Greercase

joined 4 months ago
[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 2 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

My introduction to the ad was someone talking about the backlash to the backlash, so I also had to look it up separately. It did seem like a lot of people were being gross about it. I also like to know how clothes will look on my body type, so I totally understand how the ad was not directly helpful to you. I'm not sure how "look how good our clothes look on attractive person" is better than "look how good our clothes look on a diverse group of people / we have something for everyone", but I guess that's why I'm not in advertising.

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 2 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Did you read the post and still have no thoughts, or had you not heard about it previously, or something else?

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 4 points 17 hours ago

If a brand is using harmful messages to frame their ads, I think that's worth noting. I don't think things like pride collections make a brand good, but companies that have not pulled back on their pride collections despite backlash certainly are saying more than companies that are folding under the pressure. To a certain extent marketing and culture are intertwined and if we allow brands to market using harmful messages then we are signaling that it's acceptable culturally. I'm not saying this in reference to this ad necessarily, just in general. I don't want to see Pepsi advertising that they're the most popular drink at the klan rally. It normalizes klan rallies and demonstrations that they don't mind being associated with them. That's a loss in my book. Obviously it's an extreme example, but things have an effect, even passively.

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 2 points 1 day ago

Thank you for the suggestion! I looked it up and I see some listings on thread up, but can't seem to find their actual site or what retail store carries them. I don't mind 2nd hand, but they don't have my size. Do you know where you got yours?

 

To start, I want to mention that I am trying to keep my post feminism related and not politics related. Sometimes it's hard to separate the two, but I know that there is a no politics rule, and I am trying to respect that while still having a discussion that is currently heavily steeped in politics, but just have it from a feminist perspective and not a political one. If this post either crosses the line, or does not fit here, please feel free to remove it. 

Below is a description of one of the ads. Some ads are different and in my opinion less pointed though also not great imho (the boob one), but I think this is the one that most people take the most issue with: The video pans up her body as she is laying down buttoning jeans while saying "Genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue." The ad ends with "Sydney Sweeney has great jeans."

Admittedly, if I saw this ad apropos of nothing, I would think it was incredibly tone deaf, but I don't think that I would take to the Internet about it. It's part of the discourse now, so I might as well.

My take in general is that women were and still are sexualized and I will not fault them for profiting off that, but this isn't just about her being attractive, it's explicitly referring to her genetic makeup and how great it is. At a time when women are being stripped of their rights (I think feminism is pro choice so I hope that's not coming across as political) and being told they have forgotten their place, talking about people in terms of their genetics feels like a dog whistle harkening back to a time and place where women were viewed as broodmares for men with "superior genes". Do I think she's a racist or is that AE is filled with racists? Potentially not, but I think this is an overall indicator of the current culture and its backlash against badly positivity and inclusivity.

I'm going to date myself, but I remember when aerie (a brand under American eagle) refused to photoshop its ads. This feels silly to type out and like something an anti feminist would make up to make fun of someone for, but I remember stopping and staring in front of one of their ads. I'd not seen someone with my features so naturally displayed in an ad before. It's making me tear up a little because I remember feeling like I could actually be seen as beautiful despite my "flaw". The girl in the ad was smiling and clearly just so pretty and I thought, if she can be then maybe I can too. It left such a huge impact on me. I won't get further into it, but I have a feeling that no one that looks like me will be featured in this ad campaign. I'm "conventionally attractive" and even I feel this way. If they had released a slew of ads at the same time with different people saying they have great jeans it maybe would be different (all blue jeans because imho it'd be a bad look to have people talk about black jeans though I've seen people suggest that), but this as a stand alone ad is not it.

I was hoping as a society we would be moving towards the whole "content of their character" thing, and to have a clothing ad tell us that personality is determined by genes, a thought that was used to suggest that certain races were culturally inferior, is honestly not where we should be. My feminism is intersectional, and this ad is certainly not. Any further part of this ad campaign, even if it were to include more diversity will be tainted by them having fanned the flames of racism in order to... sell more pants. It's frustrating to realize that they want us to be upset because it keeps them relevant. It feels like they would incite race riots if it'd increase sales and I think that makes them bad jeans.

I actually wear AE jeans and have since aerie didn't photoshop their ads. I will not be buying more. I don't want to support a brand that spends my money advertising like this, so I guess this is also a jean recommendation thread?


Thoughts on Sydney Sweeney in general: I obviously don't know her, and I want to stress that women should feel comfortable and confident in their bodies and with their sexuality, but ever since the selling soap with her bathwater in it stunt, I got bad vibes. This post is already pretty long, but imho selling her bathwater feeds into misogyny. It normalizes "gooner culture" in a way that's insulting to men (this idea that all men are sex crazed to the point of wanting to clean themselves with a woman's dirty bathwater), and degrading to women (this idea that a well known celebrity is willing to fulfill this desire to be so explicitly a sex object - not sex symbol sex object - makes it seem like a thing normal women should want or accept). I think sex work is real work, and people are individuals responsible for their own actions, but part of feminism is understanding where you are in the current hierarchy and using that position to uplift others and influence the culture. This does not seem to uplift men out of the "men are base sexual creatures" stereotype or uplift women out of the "here to serve your desires" stereotype. It's not her job to be feminist but she could use her job to be a vocal feminist and she has not done so, if anything she is working against feminist causes.

