Starting off the New Year with a Discussion of Language
So, I've tried to comment (Sadly, no matter how or how many times I try, my comment is oddly noted as "spam" and not allowed. Fair enough, but I'm still interested in the conversation.) on this recent article in Bitch Magazine about Miller Lite's "Man-up" advertising campaign. As author Kelsey Wallace says, "the "Man Up" ads are a combination of irritating, problematic, and tired."
"The theme throughout," says Wallace, "seems to be that any man doing something typically considered to be feminine, like carrying a bag or wearing tight pants, needs to be policed by those around him until he conforms and just orders a Miller Lite already."
The article is overall pretty thoughtful and the kind of media analysis you'd expect from BitchMedia. When Wallace ends the article by calling out the ad campaign as a "douchefest" it reminds me that if we are going to take on the cloak of policing the language of others, it behooves us to be at least as critical about our own while we do it.
Bottom line: If we're calling the kettle black let's no do it while sitting in the pot. The rise of "douche" and "douchebag" as synonymous insults to "asshole" or some such seems to smack of the growing desire (noted so well in your review of this ad campaign) to reinject misogyny into every facet of our language and life.
People aren't commonly called enema bags or colostomy bags -- although everyone has an ass; everyone pisses and shits -- instead people are called "douchebags" in support (conscious or not) of some passive agreement that nothing can be more disgusting, weak, and please-god-not-me than a vagina. You can offend someone by calling them an ass; but you can start a nasty fight by calling them a pussy. Douchebag stems from, as you rightly say, the same faulty logic.
Everytime I hear "douche" -- Oh no, let's not keep our ladyparts clean! Ladyparts! How disgusting! -- I cringe. I don't expect that kind of cringeworthy language to close out thoughtful, well-written articles in Bitch Magazine.
What do y'all think about this? I'm ever so curious ...
Comment Below!http://scryptkeeper.blogspot.com
www.samiyabashir.com
"The theme throughout," says Wallace, "seems to be that any man doing something typically considered to be feminine, like carrying a bag or wearing tight pants, needs to be policed by those around him until he conforms and just orders a Miller Lite already."
The article is overall pretty thoughtful and the kind of media analysis you'd expect from BitchMedia. When Wallace ends the article by calling out the ad campaign as a "douchefest" it reminds me that if we are going to take on the cloak of policing the language of others, it behooves us to be at least as critical about our own while we do it.
Bottom line: If we're calling the kettle black let's no do it while sitting in the pot. The rise of "douche" and "douchebag" as synonymous insults to "asshole" or some such seems to smack of the growing desire (noted so well in your review of this ad campaign) to reinject misogyny into every facet of our language and life.
People aren't commonly called enema bags or colostomy bags -- although everyone has an ass; everyone pisses and shits -- instead people are called "douchebags" in support (conscious or not) of some passive agreement that nothing can be more disgusting, weak, and please-god-not-me than a vagina. You can offend someone by calling them an ass; but you can start a nasty fight by calling them a pussy. Douchebag stems from, as you rightly say, the same faulty logic.
Everytime I hear "douche" -- Oh no, let's not keep our ladyparts clean! Ladyparts! How disgusting! -- I cringe. I don't expect that kind of cringeworthy language to close out thoughtful, well-written articles in Bitch Magazine.
What do y'all think about this? I'm ever so curious ...
Comment Below!http://scryptkeeper.blogspot.com
www.samiyabashir.com
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