Advertising...

If I were in a 'clever play on words' mood, then this post would be called "SADvertising." Alas...

Ok, so I want to discuss how every time I walk into the subway in Toronto, I feel like I'm walking into a sexist man-cave. As a matter of fact, there are some days where I feel as though when I step out into the world (or turn on the tv, or visit youtube.com, or fuck - just open my eyes) then I feel the very same way, but the concentration of this shit in the relatively small space of the subway station seems to really help me to focus on its overwhelming sexism. Is this intentional? I don't know or care. It's sure irritating, though.

First things first; Megan just wrote a spectacular piece on the Bic Soleil ads. She's definitely articulated her feelings about that particular ad better than I could, so I suggest reading her post.

Now, another ad that I've seen down there in the past few days has been one for Victoria's Secret, which is apparently opening soon/did recently open, and the ad wants to let me know that 'The Angels Have Landed.' Wow, really? They did? Underwear angels?? How exciting for me!! What a great way to appeal to a female demographic! /sarcasm. Honestly. We have ads here that feature nearly naked, emaciated and airbrushed women being touted as 'angels' without any mention of just why it is that Victoria's Secret lingerie is so top notch. Will it make your average woman look like a Victoria's Secret model? Uh, probably not. Will it somehow introduce your average woman into the elite, secret society of Victoria's Secret consumers? Well, not in any meaningful way. So what the hell, then, does this half-naked, emaciated, airbrushed woman have to do with me? Oh, right. Shame.

All I can gather from these ads is that I'm supposed to feel as though I'm not quite as fabulous as these women, that if I try hard enough then I just might become as fabulous as these women, and that in the meanwhile if I don't want my man to be stolen by one of these fabulous women, then I'd better start boosting my titties and workin' that thong just like them so that maybe - just maybe - he can squint his eyes a little bit... and pretend I'm one of them. I will say that I have no problem with these women - no problem with their thongs, and no problem with their bodies. What I do have a problem with is the fact that this is the ONLY FEMALE BODY we EVER see in advertising for every product ever. And seriously - this is an ad campaign that appeals almost entirely to a heterosexual male, and yet it's supposed to be selling a product to me. The only other reason I can think of that someone would pitch this campaign is that women will hear men talking about the Victoria's Secret models and sexualizing them, and somehow feel jealous enough that they'd buy underwear to try to emulate them. This ad pretty much uses the generation of sexist and commodifying discussions and the cultivation of feelings of inadequacy to guilt and shame me into buying underwear. How is this healthy?

Then there's the Levi's ads. The first one I saw looked -awesome.- It was two men and a woman standing together and it read something like "Everyone's work is equally important." I was so impressed with this that I decided to take a walk down the platform to look at the other ads in the series... only to be sorely disappointed. All of the other ads featured men, and men only. To add insult to exclusion, they all featured slogans about work, hard work, and the working person. So apparently only men work these days. Thanks Bic and Levi's - you've officially kicked us so hard in the ovaries that we've been pushed right back to the 1950's again. Good for you.

Then, finally, there's the ad for Burn Notice, which from what I gather is a new show that will air on Showcase sometime in the near future. This is the ad. It's a man pretty much wearing a woman. Specifically what bothers me is this: He's wearing a practical suit, she's wearing an impractical lingerie-style dress and heels; we see about 1% of his body, we see about 90% of hers; he is facing the camera, she is facing him; he is making eye contact with the viewer, she is staring flirtatiously at his face; he is holding the gun at his side, she is drawing attention to her ass by holding it behind her back; all of his focus is on us, all of her focus is on him. See a trend? We've got a thick line drawn right down the middle of the gender binary that reinforces that women are a, b and c, and men are x, y and z. And they're the same tired, traditional gender signifiers that we've been seeing forever.

Oh, and don't try to escape this shit by staying home and watching tv - because the new Burger King ad pretty much beats the hell out of all of them. Guys go to work, women stay home and water the lawn in slow motion wearing short shorts and drinking milk shakes. Wow. How subversive and revolutionary. I've definitely never seen that before.