Sexist Ads

Hi,i'm french, i live in Paris (pardon my awfull english). I saw stickers (made of paper) in the subway on sexists ads which were saying your "logo": si votre produit était bon, vous n'auriez pas besoin de sexisme pour le vendre. I found it so right, as a woman. i wondered if you were behind this, if there is a group in France and i wondered how join your group and do it myself (put stickers)? Thank you for your answer and for your website!

benpaddon — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 05:20:26 -0700

Hello! Nothing to do with us - we’re all based in America. Our blog’s title is a not-uncommon phrase, so it’s likely someone else translated it into French and started slapping stickers on sexist ads (which, obviously, we support 100%).

Levi's, Cycling, and Sexism

adire-adire — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 12:00:39 -0800

stfuconservatives:

bikeladiesunite:

I posted about this a while ago; here’s another great perspective. I feel obligated to share the fact that a friend of mine is the Levi’s visual merchandising director and has asked each store to do Commuter displays on female mannequins. A good start, but they’re still men’s jeans. Anyway.

certaintragedy:

So I’ve been thinking about getting a new pair of jeans as the only pair of “denim” I own is a pair of too-short, too-thin “jeans” I bought for 10 bucks at Forever 21 last year. I use jeans in quotations because I think they’re more spandex than anything else. I wanted a pair of jeans that were both hard-wearing and somewhat flattering and my mind immediately turned to Levi’s. Thanks probably to media conditioning starting from when I was a young child, I associate Levi’s with all things American, hard-working, and made to last. I remember going to Dillard’s every year or so to pick out a new pair (“Mom! I need 501’s! Not 506!” [or whatever number I preferred]). As I started to search this weekend online, I remembered Levi’s had introduced a commuter line, specifically marketed for cyclist commuters. Wow, waterproof pants with all sorts of cyclist friendly features such as a U-lock holster, reflective tape inside the cuff, and a higher waist? I could finally start carrying my U-lock! I could bike on rainy days! Here’s the (seemingly) warm and fuzzy inducing video:

Seems great right? Shots of people biking through urban areas (yep, I do that), hauling bikes over their shoulder up stairs (yep, I do that), and biking through the rain (yep, i do that too!). The fabric repels odor? Cool, I rarely wear deodorant and I rarely do my laundry. BUT WAIT. Where are the women?

Oh that’s right, the commuter line is only marketed at males. Now, currently, supposedly, Levi’s is trying to break in to the market and is seeing how successful this product will be and the best way to do that is market it to males. Look, I have no problem shopping in the men’s department for clothes and the commuter jackets and pants could probably be worn by any gender. But there’s a bigger issue than whether or not these pants will be flattering on my girl ass.

Cycling, especially commuting by bicycle, is still a male-dominated activity and advertising and campaigns still cater to this demographic. Even as numbers of cycling commuters increase, the gender gap continues to grow. More and more men are commuting by bike but women are doing less so (From a presentation by Elly Blue or “Take the Lane” and one of my very favorite bike activists who I had the great pleasure meeting earlier this year). She also came up this with Bechdel-like test to expose sexism in bike advertising. Are women presented at all? Are they active, rather than passive? If the gender was reversed would the message remain unchanged? I think this advertisement set well illustrates the problem: males modeling jerseys are shown riding bikes through mud and rain, while women modeling are among stylized graphic flowers wearing billowing silk scarves. Gross. There’s also blatant hyper-sexualization of female cyclists like this strange advertisement that features a sexy nurse pumping up a tire. And let’s talk about street harassment for just a moment: not a day goes by that I am not made to feel uncomfortable by cat-callers while I ride my bike. Further, it’s just plain unsafe. If a driver honks at me, I turn and start looking around to make sure I’m not inhibiting traffic or about to get killed. When someone is just honking because they want a piece of ass, I’m super pissed.

The cycling community itself is still rife with sexism. The fixed-gear scene is a bit of Boy’s Club. It’s totally male dominated. On one hand, I thrive on the challenge on proving I can ride just as hard or as fast as anyone and that I can keep up with the best of them. There’s is nothing quite as rewarding as knowing I’m going HAM. But it shouldn’t be this way. From what I’ve seen, only a select few women have been able to make it in the “scene” and have been accepted by male peers. Maybe this means we need to step up and ride harder, or maybe we need a cultural change. So the other hand is that there’s a sort of fetish-ization (is that a word? Do you know what I mean?) of women riding fixed. When I first started riding a track bike, I felt like a demi-goddess. Male cyclists everywhere were giving me attention. At first it felt like respect. But I don’t think that’s what it is. When some people find out that I ride fixed, I get put on a sort of pedestal, not necessarily because I’m a great cyclists or because they respect me but, in the choice words of a particular male cyclist, “that’s sexy as hell”. Sure, track bikes are sexy. If someone tells me they ride fixed, I generally think they are 89% sexier than they actually are. But that might not necessarily be the most healthy attitude. Finally, I think I’ve adopted some internalized misogyny. When a girl rides by on a track bike set up on a freewheel, I sneer a little because somehow I am “better” because of my riding style.

