If you haven't seen this yet, take a look:
I'm going to be honest-- I hate the Boston Bruins. I hate their fans. I hate Milan Lucic. I know that Olga would too. That's why this rant about a new Bruins commercial is relevant. And, well, it's my blog, and I'll cry if I want to.
To sum up, a girl Montreal Canadiens fan and a boy Boston Bruins fan are on a date, when suddenly a man dressed in a bear costume appears and reprimands them by jerseying the boy while the girl looks on, silently and weakly. The boy's defense: "But she's so pretty." The message: Never date within the division.
What pisses me off the most, besides the fact that it's a Bruins commercial, is the message that he is making an exception of dating a Habs fan because "she's so pretty." Women are only worth it if they're attractive. I get it, men are expected to be attractive also, but men's appearance isn't even close to as important as it is to women. Why are women so preoccupied with their looks? Well, maybe it's because in a lot of cases, their looks are the only thing that matter. Like on this date. What a lucky gal.
Can I also take a moment to complain about the complete lack of agency this girl has? If a man in a bear costume comes up to me and makes fun of my date, ultimately, he's a man in a bear costume. You would think that she could have wimpered just a little less. But then again, if I was unfortunate enough to be on a date with that dud of a Bruins fan and a bear came up and started beating him up, I probably wouldn't do anything either.
Sure, taken alone, this is just a funny commercial about the storied rivalry between the Bruins and the Canadiens. But, this commercial wasn't created alone, and it is just one of a billion images that girls constantly have to face that tell them that if they aren't beautiful, no one will love them. Think I'm wrong? Read a magazine targeted at women, or talk to any girl about her appearance. Or, better yet, open your eyes.
Don't agree? Think I'm over-sensitive and bitter that the Habs are losing a playoff series to the smuggest fans I have encountered all year, and might I add, didn't exist just a few years ago? Okay, yes to the second one. But if you disagree, feel free to share.
I bet Olga would love to give a certain genetics/biol 301 prof a makeover, a PhD can't make up for sub par looks
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of sounding like an asshole, I thing you're reading just a bit too much into that commercial.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, you do sound like an asshole.
ReplyDeleteAnd I do kind of like the commercial, but I hate the Bruins. And I don't think I'm reading too much into it, isn't that the message he was sending?
How do you get the message that women are worthless unless they're pretty from that commercial? Because Bruins boy went on a date with an attractive girl who was a Habs fan and mentioned that Habs girl was pretty when he was confronted by a man in a bear suit? I really don't feel like this was intended to have a sinister anti-women subtext. It's not really worth getting up in arms over.
ReplyDeleteAnd you said that "if you disagree, feel free to share", so I have permission to be an asshole.
I agree with you, Katie. The woman just stood there, and the guy didn't say, 'but i really like her,' or 'but she's really smart,' or 'but we have a great relationship' or anything that would actually value who she is as a person.
ReplyDeleteBut one good thing did come of this. I clicked on another youtube video from the same page and it was hilarious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijgfBwq_vkM&NR=1
She's totally got the intimate, helpful, competent tone of craft/makeover videos down. And (spoiler) when she said, 'if he doesn't like you after you've done this, you're just going to have to go home and put some more makeup on' i couldn't stop laughing.
Indigo- I watched the video. Hilarious. Let's try this when I get home. You're going to need a lot of make-up, though.
ReplyDeleteLaura- When I said you were an asshole, I wasn't mad that you disagreed. I was just being an asshole by calling you an asshole. Get it?
And Laura, if someone asked your boyfriend why he was dating you, would you want his first response to be "because she's pretty"? Of course not. There's nothing wrong with saying that someone is pretty, but it shouldn't be the only thing that is relevant about that person. I wouldn't exactly say that I got the message that girls are worthless unless they are pretty from the commercial, but it definitely implies that the reason he is with her is because she's attractive. In the larger context, it is part of a culture that says that a woman's worth is in her appearance. And I don't think it's "anti-woman," per se. It's just the big picture.
I don't think it's "anti-woman," per se.
This from the lady that has nicknamed someone "uggs" based solely on seeing them from 10 feet away...
ReplyDeleteI'm with Curran on this--yeah, it's sexist, but really not worth getting up in arms about.
Being down 3-0 in a series is.
ReplyDeleteI'm mad at Boston, and I took it out on them the best way I know how: by out-feministing them.
And I thought I explained that it was a part of a big picture!!!!!!!!
I agree that saying someone is pretty as the only relevant thing about them is reprehensible. But the guy was confronted by a guy in a bear costume, we can't expect him to be thinking perfectly clearly and give a long and complete list of everything he likes about her.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think he's just sad if he is dating her only because she is pretty. Who would give up who they are and what they believe in just because someone is pretty? (Would you ever see me dating a Senators fan just because he was hot? Hell. No.) I could go into a long thing about my view of feminism...but I'll save that for a later day/my own blog.
Finally, on a lighter note, there is way to much hyperlinking going on.
And I need to go to an exam review session, as I'm about to be late.
Well, it looks like being pretty isn't the only thing we women need to worry about. Apparently we also have to worry about being excluded from participating in sports on the basis that our uteruses might explode. Yes, you read that correctly. Just read an article about how women are not allowed to participate in ski jumping in the Olympics (but men are) on the basis that their bodies cannot withstand the impact. Here is a quote "one official... warned their uterus might burst and another who worried that their spines could break on impact with the ground". Please note, women are also not allowed to participate in boxing (in the Olympics). I wonder what the argument is there, their pretty faces might explode?
ReplyDeleteWell remember that a sport has to have held 2 world championships to be considered as a sport for the Olympic games, which means Ultimate Frisbee really ought to be let in by now... Still maybe that's why women's boxing and jumping haven't been let in? See susan boyle for another example of women being judged based on looks, contrast it with paul potts and notice how they don't mention his looks afterwards....
ReplyDelete