http://shelbyknox.com/2010/09/01/levis-new-ad-campaign-falls-on-its-butt/
This post, and others like it, make me incredibly angry because every premise upon which this kind of feminism is founded is shaky at best (and otherwise illogical). The first (of many) problems arises in the second paragraph.
Fail number one. Let me help your ad agency out: All asses of all shapes and sizes are created equal. Muuuuch better.
This claim is patently false. All asses are not created equal. When a guy says “Nice ass,” he is guided by millenia of evolutionary imperatives all of which dictate that a male find the best candidate for reproduction. Men are attracted to shapely asses because they have the best chance of a successful childbirth. So, no: all asses are not created equal and they never will be equal. This claim isn’t me being a chauvinist; it’s me repeating what anyone in a ninth grade biology class can infer from what they learn about gorillas and hummingbirds.
…than women who have “ideal figures,” whatever that disgusting term means.
Again: while the word “ideal” is subject to varying degrees of interpretation, I think that there is a generally accepted definition of the word “ideal figure” that doesn’t encompass “obesity”. Somehow, I think that this woman would have no problem saying Francisco Lachowski or Joseph Gordon Levitt has an “ideal figure”, especially when compared to that guy who orders 20 pc chicken nuggets, large fries, and a Diet Coke to slim down at McDonalds. I take no offense, and I see no reason why anyone else should, to the use of the term “ideal figure” (if there is a legitimate argument against its use, please enlighten me).
Speaking of the average American woman, your target audience, do you only imagine her as white?
There are only three models depicted in the ad that she’s referencing (all of which happen to be white). Statistically speaking, if you pull three random women out of the American population (not necessarily models) and note only their race, the chance of you pulling three white women is plausibly explained by the woes of random chance.
And the worst part is, this woman is only pulling out of the FIRST THIRD of the ad. A simple Google search reveals that there are two more sections with coloured models (who have equally fine asses…but that’s neither here nor there). More here: http://cdn03.cdnwp.thefrisky.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/30/Levis-ads-m.jpg
There is one point that I’d like to recognize as legitimate and concerning within the context of modern American society. Quote below:
That’s because companies like Levi’s design for a mostly unhealthy, mostly unrealistic ideal for women…
Much like men think that the average penis size is somewhere around the neighbourhood of 7+ inches (when in reality it hovers somewhere in the mid to low 5 range), women think that the average body size is far below what it actually is. Hell, women’s conceptions of average female body sizes are lower than men’s conceptions of ideal female body sizes.
I’d also like to clarify that I’m all for women’s rights in areas that actually matter: politics, job equality, etc. and I recognize that women still have not yet necessarily attained the sort of equality that they deserve. We live in no more of a “post-sexist” world than we do in a “post-racial” world: the problems of sexism are still present within the large majority of American society, subconsciously or otherwise.
But in areas where the differences between the roles of men and women are clearly delineated (i.e. sex) rampant feminazism drives me crazy. The fact of the matter is that men have penises and women have vaginas. Men are sperm factories and women are egg bearers (for lack of better characterisations). Men are fueled by testosterone and women by estrogen. The biochemical differences here are too large to ignore.
Anyways, I’ve ranted enough and I’m just meandering now. There are also two flies buzzing around my computer. I’m pretty sure they’re doing some mating dance and they’re about to make babies. It’s kind of disgusting.
