Recently in Products Category

Recently I've been seeing commercials for a product called Easy Curves that can supposedly increase breast size and shape through exercise. I can't help but wonder just how stupid these people think women are.

Anyone else hearing the infamous "You must improve your bust!" chant? Easy Curves is essentially the same motion as the accompanying exercise but much more technologically advanced:

"Developed by a woman, the Easy Curves' patented dual-direction resistance produces resistance when you push in and resistance when you pull out... sculpting a beautiful bustline through a full range of motion, to lift, firm and enlarge in just 5 minutes a day."

Whoa, resistance produces resistance? I never would have guessed. And of course we can trust it because it's developed by a woman! It's even pink!

While it's true that chest muscles can be excercised and strengthened, breast tissue is not muscle. I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure there's nothing short of surgery that can alter this sort of tissue. The TV commercial claims to see it working (and it makes this explicitly clear through all the close-ups) but it's obvious that flexing your chest and pushing in your arms will push your breasts together and make them look larger.

As for the five-minutes a day thing, that's just ridiculous. You can't change anything by exercising that little. Of course, they try to remove our doubts by saying that this product is university tested and scientifically proven just like every commercial for diet pills that don't work. As Carl Sagan said, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." This just doesn't cut it.

The site and the commercial are pretty hilarious though. The main page has animated GIF images of a woman using the product and of breasts inflating like balloons and, as always, the site is excessively covered in pink.

This product is just pathetic and insulting but, sadly, I think that a lot of women and girls will buy into it. Young girls and women who haven't been very well exposed to things like skepticism, critical thinking and feminism may be drawn in. Even some who have may be so desperate to fit the "ideal" that they might buy it. While it's somewhat benign and absurd, it makes me angry that they would try to sell something so clearly useless to women and sad that some might actually trust their claims.

Playtex Sports Tampons

Obviously tampon companies work hard to appeal to women and girls, but Playtex Sport Tampons really irk me. I purchased a box on a whim, and to my surprise, each tampon wrapper had an insprirational message on it. Fabulous. Which makes me wonder what inspired them to do this.

I suppose they may claim their intention is to positively support women/girls who play sports while selling their product, which is the gist of what I get from looking at some of their website, but many of the sayings are absolutely ridiculous. How many male athletes are told that it doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game? Sure, that sounds nice, but playing competitive sports is NOT ONLY about playing your hardest. It's playing your hardest TO WIN.

And it's hard for me NOT to correlate the sayings as being related to my period, because, umm...I'm changing my tampon. The sayings are something related to being "sporty" and the tampon is cheering you on! Woo hooo! I certainly get really pumped up when I change my tampon now, because while doing so I get to read:

"Victory! " or "Game on! " as though I'm in a fight against my period?

"I'm on your team "--- creepy.

or "Celebrate your efforts " (huh? is that similar to "Winning isn't everything, as long as you do your best"?)

and similarly, "Who cares if you win or lose - play the game! " Which kills me, because alot of the sayings are all about doing your best but it's ok to lose. Fuck you, in my book, I'm a competitive person and so are other female athletes, and no, I'm not going to smile if my team loses a game and hug everyone and say oh well.

How those could be related to my period, I have no idea. Celebrating my efforts to use the 'right' tampon and not worry about my period while I'm playing a sport? lol

But my absolute FAVORITE is:

"You can play hard and still be girly "

oh good. phew. I was worried about that. Especially playing competitive soccer at college level, I know the first thing I worried about before I played a game was if I was still going to be girly (barf). I just couldn't believe I was even reading this. I know for a fact that my gf, as well as a number of my friends, who are athletes, and very much boi's, have also never worried about playing hard = not girly , and were insulted by the idea that this should be somethign they should be worried about. As for non-boi's, the girls I know who are athletes are more concerned with winning than looking hot. In fact, playing hard = hot .

I understand that maybe some (especially young) girls are afraid to be "overly athletic" for fear of losing their femininity, but I'm not sure having my tampon wrapper reassuring me not to worry about this is the best action to take to rectify that. It shouldn't be the first thing girls worry about when being athletic and having to deal with their period. And I do NOT think a tampon wrapper is the appropriate medium to discuss femininity and athletics, (which I do think are important topics in relation to female athletes etc).

Let's be honest, Platex has a goal = $$$ .

And I just have my damn period.

duh.

I was browsing Walmart's cheapo 97 cent shipping stuff (horrible habit of mine...), when I came across this shirt.  I found it pretty cute, and cool that the sample name was the name of my friend's ten month old daughter.  And then I read the description, which included the following:

"Please specify boy or girl, girl designs will include some of the female Sesame Street characters."

Because, oh my God, a boy can NEVER have something with a GIRL character on it.

Also nice they don't have an all female option - you can only get all male or a mix of both.

Unbelievable, even though it really shouldn't be that surprising to me at this point - every time I go shopping for said friend's baby, I end up infuriated with the overgendering of baby clothing.  It's damn near impossible to get anything gender neutral.

Hey cleaning product companies... want to get me to buy your stuff?

Show a man cleaning!

My boyfriend pointed out something to me yesterday... You almost NEVER see a man doing the laundry, dishes, or cleaning in a commercial.

I know for a fact men clean.  I lived with a father that cleaned, and my boyfriend and I share the workload. When talking to him, I could see how it is almost insulting to guys as well as girls.  I found it sexist that they assumed that we women are "turned on" and "amazed" by the stuff we buy.  But what about men? If you're not in an Axe commercial (herding women like animals), or selling testosterone filled products, does that mean you're not a man at all?  Or a man that is worth being sold to?  Is the Brawny man and Mr.Clean the only men allowed in the kitchen?

What would get me to buy a product?