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 30 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. I think I "talk like a woman" and in certain areas make a conscious effort not to. Women tend to use more qualifiers and are less definite in their statements. I will be 100% right and still say "I think" or "maybe". It's the whole confident women are bossy women thing. It's not true at all, but there's still so much of that mentality.

They were probably just trying to say something offensive, but if it means anything it's likely just that you're confident and knowledgeable, because thanks to misogyny that's what we think men sound like and not what we think women sound like. Take it as a compliment if anything. It's possible you were just being effortlessly correct lol. And obviously that's what women sound like if you're a woman and that's what you sound like.

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 18 points 2 months ago (2 children)

That just turns paid apps into splash screens for in-app purchases though. That way apple never gets a cut because the "purchase" is in-app. Pay to be listed (maybe tiered depending on downloads) seems fair especially because it doesn't incentivize people to do scammy things with pricing. It's already a fee anyway.

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 4 points 3 months ago

I was about to post but then I read the comments and this is just exactly what I would've posted. I moved around a bit in STEM and this is my exact experience in any male dominated STEM field. Some STEM fields that are more 50/50 operate so well that it makes the tech portion stand out even more. I think part of it is that tech as we see it today is still relatively new and so fast paced that people don't even know what makes a good employee much less manager.

90% of the men I worked with were fantastic and friendly but most of those 90% were unable or unwilling to step up when there were issues with the other 10%. I worked somewhere with almost daily harassment from a techbro guy and although others were willing to admit it was a problem behind closed doors it was all just blank stares from them when I said anything to him.

Elon Musk is my go to when I have to explain it. Basically no one that actually works in tech is like him but somehow he's still at the top. He knows nothing about the day to day but does just enough to ruin things. People still work for him though and look the other way when he does terrible things because he is the boss. If guys like him didn't exist tech would be a fine industry.

 

cross-posted from: https://lemmus.org/post/12625305

I don't generally play multiplayer games, but I used to play Palia when it first came out and could jump back into it if I had some friends that still played. Anyone else here play that or another multiplayer game they'd like to suggest?

 

I don't generally play multiplayer games, but I used to play Palia when it first came out and could jump back into it if I had some friends that still played. Anyone else here play that or another multiplayer game they'd like to suggest?

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 2 points 3 months ago

Thanks for sharing! I have some chips left over from another recipe and I've been thinking about what to do with them. Looking forward to trying this tonight!

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 5 points 3 months ago

This is a simple one that I still get a craving for every once in a while: https://www.everyplate.com/recipes/beef-shepherds-pie-62f1622f2c02226365032497

I try to minimize my consumption of red meat but you can adjust the proportion or replace it with meat substitutes and it's still really good.

 

Take a recipe leave a recipe.

Just saw the post about baked goods and thought it might be nice to have a place for people to list some favorite recipes. Would love to see a mix of more complicated ones and some more simple ones so don't just share your fanciest. Share your favorites!

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Would you be willing to share the recipe? I have made them a few times for holidays and I find that I just can't compete with store bought. I like most my other pies more than store bought pies but apple is just so particular.

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 7 points 3 months ago

Women only spaces have been a popular and important part of feminist and women's movement globally. It's ok if it's not right for you but it's reductive to act like it serves no purpose. It's important for marginalized communities to be able to gather and discuss their experiences.

I think it's nice that the mod has given their time to fostering a community of women supporting women and it's insulting for you to call it insane. It's part of a long tradition of women carving out space for themselves. She's not mandating you participate. Just politely asking people to follow the rules. It's like calling it insane that a book club only allow people who have read the book to talk about it. Others can listen in and talk about it elsewhere if needed but book club is for people who read the book to discuss it with other people who also read it.

Just a basic overview if you're honestly unfamiliar with the concept: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women-only_space

[–] Greercase@lemmus.org 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I am OP. I said nothing about inclusive or exclusive spaces. The brackets in my title were added because it's a community rule and I was understandably asked to add that.

What in the post suggests anything about inclusive or exclusive anything? I was noticing a pattern and sharing my annoyance at it. I also shared what I believe to be the cause of the pattern. I did not say it shouldn't be allowed or that they were bad people. I also made it clear I didn't believe it to be sexism and that the gender of the person I would originally be speaking to seemed largely irrelevant. Not sure how this would be interpreted as exclusionary.

 

I've been more active in online spaces recently and I am just astounded at the number of times I'll be several comments deep with another person and a man will just jump in responding to us both with the least relevant most inflammatory take. The gender of the person I'm talking to is never relevant, but it's always a guy that interjects. I know the internet is a public forum, and I guess there's more guys on some platforms than women, but it's just shocking how often it has happened. We'll be talking about baking and some guy will come in and say that it actually costs more to bake bread at home or clothes and some guy will come in to say actually both our styles are bad. It's not even a sexist thing I don't think, I just think women are socialized more with a live and let live mentality and men are socialized to believe that everyone should hear their opinion. I don't really have any solutions. I always want to reply with something snarky about how we're not asking him or how his comment doesn't need to be shared, but I don't want to invite harassment. Their comments get upvotes or reacts in agreement and it just feels targeted. Like two people were having a casual chat and this guy comes in and derails and gets positive attention for it. I'm just venting now because it just happened in a gaming discord and I don't really have people irl who understand how these communities are helpful and how that kind of community reaction is ostracizing.

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