TL;DR: I guess I’m still working this out in my head, but ultimately what I’m trying to say is that sexism is a huge hurdle for the cycling community that’s being perpetuated by advertisers and our own members of the scene.

For a long time, Betabrand had similar “bike to work” pants but only for men. I just checked and I guess they’ve finally introduced a few pairs for women. I subscribe to Thrillist, and last week, they had an article about pants that look like nice work pants but feel like sweatpants on the inside. Hallelujah! I clicked through the article and imagine my surprise when it turns out they only have them for men.

Like the OP said: yes, a woman can buy men’s pants and wear them. But they usually aren’t cut right and don’t really look that good. It all plays into the “male as neutral” thing that’s so pervasive in our society that most people won’t even admit it exists. When you make a new product, you make it for men only, and you never have to mention that in your ads or sponsored articles. Us ladies are a “special interest group” when it comes to clothing.

Have you seen the It's Only Sexist When Men Do It video by TheAmazingAtheist? What do you think???

adire-adire — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 12:00:52 -0700

Well I wanted to give it a shot, but in the first 30 seconds he called the women who host “The Talk” cunts.

I know of his reputation as a sexist and no, I can’t stand to watch it.

What’s it about?

- Kaitlyn (narrow minded Kaitlyn home from 6 hours of work)

A car as a woman, upset about a man staring at her…...

adire-adire — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:52:45 -0700

A car as a woman, upset about a man staring at her… portrayed as irrational, after all she is gorgeous and how can you help but stare at her?

Disgusting.

This is in reply to the last anon about why jokes about men are not sexist. The difference between making a kitchen joke about women and making a joke about men being immature is the fact that noone truly believes all men are immature But there are a lot of people who actually believe women belong in the kitchen. So making sexist jokes about women is truly harmful as the thing that the joke is implying has been used to oppress women. A man's level of maturity has never been used to oppress them

adire-adire — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 15:54:07 -0700

Re Men not being the victims of sexism, and how it is how the term is defined, Your example of men not doing housework is not the only possible sexism with regard to men and society. If the joke is instead,"what is the difference between men and bonds? Bonds Mature", your argument fails. You cannot say they are not the targets of sexism then, or that it somehow reinforces a patriarchal form. Immature men are not knowledgeable or powerful or decision makers as the patriarchal form would have it.

adire-adire — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 11:39:16 -0700

I saw a great thing about men and women - jokes like that are targeted at “men” while sexist jokes are frequently against individual women.

Immature men still have power, even over mature women.

so i've been silently following for awhile, not that i agree with either side because i've actually never thought about that much, but it has got me thinking (which i guess is good?). in the side bar y'all say ads target men and woman the makes them look like sexual objects or stupid i guess i was just wondering if y'all don't think men are actually being shown as stupid or sexual objects.

benpaddon — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 07:59:00 -0700

Men are occasionally portrayed as sexual objects in adverts targeted at women, usually for something like perfume, or diet sodas. It’s nowhere near as prolific as the objectification of women, mind. If a man isn’t being terrible at household chores, he’s usually being presented as a power fantasy (see: literally every Axe/Lynx commercial ever made).

It’s similar to comic books. People usually try to combat the argument that women are presented almost exclusively as sexual objects in comics by pointing to the muscular build of most male characters. The key difference is that female comic book characters are designed - usually by men - to look fuckable, while female characters exist as a power fantasy (Shortpacked! demonstrated this perfectly last year).

~Ben

Anyone else remember when we used to post sexist ads on this blog?

benpaddon — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:56:43 -0700

Those were the days.

~Ben

(White) men are not systematically oppressed or ignored in our society. I don't personally believe that the concept of sexism against men makes sense, only prejudice. (Because men have privilege and benefit from sexism) Just like racism against white people doesn't make sense.

benpaddon — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:54:52 -0700

Exactly. You can’t say “Gender roles are bullshit” and dismiss the notion that it’s about dominance and privilege. If it weren’t about dominance, if the privilege didn’t exist, then nor would the sexism. They’re all part of the same terrible machinery.

