If you’re wondering if we still need feminism, please complete this three-step process:
1. Consider the continuing blatant sexism in a preponderance of Super Bowl commercials, as detailed by Salon’s Broadsheet.
2. Ponder the fact that apparently the show-stealing moment of Will Ferrell’s Broadway production You’re Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush is when Condoleezza Rice (Pia Glenn) performs a lap dance for Ferrell’s former prez. Now, the actual show looks reasonably funny, if you’re in the mood to feel nostalgic for those glorious Ferrell-as-Bush years. But, unfortunately, this Condi-as-stripper bit just proves that while we’re moving on past the Bush era, we haven’t left behind the time-honored tradition of putting female politicians in their place by pornifying them: Does a Will Ferrell show really have to stoop to Nailin’ Paylin depths?
3. Now that you’re all riled up (I hope), soothe yourself with The New York Times‘ spot-on dissection of Gabrielle Anwar’s role on Burn Notice (pictured) asa perfect postfeminist idol: a woman who knows her job — and her guns– but still pines for the guy she can’t have. (Oh, how we relate –minus the guns, anyway.)
Now you tell us, PopWatchers: What’s on your ShePop radar this week?
Comments (1-30) of 33 Add your comment
The Go-Daddy commerical was disgusting and dumb. It made me feel uncomfortable watching it in a room w/male cousins, uncles, and my father. When the commercial ended, everyone debated what it was even for and the general consensus was that Go Daddy was some type of porn website. Definitely NOT a good commercial.
While the Super Bowl is allegedly a “family” event, it’s still primarily the last hurrah for manly-men to watch football. Or at least that’s what the advertisers think – it’s like they haven’t realized that A. some women actually like football, and B. said women don’t like being objectified while their children are watching. Granted, my two-year-old didn’t quite get the “subtleties” of the GoDaddy.com commercials, but the Super Bowl is simply an inappropriate place for those types of commercials. Air them during Manswers or any other equally lame, man-oriented Spike show.
I feel compelled to post “Sister Suffragette” from Mary Poppins:
someone please give gabrielle anwar a donut and a parasol
Well, let’s just be thankful that there were no .001 second flashes of nipple. THAT would have caused the downfall of society, remember?
I named the GoDaddy commercial “most likely to make intelligent women cringe” on my blog.
http://leastlikelytoblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/commercial-critiques-part-1-the-bad/ (I hope it’s okay to post that.)
I’m surprised that the Salon article didn’t mention the widely-lauded commercial (for Bridgestone, I think) that featured Mrs. Potato Head’s mouth falling off.
Anwar may be a “perfect postfeminist idol”, but she is severely underweight! Good to know the idea of feminine perfection still involves looking like a skeleton.
I don’t know anything about ‘Burn Notice’, but in the posted photo Anwar looks healthy and fit. She’s just not the current American ‘normal’ of overweight. We, as a country, have to stop accepting obesity as ‘normal’.
I’ve been trying to catch up with Burn Notice this past season and one of the things I enjoy seeing is that even though the female characters are ridiculously thin and unnaturally attractive (Fiona, Carla, the health care scammer), they are all past their mid-30’s. It’s kind of cool seeing women beyond the age of 21 kicking ass and being sex symbols on a regular basis. I’m not saying they’re the strongest feminist role models (because they aren’t), but it is a step in the right direction that the fact that they’re “older”, by Hollywood standards, isn’t an issue.
Tim, if you want to see how emaciated Anwar is, go to USA’s website and watch the promo for Thursday’s episode. They should have put her in a one-piece to wide those ribs.
usanetwork.com/series/burnnotice/
That should read, “to hide her ribs.”
The Go-Daddy commercials were part 862 in the continuing saga of internet company blowing its entire ad budget showing as many boobies as possible during the Super Bowl. It’s the idea that any publicity is good publicity, even if it’s negative – heck, PETA didn’t even need to *air* its Super Bowl ads (vegetarians with boobies) to get publicity! Frankly, I think the Super Bowl folks should focus on the scatological – everyone thinks poop is funny. My husband and I only laughed out loud at the Monster.com moose commercial.
Forgive me for even mentioning her name, but…it’s Palin, not Paylin.
And re: Gabrielle Anwar, I’m a little miffed that the discussion about her character in ‘Burn Notice’ has already degenerated into a fat vs. thin argument here. Jennifer’s comment (and the NY Times article) are about her interesting, multi-faceted character on the show, not whether she needs a sandwich, and the discussion here about her appearance just plays into the current obsession with actresses’ bodies. Get over yourselves already.
Jennie, Palin’s name is not a bad word that’s going to make EW delete your comment. Why should we need to forgive you for mentioning it? You may not agree with her politics, but it’s not like her name is a curse word. Sheesh, am I cranky today.
