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outrage-transphobic-tampon
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This must be the fastest I have seen so many responses to a topic,
maybe I shouldn’t have started it. 😳
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I think that this opinion piece from the SMH sums up the whole debate pretty well.
Have a read & see what you think.
Lisa
Quote:Article copied here for your reference by adminTwo women walk into the ladies room of a bar and stand in front of the mirror to reapply their make-up. It could be the start of a very bad joke, and in a way it is.
For ’tis a scene from a Libra tampon commercial, with the punchline that one of the pair is a ”real” woman and the other is a drag queen. She doesn’t menstruate, and so when the ”real woman” triumphantly pulls her tampons from her handbag, the drag queen exits in a camp huff. She has been one-upped.
The tagline for the ad is ”Libra gets girls” and it has been branded offensive to transgender people, as well as sexist.
Libra’s parent company, SCA Hygiene, issued a statement regretting the offence caused and has said it will review the campaign.
The premise of the ad is odd, and I would bet my right, er, ovary, that it was thunk up by a man. Anyone who has ever menstruated can tell you periods are not something girls consider a magical sisterly bond that holds us together and keeps all impostors at bay.
But offensive and homophobic? I don’t think so.
The advertisement simply makes the rather clumsy and obvious point that women who were born biologically female usually have periods. Other humans don’t.
Leaving aside for a moment the sexual politics of drag queens, who make a living parodying women, often in a way that can be construed as misogynistic (certainly, the ones I have seen have never been shy of making all manner of jokes about the female anatomy, the famous ill-temper of women on the ”rags”, etc), let’s look at the broader point at issue.
Tolerance cuts every which way. We are all duty-bound to observe it, even put-upon minorities (and I’ve no doubt that the transgender community suffers, and very badly, from social prejudice at every turn). But tolerance is best served by everybody just relaxing and, for want of a better phrase, trying to be cool with life’s more minor irritants. And a silly advertisement aimed at women is a minor irritant.
In fact, eye-rolling at idiotic female stereotypes recycled by advertising schmucks would form a much better basis for a sisterly bond than the mere fact of menstruation.
No one denies that bigotry exists, and that it is uncool. Also uncool are ill-considered statements by otherwise well-meaning people that nonetheless stereotype certain social groups (Teresa Gambaro, I’m looking at you).
But tolerance is also threatened by non-bigots who jump at discrimination shadows that aren’t really there – because their jumpiness risks undercutting the reasonably minded mainstream’s sympathy for their cause.
Take same-sex parenting. In October the Herald reported the story of an inner-west lesbian mother who felt her child was sidelined and discriminated against by classroom celebrations of Father’s Day. With another lesbian mum, she created a forum for same-sex parents with school-age children to address the peculiar difficulties their kids might face at school.
The forum sounds a great idea – anything that helps children integrate and educates teachers to bear in mind the specific needs of their charges is a good thing. But any notion that marking Father’s Day is discriminatory is mad.
As plain as the fact that drag queens don’t menstruate is the fact that the kids of lesbian mums might feel a bit weird on Father’s Day. Just like kids whose dads have died or who have done a runner might feel a bit uncomfortable. It’s regrettable, but it’s not really anyone’s fault.
The same goes for schools that have outlawed references to Christmas and Santa, or replaced traditional Yuletide greetings with the anodyne ”Happy holidays” because they had a culturally or religiously diverse student body.
The problem with this defensiveness is not that it’s ”political correctness gone mad” – surely one of the most dire cliches of our time. The problem is that it’s counterproductive because it makes everybody else defensive. People who live in a spirit of genuine peace and tolerance (which is to say, most people) soon start worrying, and arcing up, and second-guessing themselves, and ultimately blaming the cause of their discomfiture.
Which compounds the discrimination problem and makes it harder for people to just be cool with each other.
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Brilliant discussion and final summation. I have wanted to contribute but could not articulate my thoughts as well as this SMH article. Personally I was bemused by the add more than amused. It was an interesting approach to what must be a difficult product to market.
Do you think “Gruen Planet” will touch this whole episode? Now that will be an interesting scenario, particularly the response from the more vocal and vitriolic (not TgR members by the way) members of the community!
I am also waiting for the comedy sketch version of the advertisement when after the women (and yes agree what a cutie) pulls out the tampon then the other women parodying Crocodile Dundee pulls out a very large butt plug…call that a tampon!Meanwhile isn’t this cooler weather lovely for getting out and about. Off to DJs tomorrow for some Sandler sandals…isn’t it bliss being tg!
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Quote:I’ve only got one thing to say on the subject. Toughen up Princesses.
SIMPLY PUT BRILLIANT WELL DONE EXACTLY WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN PERHAPS A SPOON FULL OF CEMENT WILL HELP YOU IF YOU ARE UNSURE OF HOW TO GET OVER IT
Moderator
Quote:I’m concerned that this post and perhaps the quoted post are in violation of the Acceptable Conduct Policy.
Specifically they may be getting close to:
c) Contains a personal attack on another member
d) Could be interpreted as a criticism of another member’s beliefs, gender choices, or lifestyleIf you have any opinion on this issue please email moderators@tgr.net.au
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I was offended. I’m not offended if you weren’t. I am offended by the vitrioloc attacks from about anywhere on my right to feel offended and to say something about it. I was also sympathetic to Sandee’s situation until she denied that transphobia was even a word. Stangely it’s other peoples responses from the straight community on this “Well they aren’t real women, what are they complaining about” “What right do they have to complain” that both highlight why many (but not all) transwomen find being the butt of humour yet again offesive. Yes, she is a drag queen but most straight people don’t know the difference and don’t care there is a difference. It just adds to the daily trans misogyny we have to deal with.
The following article pretty much sums it all up I think. -
Carl Sandilands believes it suitable “comedy” for an on-air competition which includes the ‘hypothetical’ – ‘murder a tranny prostitute’.
This, in reality, promotes violence & stereotypes us as ‘sex workers’. So we get in a flap about Crunchy Nuts & a drag queen. I have made a complaint about Carl Sandilands broadcast.
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Hi Christina.
I’m glad you did. Carl Sandilands was totally off with both the scenario and his reactions. I used facebook & twitter to complain about that too. I hope to see the day when trans and gender variant people are no longer used as fodder for cheap humour. It dehumanises us all.
Gwen -
I think this thread – discussing specifically the Libra advertisment has run its course and it now seems to be just creating spin-off topics that are probably worthy oftheir own thread. So I’ve locked the discussion. If you want it unlocked to post further developments in the Libra story let me know.
