|
An Open Letter to Burger King [by Leila Cohan] Dear Burger King,
As you probably don’t know, since we’re not exactly tight, I consider myself to be both a rather liberal feminist and someone who hates humorless liberals. As such, I am exceptionally worried by any suggestion that I might be over-sensitive. I'm willing to forgive a fair amount in the name of irony. All that being said, I'm completely offended by your new ad. The commercial changes Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman" to "I Am Man" and talks about how the new Burger King sandwich is man food.
Now. I have no problem with making fun of Helen Reddy. "I Am Woman" is clearly unintentionally hilarious and super-earnest and a relic of the times. My problem is with the idea of "man food." Listen. You can't gender-norm within the context of food, even in a joking manner. This is the kind of thing that fuels girls' food issues. Implicit within female socialization is the idea that certain foods and ways of eating are unfeminine, that you can't get a man if you order a regular instead of diet Coke, that you need to be embarassed about your ability to eat a medium pizza in one sitting. You simply cannot make these messages explicit, even in jest.
I obviously understand that the ad is meant to be so over-the-top sexist that it's making fun of sexism. But, as Al Franken would say, it's kidding on the square - clothing itself in a protective sheath of irony* to shield itself from revealing its core fear of emasculation. If you put our an ad that was as racist as this one is sexist, even "ironically", people would be up in arms. And it would be a lot harder to accuse those people of being humorless. Listen, I generally like your ads. I stuck up for you when people thought those “Wake Up With the King” ads were creepy. I’m not sticking up for you now. That that foolishness off the air. Sincerely, Leila Cohan *: Condom imagry totally intentional
|
written by Creepy King on December 07, 2006
Definining something in terms of men does not exclude it for women - that is the problem with you either/or feminists. Sorry, but everything is NOT about you no matter how self-involved you are.
written by Equally annoyed on August 13, 2007
If it didn't specifically exclude women, the commercial would say "people food" or "human food" and "I am human" -- but it doesn't. It specifically says I AM MAN. Likewise, Reddy's song IS specifically saying "I am woman," as in "I am NOT man." In addition to Leila Cohen's above comments, the commercial is just stupid, period. As a male, I find it offensive. Maybe you enjoy all males being reduced to cavemanesque, animalistic behavior, but I don't. Eating BK doesn't make me stronger, it makes me fatter, it doesn't get me chicks, it just makes me kind of sleepy. afterward. Why do most men feel the need to get all defensive whenever a female expresses an opinion? Why do you care so much?