I thought the GoDaddy commercials were dum to be honest. I don’t like the line being blurred between female athletes as sex objects because I’d rather watch them for their athleticism. Porn is there for if I want to see a chick do tittilating stuff. Why would I give a damn if Danica Patrick is being shown in a shower from the neck up. She’s broken some boundaries for women in sports, in my opinion, but it’s like she also is trying to set them back a few steps with this stuff because the bottom line is that guys respect her less after years of living off of her image. She’s kind of becoming another Anna Kournikova if you ask me because from what i remember she’s only won one noteworthy race. She bores me to be honest. I’d be more intrigued by her if she was crushing guys in the races and taking them done often.
Fi is the non-sci fi television equivalent of Starbuck. Gabrielle Anwar rocks the role. The “actresses” on “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Desperate Housewives” wish they could play parts that good and that complex but then, none have the acting calibur of Anwar.
At the end of the day, though, I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing because it shows that Danica is free to choose, which is much better than both feminism and sexism. Feminism, at it’s extreme, is just as ridiculous as any social or political stance. I believe in simply being rationsl,
I love Burn Notice but I had to stop watching because Anwar just looks so nasty. You can see her gallbladder! And that horrible tan. She looks like a baked turkey except with no meat. Nasty. And how much yogurt can Michael eat on that show. Yogurt give you gas!
So, women are stereotyped in commercials for one sports game, and men for the entire rest of the year. How many “my husband’s so stupid he can’t…” or children being smarter than their father commercials are air every day? There is a Time Warner commercial that airs round the clock where a father is asking his children to explain why his channels don’t work and they say that mom won’t let them give him the password. Men are made out to be idiots everyday in tv adverstising because women are considered the gatekeepers of the wallet. I’m not saying it is fair to denegrate women, but let’s be honest about how both sides are being portrayed.
You guys are wrong about Anwar and her phsyic. She is very lean but she has packed on a lot of muscle on that little frame. From the way you people talk, we should be calling her Twiggy! Check out those abs next time people, those aren’t even possible if a person is not eating a lot of protein and being very healthy!
only the fat and the unsecure have problems with other people’s weight. personally, i’m ok with my weight, which is why i would rather talk about her character on the show. i love the show and i don’t think that she is weak for loving Michael, in fact, it makes her character a little more human to see that even though she likes violence and bombs, she still human enough to love someone…nor does it make her any less of a strong woman either
I think it sucks that Anwar is obviously a woman who takes care of her body and gets mocked because of it. Looks at those muscles! I’m sure she eats healthy & works out regularly. Shouldn’t that make her a good role model? Female celebs can’t win. If they have curves, they’re fat and if they’re lean, they’re anorexic. Bummer.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who thought that Doritos “power crunch” commercial was fraked up. Also, Go Daddy has a long history of blatant sexism in their commercials. They’re horrible. On a happier note, I love Fiona on “Burn Notice.” She’s intelligent, kick-@ss & she’s in touch with her feelings. It’s nice seeing a strong woman on television.
‘One day,’ you bring up a valid point. It seems like advertising has decided that the only way to successfully sell stuff to men and women is to slam or objectify the opposite sex – women as vacuous bodies, men as powerless idiots. It’s too bad.
Lauren’s right, just because someone is lean, it doesn’t mean they’re anorexic. That theory was created by fat people to make themselves feel better. Don’t hate on Anwar, this is a woman who has had 3 children. Anyone who is mad at her should think about joining a gym themselves. I agree that female celebs have it tough. No one would talk about a male actor this way. It’s sad really.
I think it’s a little ridiculous that everybody trashes on the sexism of superbowl ads, it’s about the demographic of the people watching and what ads the companies think will connect with that demographic. Although the super-bowl is widely watched by both men and women, the focus is mainly middle aged men. It’s what advertising is get used to it.
most of the ads were crap…every single beer commercial was stupid and most were a little too violent for a commercial..those GoDaddy commercials are always uninspiring. i get that the normal demographic for football is 18-35 year old men but america has built this big thing around Superbowl Sunday sooo yeah not just the average football viewer is going to watch so advertisers should at least try to appeal to the masses (like me who only watched cause i wanted to see the new “Office”)
on a regular day tho, the commercials that annoy me are the Always commercials (that slogan “Have A Happy Period” is beyond dumb) and every household cleaner commercial because a mother-type is always shown cleaning..umm women arent the only people who clean
Thinking about what BHM1304 said about Fiona being the Starbuck of the USA Network … I’m not so sure. Fi kicks butt, sure, but she is constantly selling sex to help Michael in his schemes. And stereotyped “stupid” men who are thinking with their “little head” are always falling for it. I like Fi, and I love Burn Notice, but if she’s the New Face of Feminism, I’m opting out.
I love this new ShePop series (???) on EW: it encourages conversations that need to happen more often if we’re going to be a culture of critical consumers. Can the internet be a place for even-tempered debate? We shall see …BTW: the “Paylin vs. Palin” spelling comments … “Paylin” is the way it’s spelled in a particular parody / spoof.
In regards to Mark’s comment about the intended demographic for Superbowl commericals and his “it’s what advertising is, get used to it,” I think you basically highlighted the whole point of the post and basically what a lot of other people are saying on here. It’s fine that the intended demographic is middle-aged men, but it is SAD & DISTURBING that advertisers think the best way to appeal to middle-aged men is by demeaning and insulting women.