Alarming News: I like Morgan Freeberg. A lot.
American Digest: And I like this from "The Blog That Nobody Reads", because it is -- mostly -- about me. What can I say? I'm on an ego trip today. It won't last.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: We were following a trackback and thinking "hmmm... this is a bloody excellent post!", and then we realized that it was just part III of, well, three...Damn. I wish I'd written those.
Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler: ...I just remembered that I found a new blog a short while ago, House of Eratosthenes, that I really like. I like his common sense approach and his curiosity when it comes to why people believe what they believe rather than just what they believe.
Brutally Honest: Morgan Freeberg is brilliant.
Dr. Melissa Clouthier: Morgan Freeberg at House of Eratosthenes (pftthats a mouthful) honors big boned women in skimpy clothing. The picture there is priceless--keep scrolling down.
Exile in Portales: Via Gerard: Morgan Freeberg, a guy with a lot to say. And he speaks The Truth...and it's fascinating stuff. Worth a read, or three. Or six.
Just Muttering: Two nice pieces at House of Eratosthenes, one about a perhaps unintended effect of the Enron mess, and one on the Gore-y environ-movie.
Mein Blogovault: Make "the Blog that No One Reads" one of your daily reads.
The Virginian: I know this post will offend some people, but the author makes some good points.
Poetic Justice: Cletus! Ah gots a laiv one fer yew...
That rule being, of course: “If I’m going to be accused, I want to be guilty.”
Last week we noted that ReelGirl had launched a failed campaign. There is much to suggest it was in fact a successful one, but it’s all predicated on the notion that feminist campaigns are inherently insincere. If it was about the stationary stanza of feminism — “Oh, look everybody how much I hate this thing over here, come gather around and help me hate it” — it was a wild fantastic success. Margot got lots of traffic and lots of comments on her post. Chapstick stopped running the ad, so there’s a victory there. The ad prominently displays a female’s rear end as she rummages in a couch for her lost Chapstick. But if you believe everything feminists tell you about the protest, it must have been a fail. Womens’ rumps are not banished from advertising, I don’t think. Women do not look stronger. They look weak, delicate, like hysterical creatures that fall to pieces if they see a butt in a magazine. The “don’t screw with the feminist movement” message was communicated loud and clear. But ya know, that just makes them look irrational. If it reinforces some notion that women are powerful, it does so by reminding us that some among them possess a destructive energy. You need not browse too much ancient mythology and literature to realize that this is not a new idea. And, of course, it is antithetical to the notion that a more civilized and better-functioning society awaits us if & when we reward females with greater power & privilege.
Margot’s biggest mistake, however, is to accuse. She accused Chapstick not quite so much of something factual, which would be displaying a female rump — but speculated and imagined, which had something to do with degrading the fairer sex by viewing its bodily appendages through a sensual lens.
And now she has to sound the clarion call, once again, of “How I hate this thing, come gather around and help me hate it.” Maybe that’s the whole point.
Now in celebration of their new tag line ‘Never Let Your Lips Go Naked’, Chapstick Australia have signed Australia’s Next Top Model winner Amanda Ware as the face (and body) of their new ad campaign. We say body because Ware will star in a series of cheeky ads wearing nothing but her Chapstick.
Don’t like it when we show a woman’s butt? We’ll show you her whole bod! Take that!
I got a feeling this decision has nothing whatsoever to do with ReelGirl. But I also got a feeling, if Margot permitted herself the luxury of thinking she caused this, it would be a fun idea for her to have. I know we’re getting a kick out of thinking it. I’m all for a grassroots protest that is well-thought-out and has some real nobility to it, aggravated into action by a worthy cause, but when they start to get silly it gives me pleasure to see the big company tell them to stick it. I like it even better when they play rope-a-dope, which seems to be what Chapstick did here, assuming the naked-thing is connected in any way to the couch thing. I like Morgan Rule Number One, I like Australia, and the nice lookin’ naked lady doesn’t hurt matters either.
Lesson: If you’re going to protest everything, the end result is the same as if you protest nothing. Priorities. Restraint. Choices.
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I surprised they haven’t gone there yet with their phallic-symbol-shaped, lengthen-when-you-twist it product. The very existence of Chapstick should have had any consistent neo-feminist worth her salt up in arms already.
Oh – “consistent neo-feminist” doesn’t exist? My bad.
- Daniel | 11/01/2011 @ 22:27