Male Feminists

Wait, GoDaddy released a controversial ad that objectifies women for the Super Bowl? SHOCKER!

John’s (quick) take:

1) On face, this isn’t the worst thing in the world. It’s yet another ad that thoughtlessly and joyfully embraces the idea of female-as-object (and the model never speaks! awesome!), but it could be worse.

2) Like the Dr. Pepper recent thing, this ad is meant to gain attention: That also means that decrying the objectification and sexism plays directly into GoDaddy’s hands. So, balancing outrage with effective messaging is, as with too many of these frustrations, difficult. We have to respond smartly so we don’t actually end up inadvertently helping GoDaddy.

SUGGESTED TALKING POINT: “Sure, the ad treats women like objects [you can go with “sexist” or “objectifies women,” depending on the audience/context]; the ad’s also just kind of sad. Have you tried to buy a domain on GoDaddy recently? It’s like trying to surf on MySpace with your hand tied behind your back.”

EDIT: Note that my talking points are aimed at persuading the folks on the fence about issues of misogyny, sexism, objectification, and prejudice. If you’re talking to a more sympathetic audience (or conversely, an even less sympathetic one), shift appropriately. To make our world a more progressive one, we need talking points of all kinds—mine are (hopefully) persuasive to one bunch of folks.

Source: youtube.com