-Show a man washing dishes and discovering that they're amazing, just like women do in similar commercials.

-Show a man and woman doing the work together, and not just him "helping" or as a secondary do-er.

-Show guys discussing what products work for them.  I know this happens.  It isn't just women who have to get spots out of clothes.  And, please, don't do this as a macho thing.  Don't show me guys comparing their socks in the locker room, with a penis size joke thrown in.   

-Show these things gender neutral.  My vagina doesn't help get the clothes whiter or make the dishes wash themselves. 

Just wondered what you all thought of the new Tampax advert 'Outsmart Mother Nature'. I had seen full page spreads in magazines with the strapline "Mother Nature calls it your 'monthly gift', but your period is more like a curse" so checked out the website. The video - aimed at young girls/women - reminds us how Mother Nature created all the lovely things in the world, plus all the natural disasters/sinking of the Titanic/your period. Strong emphasis on how your period 'ruins' your life, stops you from doing everyday things, and don't forget that resistance is futile! And if you get on her bad side, she might ruin your wedding!

What a cheerful message to be sending to women, and young girls everywhere! I know that Tampax are in the business of making you feel ashamed ("help keep mother nature under wraps") and resentful towards your period, but this still surprised me!

I'm not sure if anyone's posted about this horrific Brazilian lingerie line, which features GPS tracking devices.

Lingerie maker Lucia Lorio of Brazil says her design targets the 'modern, techno-savvy woman.' The lingerie combination set consists of lace bodice, bikini bottom and faux pearl collar, with the GPS device nestled in the see-through part of the bodice next to the waist. 'This collection... is a wink to women and a challenge to men because, even if she gives him the password to her GPS, she can always turn it off,' Lorio said.

Ew.

I was riding the subway yesterday, and I gazed above me at an ad for Ricky's and I noticed that.... in that whole lineup of "Sexy Nurse, Sexy Freddy, Sexy Bumblebee," and her ilk... I was really only looking at one or two dresses. They're all basically the exact same dress.

I propose we get our hands on this One Dress (TO RULE THEM ALL). Can it really be that hard to make our own costumes and make them as sexy or unsexy as we wish? Sometimes we do want to be cute and sexy, but there is more than one standard for this, more than one way to express it. In other words... I don't need the peekaboo window. I think they can tell I'm the short-lived female Robin without it.

also posted at Fortissimo

I'm having a period. It started yesterday and the beginning was extremely uncomfortable this time. Today I went to browse all the different-but-similar fancy packages for at least 5 minutes untill I guessed I got the right ones. During the process I could not help but thought of a line implanted in my mind through some sort of extraterrestrial contact - Have a happy period . A sentence like this is alien, so alien it may be alien to aliens. On which planet is a period happy? I checked their tips on how to have a happy period. They seem to be advices on releasing stress than gaining happiness, or simple regimes for being healthy. No words about the pads. So the hope of using a particular brand to solve any menstrual "unhappiness" is collasped and gone. Oh but there are heating pads (particularly from ThermaCare) that "will let you leave the house and participate fully in your life"! Sounding good?

I go to school not far from your headquarters in Burlington, Vermont, and we're all really proud of your history of being a conscientious, locally-oriented company now representing a huge portion of snowboarding culture around the world.  In light of your reputation, I'm sure it's just a small oversight when this board went on the production line.

In fact, probably the designers didn't really notice that the board is hugely misogynistic and offensive.  It must have been an oversight that a blatantly objectified, hyper-sexualized woman was put on the board in two obscenely suggestive poses.  And the writer of the description was probably completely oblivious to the horrifying innuendos that were most likely mistakenly put in there.  No right-minded person in your company would ever be okay with characterizing a woman in such a demeaning manner.  Also, the placement of the bindings must be accidental: Everyone knows that standing on a woman's hands and body is not only disrespectful and dominating--it's not in your company to want to put a woman 'in her place' of course--but downright violent. 

Actually, I'm sure the very name of this product was an accident, too.  I'm sure "Love," was a typo, because love surely doesn't include the subjugation, prostitution, and humiliation of women.  But you knew that, of course.  

In short, I'm writing to notify you of that little oversight that slipped through the designers' room, the board of directors, any qualifying committees you might have for new products, and your advertising agencies.  A company of your outstanding record and peerless popularity would never stoop to outright women-hating to sell more products.  

Sincerely,

Amanda Rohdenburg

It's not quite clear to me how the company that makes t-shirts and whatnot with this logo:

would also make ones with this logo:

Maybe it's because I wanted to be part of Column A but ended up being coerced into Column B, or maybe it's because I see this as perpetuating the myth of the Status Caesarean, but I think it's just plain gauche.

I am curious to hear what other people have to say, because I think that a lot of feminists view elective caesareans and unassisted birth as value-free points on a continuum of equally-valid birth choices. I can't say that I really agree, as the astronomical rate of medical interventions and women's accounts of feeling "rushed" or "pressured" (cue millionth endorsement of The Business of Being Born and Pushed , etc., etc.) lead me to believe that a number of these interventions --especially caesareans-- are not the product of fully informed medical consent. Of course, I'll add the disclaimer of "if a woman truly understands the risks of a caesarean and decides that it is what's best for her and her family, then more power to her," but I can't help but think that flippant stuff like that evinces a disregard for 1) the real dangers of a major abdominal surgery; and 2) the value of the pregnant woman's body per se (i.e. not as vessel/incubator/time-bomb etc.). Just cut on the dotted line and remove fetus! Not recommended beyond three uses.

Maybe it's just that I can't picture the image moved down about a foot, with "caesarean" substituted for "vasectomy." Or, for the sake of closer parity of risk, "bariatric surgery."

Tell me what you think. Better yet, tell them what you think.