Another Super Bowl, another evening of commercials and on-air content presenting women in an overly sexualized and ultimately demeaning manner.
This year's commercials ranged from a close-up shot of an extended kiss between a nerd and a supermodel to a modern riff on the classic 'lady washing a soapy car,' to two female actors sensually dancing on poles to plug their sitcom.
And then there was the halftime show. While I admire Beyoncé's message of female empowerment through her lyrics and savvy business decisions, her ultra-sizzling performance prompted one of my colleagues to turn the channel after fielding comments and questions from her young son, including "Why are all the ladies showing their butts?"
The Super Bowl -- America's most-watched broadcast with well over 100 million viewers -- is only the most recent example of how our culture has passively (or perhaps not so passively) accepted an overly sexualized view of women. Advertisers' continued embrace of the "sex sells" philosophy permeates our culture and inevitably impacts the treatment of women and girls in our society.
Sadly, I am convinced that this overriding cultural message that objectifies women plays a role in influencing much of the poor behavior we've seen in recent headlines. A world-renowned university recently announced that 27 members of its men's lacrosse team were suspended for two games after an investigation found that they subjected female volleyball players "to sexist and racist heckling..." while watching their match from the stands. The men's hockey team at another leading university was investigated last year after two players were charged with sexual assault. The report identified a "culture of sexual entitlement" on the team that had gone unchecked for years.
My point is this: No matter how many girl-serving organizations we create, leadership forums we attend or skills we acquire, women continue to face these sexualized attitudes in their communities and at work. And in some cases, these attitudes may impact their career success and advancement into positions of leadership. It's time to change the culture.
Women are taking a stand. For the second year in a row, the #NotBuyingIt Campaign, led by the same organization that brought you the Miss Representation documentary, which explores inaccurate portrayals of women in the media, encouraged Super Bowl viewers to share their thoughts on Twitter about sexist advertisements.
This campaign is wonderful, but in order to enact a culture change, we need more than women involved. We need men -- a lot of them. I believe that men need to get off the sidelines and take part in the effort to demand a transformation of societal thinking about how we treat women. If we continue to allow women to be portrayed in a sexualized and demeaning manner, women will never be treated equally in the workplace or anywhere else. So here is my appeal: men, we need your help.
For many years, the issue of fighting the sexualization of women has been discussed as a "woman's issue," or "feminist campaign," etc. -- all focused on what women and girls can do. We've done a lot, for sure, but I believe it's time we involved our entire society -- men and women. Men and boys need to be fully engaged partners in this effort so that together we can create a better future for the next generation. Creating a society that is just for all is in the best interest of all of us.
I hope that someday soon we can all enjoy a Super Bowl that includes an exciting game, fun and witty advertisements and a halftime show that we can watch with our children and grandchildren without averting their eyes.
Follow Helen Drinan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@SimmonsNews
Also I think there are a lot of women that would say they have fought long and hard to be able to express themselves and their sexuality without being subject to negative judgement, shaming and censure.
As a member of, and candidate for the Green Party, I embrace feminism which is one of our Ten Key Values. I agree with all the points that were raised in this article. I see all of this as just one more example of the undue influence and twisting of basic human values by our corporate dominated society for nothing more than profit. What we need is more Ani DiFranco's (and fewer Beyonce's) as role models for young women.
What about the objectification of the men who are portrayed as only valuable for their physical abilities and strength on the field? This is the superbowl after all. The solidification of erroneous gender stereotypes didn't just occur at half time and during the commercials, they main show does it plenty well on its own.
When we're all gettin' some however we like, and we all respect that, we deprive sex of its taboo powers: when we judge a man or woman, we shouldn't bother judging them based on their sex lives, because who cares, it's not relevant. We have to go for intellect, ability, personality, kindness, ambition, character traits, values. You know... the real things a [man/woman] want out of a [man/woman].
Beyonce's costume designer was quoted as saying he created this masterpiece 'so she could move'. What? An ultra-revealing costume that required a Brazilian? In front of millions of people?
For awhile, I assumed I must have been the only person on the planet who thought the costumes and some of the dancing was vulgar. Now I know the rest of us need to speak up and join the movement!
Here are some of the headlines on the Women's page today:
"A Positive Effect Of Men Watching Porn"
"Unfaithful? 5 Reasons Women Cheat"
"9 Reasons To Have Sex That Are Better Than Burning Calories"
"A Man Walks Into A Lingerie Store…"
"23 Ways To Turn A Woman On"
"WATCH: What I Learned From Cheating On My Husband"
And, "10 Things You Didn't Know About Single People" which is accompanied by a couple in bed with a smiling woman on top of a man.
Now, personally, I think all of those stories are probably just fine. But if you want Doritos to get its act together for Super Bowl ads, how about taking a look at how women are portrayed at HuffPost and other supposedly progressive and pro-women venues.
Also, if you Google: sideboob and "Huffington Post" you'll get 274,000 results (really, I just did that).
On any given day, the Celebrity page is at least half filled with photos and stories of female celebrities and the focus is on their skimpy attire and/or scandalous relationships.
Yes, as a society we can all probably do a better job. But I would argue that silly, over-the-top Super Bowl ads probably send a less damaging message than websites, magazines, TV shows and other media that purport to be supportive of women.