Woman's Last Stand

Weeks have gone by since the 2010 Super Bowl, but the flurry of criticism from women’s rights groups hasn’t ceased. And well it shouldn’t – in this year’s much-hyped advertisements, women were compared to chattel, incubators for future sports heroes, and bluntly called pains in the ass that warrant some form of relief (i.e. a masculine Dodge Charger).

This of course is nothing new. As Jaclyn Friedman writes:

“I'm hardly the first to point out that the Super Bowl's fans, athletes and institutions aren't always friendly to independent women. The commercials that air during the game seem to actively compete for the Most Jaw-Droppingly Offensive Ad Award, and they feature only two kinds of women: one the one hand, sexually available and easily manipulated hotties invarious states of undress, (as in this ad, in which men can literally control elite racecar driver Danica Patrick and compel her to take off her clothes, get into a shower and make out with another woman); or, on the other hand, unlovable shrews who make men miserable (as in this ad, in which we discover that football refs know how to keep their cool under pressure because they're already used to their wives screeching at them at home). For decades, these spots have appeared to target either 12-year-old boys, or men with the equivalent level of emotional maturity. This, despite evidence that the actual Super Bowl audience is now nearly 40 percent female.” 

 So its no surprise that this year, women are hitting back with mocking ads of their own. Taking on a Dodge Charger ad, in which men lament the difficulties of “being civil to your mother” and “carrying your lip balm,” women respond with a biting ad that mocks the self-entitled whiney-ness of Dodge men:

EQUALITY NOW executive director Taina Bien-Aimé told POLITICO that the Super bowl ads were "saddening." "What they tell us is that women are either considered as fungible objects or emasculating individuals when a man chooses daily responsibilities (cleaning up after yourself, participating in the household) versus enjoying what social masculinity offers (football game)."