Results tagged “sex” from Uncivil Society
My last post featured a BBC satire of charitable fundraisers typified by a calculus of moral nihilism. Here's an upcoming event that's far more thoughtful: the Disabled and Sexy fashion show for the UK's Jennifer Trust for Spinal Muscular Dystrophy.
Unlike the ersatz porn stars of the Ladies Guild of Kneesley, this Notting Hill event isn't just about doing anything for cash. The fashion show reflects how the charity does more than treat a disease, an effort that itself can make people feel as if they've been reduced to a set of symptoms. Rather, the initiative celebrates the participants' full humanity, an aim that is as meaningful as providing medical care.
In this BBC Comedy video, The Ladies Guild of Kneesley skewers recent efforts by charities to sex up their fundraising. While the tactic can work for some organizations--particularly those with sexuality-related missions--far too often it's an uneasy fit, with lame jokes and blatant objectification rationalized by a good cause.
PUTTING THE FUN IN FUNDRAISING EXTRA: This vintage trend piece from the Washington Post describes (ostensibly) wacky sexy fundraising as a trait of social entrepreneurship. Who knew? And somewhat related, this recent article from Australia notes that donating sex toys & bongs may not be the best way to support your local charitable thrift store.
Kissing a piece of paper for charity seems to have replaced the traditional kissing booth, which would today be seen less as a fun fundraiser than a hub for spreading the flu.
If the above vintage ad's strategy of prescribing carb-filled crackers to lose weight seems goofily retro (not to mention sexist), check out this new research on carbs as the dietary key to personal happiness.
This would-be viral video for American Diabetes Month joins the ranks of sex-themed do-gooder PR. Meanwhile, the cutting-edge in the commercial realm has moved on to cute animals, a well-worn trope in charity for decades. All ad life's a circle . . .
Personally, I think that showing your organic skivvies to a co-worker is a sure-fire way to score a sexual harassment lawsuit, but this ad from PACT depicts a sexually charged workplace and organic fashion as going hand in hand.
Diva, "the UK's leading lesbian lifestyle magazine," takes Superwoman out of the closet with this recent S-shield cover.
Comic books are modern morality plays, and today on a break I re-read a classic Superboy story from 1960: Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister. In a nutshell, Superboy realizes that his dual identity is just a metaphor for the woman within. He goes to the Fortress of Solitude for a once-in-a-lifetime Kryptonian sex change, but it's all a bit too progressive for Smallville, forcing the new Super-Sister to pretend to be an out-of-town relative. Unfortunately, when Claire Kent rejects Luthor's invitation to the prom, the spurned teen mad scientist reverses the operation.
Nah, that's not what happened. The real story--not a hoax, not an imaginary tale, not a dream (well, sorta not a dream)--is a different kind of study in gender dynamics. Superboy insults an alien woman's driving ability, so she decides to teach him a valuable lesson: it sucks to be a girl in a patriarchal society.
As the last panel shows, it's an ambiguous lesson at best--Superboy learns that he's been a real pig in the way he has treated the women in his life, but when it's all over he's glad that he's a guy--and not in a "I'm glad that I now have the insight and power to make a difference," way, but "Sheesh, I'm glad that's over, wink wink." Ah well. For a more reflective study of the social significance of superheroines & their positive effect on girls' sense of self, check out Peggy Orenstein's upcoming Sunday times essay, Wonder Girl:
In the end, that is the true drama of the superhero: the ordinary Joe who discovers that he has a marvelous gift, something that sets him apart from everyone else, simultaneously elevating and at least potentially isolating him, forcing a series of moral choices about the nature of might and goodness. It's a story writ large about coming to grips with power: accepting it, demanding it, wielding it wisely. Those themes are rarely explored in the fantasy culture of little girls, yet given how problematic power remains for adult women -- in both fact and fiction -- perhaps they should be.For the complete Super-Sister story, plus more transgender Superman, check out the invaluable Transgender Graphics and Fiction Archive.
What constitutes socially responsible search? Bing has segregated explicit images, and Google is under fire for generously giving artists the opportunity to have their work exploited for free. But for some groups, search raises even more pervasive value conflicts, such that working with the leading commercial search engines seems impracticable.
Case in point: Koogle, an Israeli start-up search engine designed for Orthodox Jews, though from the perspective of trademark law it is decidedly unorthodox:
The new site, named in a pun on Google and on a Jewish casserole pudding, is meant to let devout Jews search for things they need without encountering sexual material or breaking religious taboos. Even when filters are used on mainstream search sites, explicit results sometimes appear under subjects like “breast cancer” — as users of Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Microsoft’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) new Bing search service have discovered. (Microsoft took steps recently to make filtering more effective.)
Koogle will not only screen out sexual material or even images of women dressed provocatively, but it will also not offer things like television sets, which Orthodox families aren’t allowed to have in their homes.
Koogle will not permit any shopping on the Sabbath, from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday.
In a world without sexual harassment law, Auctioning Charity uses a charity auction as the launching point for reflection on the tension between commerce and human dignity--well, that and the fulfillment of a boss's fantasy to dominate Charity, his female VP. An excerpt:
“It’s about the executive auction,” she said. . . .
“The image of the female on the auction block,” she said now, evidently deciding on the direct approach, “is rather repugnant, don’t you think?”
