If you thought Obama Girl was sexist and offensive, wait until you see this stunningly horrible video on YouTube. It's called "Blue Balled" and features a guy trying to get laid, only to have the young woman run out on him when she finds a picture of McCain in the drawer where the condoms are supposed to be. (Warning, the video is somewhat sexually explicit.)
This part of a project by TruthThroughAction.org, who apparently are stupid enough to believe that showing pictures of women in their underwear and a shirt that says "I only sleep with Democrats" is a good way to market the Democratic party.
This is why the left is no longer speaking to me. The left has totally become pornogrified and anti-woman. Do I really care that guys on the left want to save the spotted owl, when on the other side of their mouth they are telling me that I, as a woman, only have value to them when I'm wearing a negligee?
But here's what really blows my mind. Do these guys at the ironically named "Truth Through Action" honestly believe this sort of marketing is going to have any positive impact? Let's look at this somewhat pragmatically, OK?
1. Obama already does well with younger voters. He doesn't need to reach out to them anymore.
2. Obama is having a hard time wooing Hillary's supporters, many of whom are females and mature, strong women. (By "mature," I mean, not 22-years-old and putting up half-naked pictures of themselves on MySpace, not just "old.")
3. Obama also needs to gain the support of the more conservative Reagan Democrats, who he has insulted and pushed aside in his primary bid.
These women and Reagan Democrats are the ones who are going to swing the election either to Obama or McCain. They are the crucial demographic in November. Not a bunch of young idiots who spend their weekends watching E! Entertainment.
So who came up with the "brilliant" idea that Obama needed more MTV-style marketing? Apparently...a couple of young male chauvinists who bought into the line that sex sells.
Sure, sex sells when you are selling sexy underwear, but I don't think it sells when it comes to something IMPORTANT like who is going to be the president of the United States of America.
As a woman, I am so completely offended by this marketing campaign, that not only am I even more turned off of Obama, I am turned off the Democrats as a whole.
I am certain that other, more moderate Democrats will also find this sleazy campaign to be a turn-off. (Never mind the issue of respecting women - the idea that you should be a Democrat just to have cheap sex is offensive and juvenile!)
I'm not against sex. It has its place. But if this campaign is any indication of where our culture is headed...well, let's just say the predictions of "Idiocracy" have already come true.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
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5 comments:
How do you watch one video and base a blanket statement about "the left" on it?
The left was always anit-woman. Do you think all the free love in the 60's was about women? And we all fell for it at the time.
Anonymous, please pay attention to your history. One of the earliest and most influential pioneers of sexual liberation was Emma Goldman, an incredible woman who fought for that and many other things long before the 60s.
My own belief is that sexual repression is far more inherently misogynistic because that repression often only applies to women, who are expected to "behave" while men are free to do what they like and set the rules for themselves and for women.
Look at fundamentalist Islamic societies like in Sudan (a good read for this is "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali) or very conservative sects of American religious society--men making the rules that the women have to play by. Those rules don't only lead to sexual repression of women but extreme sexual exploitation--case in point is the fundamentalist Mormon "Yearning for Zion" ranch.
The only cure for this is tossing out identity politics and fighting for true equality based on human rights. As in "it is a human right that we should all have control over our bodies and that all children have the right to quality education."
I'm not saying that we shouldn't specifically fight for women's rights--obviously there is still a great need to do that. But we can do it without an "us against them" mentality, thinking we are superior to men or fighting against men in general. That kind of thinking only creates false barriers that will set us back in our fight for equality.
Heather, too often the left gets reactionary to old-fashioned morals to the point where "anything goes." Well, I don't think the answer to sexual repression is sexual freedom to the point where people are having sex in the streets. That does not create a safe environment for women. And sexual "repression" does go both ways. Women were supposed to be protected and taken care of by honorable men in the past. I'm not saying we should go back to that, but I don't think it's fair to say that all sexual modesty is bad or bad for women. Modern sexual OVER-expression hurts women just as much if not more because it's more insidious...the rise in eating disorders is just one example of that.
Hillaryorbust,
I absolutely agree with 99% of what you wrote. I am married, have no desire to be with anyone other than my wonderful husband. We have three young children, if we do our jobs right they will continue to grow and develop into adults who respect themselves and others, and make wise decisions about sex. Self-respect is the key, as long as they are armed with self-respect they will have a healthy body image, be less vulnerable to peer pressure, e more inclined to make wise decisions about sex, know it is wrong to sexually objectify someone, etc.
The sexualization of women--either in pornography or just in media in general--hurts women and girls and all of it bleeds into the way women are treated. I certainly don't want our young daughter to think that she should be like the media images that surround us, from those obnoxious "Bratz" dolls (which are a complete "no no" in our house) to images on magazine covers, as a woman and a mother it all turns my stomach. And I don't want my sons to think that it is okay to view women as sexual objects. It is an uphill battle trying to raise kids right, to be sure.
And it doesn't just happen in the US. We live in Ireland and I discovered the hard way that porno magazines are displayed in full view in some mini-marts, my 7-year old son got an eye full of one and said "MOM! What the . . . " That was a conversation that I didn't think we'd have to have with him at such a young age.
There has to be a balance, our society hasn't achieved it yet. But I don't think one can make any kind of blanket statement about people and the sexual choices they make. I'm sure there are many people who have no desire to be in long-term monogomous relationships, I don't think that life choice is a bad one, it just isn't right for me. And I don't think that makes them bad people as long as they treat themselves and their partners with respect and make healthy choices. And there are plenty of people who are in long-term relationships who treat their partners with disrespect, on the left and the right.
I believe that any political pary/movement can be reactionary, this is not only a fault of the left, the right is just as guilty.
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