V-Day

[annuin]

But I don't like the weeks of men-are-clueless-scum-and-women-are-grasping-bitches-and-you're-fucked-if-you-don't-buy-her-a-diamond media propaganda.

From Poppy Z. Brite's journal.

And I heartily concur.

I dislike the rampant sexism in the ads for Valentine's Day. Nearly always it's about the men needing to buy gifts, either chocolate, flowers or preferably something sparkly from Kay jewelers, with the threat of spending Valentine's night on the couch. I guess feminism goes out the window when it comes to getting goodies.

I patiently await when there are ads in the media for women to buy stuff for their men (yes, I know many do anyway, but I'm talking about media/marketing perception here).

Meanwhile, all the candy will be on sale tomorrow at CVS :D Hopefully they discount it like they do the Halloween candy: 75% off!

Comments

[prez.livejournal.com]

In Grand Central Terminal (NYC) over dec/jan (both months, usually advertising is only up for one month, this was up for two), they had advertising for "A Diamond Is Forever" (which itself is a slogen that was invented by De Beers (spit)). Every single one had a picture of some piece of jewelery and a slogan. Nothing about the jewelery itself, and every slogan was obviously aimed at men telling them to buy jewelery for their woman - and hang the expense, and don't expect anything more than a pair of socks in return.

Such gem slogans (no pun intended) as:
"Immagine the resolutions's SHE'LL make"
"For once you'll know exactly what she's thinking"
"She hasn't kissed you like that since, well, has she ever kissed you like that?"
"No assembly required, unless she falls to pieces"
"Make sure she has a soft place to land"

and so on, if you're really interested, I found a link to the ads to refresh my memory of the slogans that made be grit my teeth every day on the way to work, simply because of the sheer sexism (and yes, the whole 'men are mindless-etc' attitude) of it all.

The ads are here: http://www.adiamondisforever.com/hot/asadvertised.html
You have to then click 'sieze the day', and then 'view the ads' and a pop-up window will come up with the ads (with a little prev/next buttons at the top).

[vgnwtch.livejournal.com]

::Bangs head on desk:::

What gets me is the people who say that feminism's over because we're all equal. Equally shoved into teeny-tiny gender roles to be determined by advertisers? I protest!

I suppose, though, that there isn't a lot of money to be made off pushing clear, honest, and mutually respectful communication and behaviour, and you wouldn't get so many diamonds sold if each advert carried pictures of bodies piled high: "Diamonds are forever; rights to diamond mines kind of shift around."

Last Valentine's Day, we both independently decided roses would be nice, and bought each other bouquets. The woman in the shop looked a bit nonplussed when I said I was buying them for my husband. People are weird, weird, weird.

[tanthe.livejournal.com]

The woman in the shop looked a bit nonplussed when I said I was buying them for my husband.

Good grief. I think men really do get a bum wrap (rap?) in the romance department. They're expected to cough up the money, spend the time and effort buying/organising things, and get nothing in return. They should be appreciated too.

[leonatos.livejournal.com]

I couldn't agree more. There is a great divide in the world in terms of romance, no equality. If it's not sucking up the bank accounts of men, then it's expecting women to look pretty and act civilised so they will impress the menfolk, get married, have kids, etc, etc.

I'm not saying that women shouldn't look pretty, but throughout history and even to the present day, more energy has gone into women's fashion and appearence, then men's. I know that's a lot of work, pressure and financial strain for women, but it makes me somewhat jealous.