He narrowed his gaze. “As opposed to a male being sold?”
Her full lips formed into a pouty, irritated frown. Oh, how he would like to explore the full range of her emotions, putting her under absolute control, manipulating her pleasure and her pain, her agony and ecstasy, for endless hours.
To begin, he would like to take her in his arms and overpower her with a kiss, reducing all her arguments to a single, panting, breathing motion, only one word left in her vocabulary—Yes.
Correction—two. Yes, Master.
“You know what I mean, Roger. There are a preponderance of images and cultural metaphors surrounding the exploitation of the female body.”
Roger snorted. “Good heavens, woman, it’s a charity dinner. I have no intention of selling you into white slavery.”
No, he just intends to buy her.
Sad to say, I've met executives just like Roger.
Blah.
Martina Fugazzotto is the award-winning author of comics aimed at giving teens an educational & entertaining introduction to sexuality. Below: her table at this weekend's MoCCA Art Fest.
Via Copyranter, a classic example of a sexist ad promoting the interests of a trade association. Don't want to be turned down? Be like rice, which "never intrudes. Never gets in the way."
Also worth checking out for folks interested in sexist ads, this blog dedicated to sexist marketing--and, of course, Sarah Haskins' Target Women.
Below: UK candy bar Yorkie--"IT'S NOT FOR GIRLS!"
Part of an upcoming Barcelona international exhibit of comics and HIV/AIDS. Check out the online archive at SIDAStudi.org.
Via Animal NY, a new embedded giving initiative:
As Fleet Week rolls into town Tuesday, one Manhattan strip club will be waiting with a special drink called the Drunken Captain and, the owners say, all proceeds will go back to the troops.
HeadQuarters, located just blocks from the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum on the West Side, is selling the cocktail for $16 during Fleet Week. Military personnel can buy it for $10.
"All of us here at HeadQuarters appreciate all the men and women who put themselves at risk every day to allow us to have the freedom to express ourselves," general manager Serafina Fiori said.
"We welcome them always so they can see firsthand what they're fighting for!"
The Drunken Captain is a mixture of coconut, mango and pineapple rums with a little pineapple juice and a splash of cranberry.
Fiori said proceeds from the sales of the drink will go to the Soldiers', Sailors', Marines', Airmen's & Coast Guard Club in Murray Hill. The club has been housing soldiers and veterans while they visit the Big Apple for the past 90 years.
Now this is embedded giving (ba dum bump!). For more info, click the pic below.
This is truly one of the most unusual charity-related stories that I have ever encountered. Lucy Baxter works with Mencap, a charity for people with learning disabilities. She also has a 21-year-old adopted son with Down's Syndrome.
Her ongoing mission: to find him a woman volunteer to have sex with him:
'I'd like all my boys to find love and enjoy sex.
'I would have no problem paying for Otto to go to Amsterdam to visit a brothel if that's what he wanted but I dare say he could afford to pay for it himself.
'A few of his friends suggested it a few months ago and since then I've talked to Otto about it in an adult way.
'Why shouldn't he enjoy the same experiences as other men his age?'
To accomplish this distinctly social purpose, Ms. Baxter has helped Otto set up a profile on social-networking site Bebo.
A Down's Syndrome charity exec comments:
Chief Executive of the Down's Syndrome Association Carol Boys said yesterday: 'People with Down’s syndrome have the same feelings and desires as everyone else and there is no reason why they shouldn’t have relationships like the rest of us.
'There are many people with Down’s syndrome who have found a partner and some that have gone on to get married.
'Otto’s experience highlights that there are different challenges that people with Down’s syndrome have to face because they have a visible disability.'
The sex and social marketing trend hits the Wellington Zoo, whose new advertising campaign blends an orgasmic audio track with an adults-only theme to attract Valentine's Day business for its dining room. You don't actually get to have sex at the zoo; what you're really buying is a candlelight dinner overlooking an animal enclosure.
Porn DVDs for Africa inspire this compelling cri de couer on charitable marketing from Wronging Rights, via Blood and Milk.
Isn't there something peculiar about placing added value on products that somehow involve people who have been raped, tortured, infected with HIV, diarrhea'd to death, or otherwise atrocitied? Kate and I have been waiting for "sex toys made by sex slaves," which we assume would be the ultimate victim craft. If you're going to combine rampant consumerism with a prurient interest in other people's suffering, you should really go for it.
The key issue here isn't the porn DVD that inspired this post; it's the extent to which charity has become the new colonialism. We're not as different from the nineteenth century as we would like to think.
An intriguing Ad Age podcast* on the marketing success of the Dos Equis promotion featuring a traveling freak show got me thinking about how charities use carnivals to raise funds. A post here a couple days ago noted that carnival events at ag fairs can be exempt from the unrelated business income tax. Above: The Burlesque Breast Fest, an upcoming "burlesque carnival event" to benefit breast cancer survivor programs. Featured dancers, an astrologer and psychic, circus performers--all in all, a night of "fun festive fundraising."
There's even an alcohol tie-in: sponsorship by P.I.N.K. Vodka, including an open bar!
Picture via Sucia @ Madame X
*If you're into social enterprisey things, the 3 Minute Ad Age podcasts are chock full of useful strategies and insights.
