Paradigm Shift

Gender inequality in advertising is certainly not a new topic. As an instructor, part of my job is to make sure that my students leave my classroom as better analytical thinkers; one way we do this is through studying the advertisements that they see everyday. My students seem receptive to discussing the damaging way in which media represents a “norm” of how men and women should act and look.

As I was looking for interesting ads to share with my students, I found this ad from Axe, a product from Unilever. The Axe commercials, which usually feature a man with an admiring group of scantily clad women fawning over him because he has just used the product, are at best mildly amusing (I begrudgingly admit) and are at worst dangerous for women everywhere in that they suggest woman are just objects to obtain. However, this ad is different from the other Axe ads and even different from ads that can be considered more offensive than the previously mentioned commercials.

This specific ad, which shows a woman face down in a bathtub full of water, apparently providing sexual pleasure for a man, does not have the right to a face, the right to an identity, or even the right to breathe. The ad is certainly harmful to women, but it also speaks out against sexuality. The man, with what can be interpreted as an entitled look on his face, is not even touching the drowning woman.

I have brought this ad to the attention of several students, friends, family members, and colleagues, many of whom did not share my same concerns. Some found my reference to “drowning” a stretch, pointed out that the woman is “voluntarily engaged” and suggested that I look at the ad with a less literal lens. Perhaps. However, if she is not physically drowning (though it is difficult to imagine that she is not, since after all, she has no access to air), she is certainly metaphorically drowning; she is submerged into an abyss where here identity is meaningless. When not taken “literally” and instead taken “metaphorically,”the results are no better.

The only thing that is missing in order to make the ad the absolute epitome of problematic advertising is a sponge in one of her hands so that she can simultaneously please the man and wash the tub. The advertisement, and many others, is scary in its cavalier attitude about the rights of women. It becomes “normal” for women to be perpetually cleaning and perpetually taking care of others, even at her own expense, or in this case life.

The intelligence of the ad makers and their decision to represent women in this manner is reflected in the bathtub itself. A critical thinker is not only left questioning how a woman could be treated in this brutal manner, but also how the bathtub became full without a faucet.

If this ad has upset you please let them know:
http://www.theaxeeffect.com/contact.html

Carly Anger is an instructor and PhD candidate at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The subject of her dissertation is American coming-of-age novels with female protagonists published in the 1940’s. Any comments/concerns are welcome.

New York, NY. Tony Simmons – a juvenile court guard convicted of molesting two girls in juvenile detention— was sentenced by Judge Carol Berkman to four years in prison and ten years probation on multiple counts of committing a Criminal Sexual Act and Sexual Abuse.  The judge noted that both the girls’ young ages and the position of Tony Simmons as an employee of the Department of Juvenile Justice entrusted with their care warranted a sentence in the maximum range.

NOW-NYC Executive Director, Sonia Ossorio called the news a victory for all survivors of sexual assault, saying:  “An attacker who was set to get a slap on the wrist will now be serving four years in prison, largely because our community of  women’s rights organizations and anti-violence advocates demanded that rape be taken seriously.”

Just this past November, Simmons had been days away from finalizing a plea deal of probation with no jail time for sexually assaulting three girls in his custody in the Manhattan Family Court Building.  After an overwhelming community outcry against the lenient sentence led by the New York City chapter of the National Organization for Women, Judge Cassandra Mullen changed her offer to 3 years in state prison. Simmons chose to face trial, and on January 21^st, Simmons was found guilty by a jury of his peers on 12 of the 14 counts against him:  Criminal Sexual Act in the Third Degree (a class E felony, two counts), Sexual Abuse in the Second Degree (a class A misdemeanor, five counts), and Sexual Abuse in the Third Degree (a class B misdemeanor, five counts).

Ossorio points out, “He almost got away with it. Simmons targeted these girls precisely because he thought they were not in a position to stand up for themselves and that no one would believe them.  Today, he was proven wrong.”

In response to this egregious case and the initial offer of probation for a confessed rapist, NOW-NYC launched a “Take Rape Seriously” campaign to turn up the pressure on the criminal justice system in New York. Nearly 18% of women in the U.S. have survived a completed or attempted rape.  It’s estimated that only 39% of rapes are reported nationwide and only 6% of rapists will spend any time in prison.

“There is an epidemic of abuse happening to our most vulnerable kids, those in the juvenile justice system.  One in eight detained youth has been sexually abused according to a report by the Department of Justice.  Predators like Tony Simmons think these kids don’t matter to society,” said Ossorio.

The National Organization for Women is the nation’s largest organization working to advance women’s rights and improve women’s lives. The New York City Chapter of NOW, founded in 1966, is the largest chapter in the country with 5,000 members locally and 35,000 statewide.  NOW-NYC works to promote women’s reproductive rights, secure women’s economic empowerment, and end violence and discrimination against women.