~Ben

Gender roles are bullshit, we agree on such. However, now the argument that "woman don't fix cars" is a sexist statement is no longer valid. There is no dominance in that sentence, "men don't do housework" is the same principle. Saying men cannot be victims of sexism is on the same level of saying that certain races of human beings cannot be victims of racism. Double standards are what causes these rifts in society to grow.

benpaddon — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:52:35 -0700

Oh dear.

Firstly, some Racism 101 - you can’t be racist against white people in a society that views white as the norm. Similarly, you cannot be sexist against men in a society that views men as more important than women. The fact that America is still, in 2012, locked in debates about what constitutes “legitimate rape”, and how certain parties want to ban birth control and abortion seems pretty indicative of what sort of society we’re living in today.

The assumption that women don’t fix cars, work on computers or do sciency stuff because they’re not smart enough, and that men don’t do housework because that’s what women are for, is entirely about dominance. That’s what gender roles are all about, in the end. It’s about one gender keeping the other under their thumb, and men have been doing exactly that to women for the majority of history.

Men cannot be the direct victims of sexism. Chances are they never will be. I won’t say there isn’t prejudice against men, because that definitely exists, but so long as men hold the power there will never be sexism against them.

~Ben

"When someone makes a “men can’t do housework” joke, it’s not a sexist joke about men." So this statement right here, is in fact sexist. Because as you just stated "There is nothing men and women are “for”". I do not deny that women are subjected more to sexism, but the definition of sexism is stereotyping and discrimination based on sex, though it is used to apply to women more than men. No where does it say "just woman." To say sexism only affects woman is ridiculous.

adire-adire — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 11:41:21 -0700

The dictionary definition of sexism is not what sexism is in the real world - sexism involves power and (cis) men have power.

When I said there’s nothing men and women are “for” I mean gender essentialism is bullshit.

Have you seen the new advert for Snickers? It's set in male changing rooms and there is a a 'nagging' lady who then gets told to eat a snickers, then turns back into a man. The slogan is get some nuts! ...

adire-adire — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 11:48:38 -0700

No, ew!

I don’t mind the ones where the line is “you’re not you when you’re hungry” - the first ones were of 20somethings acting like divas - Liza Minelli, Aretha Franklin - not sexist, especially since others followed with well known male actors.

But that is ugh

- kaitlyn

Regarding that last ask, that idea that car repair is “Men’s Work” stems from the...

benpaddon — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 12:29:10 -0700

Regarding that last ask, that idea that car repair is “Men’s Work” stems from the idea that women are too weak, feeble and simple-minded to wrap their heads around the inside of an engine. Which, by the way, is the same reason boys get chemistry and geology sets from their grandparents at Christmas, while girls get dolls and toy ironing boards.

~Ben

So things that say "Women don't fix cars" or "Women don't run companies" is also not sexist. Because those are things that men are for.

adire-adire — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:58:35 -0700

I’m sorry, I don’t fully understand your message.

Saying “Women don’t fix cars” is sexist. There is nothing men and women are “for”.

- kaitlyn

I think the last anon means a link where people can just read the submissions people have made. If you've tagged them as submission then they can just go to /tagged/submission

benpaddon — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:43:04 -0700

Ah yes. They’re usually auto-tagged as such. I’ll try to remember to add a link to the sidebar tomorrow.

~Ben

Hey, it'd be cool if you had a link for just submissions. Because I like the meaty content, and hate mail can get exhausting. (thisiswhiteprivilege sets it up nicely)

benpaddon — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:10:02 -0700

That’s odd, I thought we did. It’s not particularly well-marked, but it’s there.

~Ben

Maybe the anons are getting confused by what sexism actually is. Because sexism is institutional, and because the world we live in is patriarchal, sexism affects women because they are the ones degraded by the patriarchal system, not men. Although men can suffer from other types of discrimination and negative stereotyping, they don't suffer from sexism because discrimination and stereotypes are not institutional in the same way.

benpaddon — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:09:15 -0700

This neatly sums it up. Thanks, Anonymous. Thanonymous.

~Ben

So you don't believe men can be victims of sexism?

benpaddon — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:51:20 -0700

That depends on how you wish to define victims. They are not the targets of sexism. When someone makes a “men can’t do housework” joke, it’s not a sexist joke about men but rather a reinforcement of the patriarchal (and, obviously, sexist) idea that men don’t do housework because that’s what women are for.

Isn't saying sexism only applies to woman sexist?

benpaddon — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:46:04 -0700

HA HA no

~Ben

Did you see the commercial for that Liquid-Plumr declogger shit? That double impact one, where two buff guys knock and say "I'm here to snake your drain" and the other says "I'm here to flush your pipes"... ?

benpaddon — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:42:06 -0700

I didn’t, but I’ll have a look when I get home from work!

~Ben