when people who ought (for all intents and purposes) be classified as feminists refuse the label. They (and of course the detractors of feminism) are just reacting to the unfortunately pervasive Straw Feminist trope. Which IMO is pathetically stupid.
 

Tallulah

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The tire commercial is totally sexist. All the flashing images of construction, signs, etc, and her wide-eyed apprehension, coupled with the suspenseful music, then the slogan, "When a woman's at the wheel?" It's a wee bit insulting, as if a poor woman's brain can't handle all the stresses of the road and is much likely to be overwhelmed and veer into traffic or something.
 

Ivy

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I probably would have loved that "Rosepetal Cottage" when I was a kid, too. Then again, my son's favorite center in pre-K was the "housekeeping center." It just wasn't made of pink and lavender vomit, it was made of wood. The sexism is that toy marketing is so completely divided into "GIRL TOYS" and "BOY TOYS" instead of just making wholesome toys all kids can play with. IME, boys like to play house too, but nobody markets houseplay toys to boys.
 

Thalassa

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Seriously? "When a woman's at the wheel..." isn't sexist? I thought it was hilarious, but yeah, it was totally sexist. The dramatic music and all the hazards she might run into because she's not a good driver because she's a woman... totally sexist. In the beginning of the ad I can also see the aspect you mention, of protectiveness, and I do think that's sweet, but come on. "When a woman's at the wheel" is just... I mean, it's the kind of thing I'd expect to see on a fake SNL commercial, it's so out there.

I think feminism gets a bad rap because a handful of seriously outrageous idealogues get set up as strawmen (strawwomen?) and are then attacked as if they represent all feminists. I've been a stay-at-home mom for most of my adult life, loved being pregnant and having babies and being literally tied to them and nursing them, and even now I only work part time and am otherwise supported by my husband, but I don't back away from the term "feminist" because some people have decided it means "man-hating hairy hosebeast."

Oh I don't back away from the term feminist either...that was just my genuine reaction to that commercial, but I guess I can see what you mean, that it implies that women are bad drivers. I thought it just meant you want to keep your wife safe and I know some women are offended by the idea of a man being protective of them.

The SUV one is cute, I agree. Some of the others, not so much. I really thought the Bud Light commercial was the worst...no wait, it's tied with the one for Axe body spray.
 

Ivy

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Oh I don't back away from the term feminist either...that was just my genuine reaction to that commercial, but I guess I can see what you mean, that it implies that women are bad drivers. I thought it just meant you want to keep your wife safe and I know some women are offended by the idea of a man being protective of them.

The SUV one is cute, I agree. Some of the others, not so much. I really thought the Bud Light commercial was the worst...no wait, it's tied with the one for Axe body spray.

I really don't mind protectiveness. I do think it's sweet and I like it when my husband is protective of me. I'm protective of him, too, though- I want him to be safe, so I want him to have good tires on his car, too.

The Dodge commercial literally makes me grind my teeth. I only see like seven commercials there, and there's no Bud Light or Axe ones, can you link those?

Edit: NVM! I see you posted it.
 

Ivy

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Actually... the Bud Light one is kind of self-aware. I mean, they've got the two male ad execs holding hands and crying at the beautiful message in the end, and the female execs (there are female execs! that's good!) looking at them like they're idiots.
 

Thalassa

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You know what? I'm terrified of car accidents, so that probably also plays into my subjective judgment.
 

Ivy

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I'm still pissed off about that Dodge commercial. And the worst part is, it has made me doubt my love for Michael C. Hall. Whyyyyyyyyyy did he agree to that? He could have said "there's no way I'm reading that."
 

Thalassa

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Okay here's what I thought about the Dodge commercial: some women really do nag a lot. Like really. To a point of ridiculousness. I've seen it with my own eyes. This entered my mind in reference to certain things said about dog walking at 6 am, and socks, and carrying your lipbalm and ...maybe I'm just really P but some of those even freaked me out. I felt like my ESTJ step-monster was standing behind me. On the other hand, some of the stuff they complain about is crazy....I will go to work? Um, yes you will go to work, what the fuck? You'll be civil to my mother? You'll put the toilet seat down? Oh well don't put yourself out too much!

That's what makes it problematic. It mixes up petty nagging with things that are...normal...and to do them basically means you aren't a sociopath?
 

Ivy

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That's very true. I also don't think nagging is a sex-linked trait- we just don't tend to call it "nagging" when men do it. We call it pestering or controlling.

I also think it perpetuates an unnecessarily adversarial concept of M/F relationships.
 

Tallulah

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Actually... the Bud Light one is kind of self-aware. I mean, they've got the two male ad execs holding hands and crying at the beautiful message in the end, and the female execs (there are female execs! that's good!) looking at them like they're idiots.

yeah, that was my read on it, too. Like the men were the ones that thought of the commercial, and it's geared only toward men. The overacting in the commercial clearly conveys it's not supposed to be serious. I didn't really find anything offensive about the boobs commercial, either. I mean, it's one dumb girl, not a commentary on women in general.
 

Thalassa

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That's true. Some men are control freaks and no it's not a sex-linked trait. In any relationship there's compromise, I mean wth. Both man and woman in a heterosexual LTR have to compromise with each other, and there are bitchy men. I actually do call them bitchy when they get bitchy.
 

Ivy

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Yeah, the boobs one and the BMW "blonde in the library" one. I guess maybe I would feel differently about that one if I were blonde. But then again, my blonde daughter loves blonde jokes.
 

Orangey

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Okay here's what I thought about the Dodge commercial: some women really do nag a lot. Like really. To a point of ridiculousness. I've seen it with my own eyes. This entered my mind in reference to certain things said about dog walking at 6 am, and socks, and carrying your lipbalm and ...maybe I'm just really P but some of those even freaked me out. I felt like my ESTJ step-monster was standing behind me. On the other hand, some of the stuff they complain about is crazy....I will go to work? Um, yes you will go to work, what the fuck? You'll be civil to my mother? You'll put the toilet seat down? Oh well don't put yourself out too much!

That's what makes it problematic. It mixes up petty nagging with things that are...normal...and to do them basically means you aren't a sociopath?

Yes, some women nag. So do some men. It's (obviously) when these things get assigned to genders that it becomes sexist.

Edit: Nevermind, I'm on the slow side tonight. This was very quickly covered.
 
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