May 8, 2002

by Lisa Bennett, Communications Director

The Good

Reebok's "It's A Woman's World" Ad Campaign

Reebok's current television ad campaign is giving Nike a run for its money in the arena of women-friendly marketing. For years, feminists have applauded Nike's portrayal of women and girls joyfully engaged in sports. Two years ago, however, Nike hit a sour note with a commercial featuring a chainsaw-wielding maniac chasing a female runner. Some feminists, myself among them, have not yet forgiven the sneaker giant for that offense, not to mention the evidence of Nike's horrendous labor abuses overseas.

Recently, Reebok has wisely taken on the challenge of selling athletic shoes and apparel to smart, strong women who do not want to be talked down to. Tennis champion Venus Williams plays a prominent role in Reebok's ads and I can't say enough how wonderful it is to see such a positive role model dashing across the screen — even for only 30 seconds.

In addition to praising and encouraging physically active women, Reebok has created an ad that turns the tables on female objectification. The ad, which I've seen only twice in the last month, envisions "Bananaz," a theme-restaurant modeled after "Hooters," featuring hunky men in tight yellow shorts. The men serve groups of rowdy women who applaud and snap photos when the Bananaz boys take off their shirts and flex. The commercial is quite bracing because nothing like it exists in the media right now, as opposed to the incessant Victoria's Secret ads and others that linger over the idealized bodies of supermodels.

Some will say that the answer to treating women as sex objects isn't to treat men the same way. Absolutely. I don't think Reebok is suggesting that we need a real chain of "Bananaz" restaurants. The fact that the commercial seems so outlandish makes its point: Men, as a group, will never know what it's like to live in a culture saturated with images of their own sex spread out like jam. But for half a minute they might experience how uncomfortable and invasive it can be. And women can laugh, because it's so far from reality.

The Bad

The ABC Network

What's going on at ABC? Not long ago we commended ABC's insightful drama "Once & Again" and now the show has been canceled. The final episode aired in April after three years of ABC's weak promotional efforts and countless time period shifts. Quality be damned, the Disney-owned network wants big ratings!

Meanwhile, ABC recently completed its first run of the heavily-hyped "The Bachelor" series and it's already casting a second round. During a dry spell of repeats on other networks, ABC shamelessly updated the age-old male fantasy of a harem of women competing for his affections. During six sometimes-silly, sometimes-lurid episodes, the bachelor "dated" 25 specially-selected women, whittling them down week by week until he had to pick between two women who had, admittedly, invested quite a bit of time and energy in the endeavor. The makers of the show obviously delighted in watching the women squirm while the bachelor pulled the strings. The elimination process was illustrated on ABC's web site through the "date tracker," which resembles a basketball tournament chart with women's faces instead of sports teams.

Before the big finale, all of the previously ousted women gathered for an hour-long special to hash over the competition and speculate on who should "win." Not surprisingly, the bachelor rejected the women who wanted to go slow in forming a relationship in favor of the woman who appeared to give him the most physical play. Whether or not ABC will produce a version with one woman and 25 men remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to see if it turns out to be just as talked-about and just as cheesy.

Write to ABC's executives and tell them that instead of silly, sexist gimmicks, they should concentrate on quality entertainment.

The Ugly

Pre-Teen "Model" Sites (as reported by WTVJ-TV/Miami and MSNBC — see http://www.msnbc.com/news/730491.asp)

And now, unfortunately, we jump from the silly to the scary. NBC's Miami affiliate, WTVJ, spent four months investigating a collection of so-called "preteen model" web sites and now MSNBC has picked up the story. Created and hosted by the South Florida company Webe Web Inc., at least a dozen sites feature photos of girls from ages seven to 12 years (there are also teen sites), wearing bikinis, leotards and short shorts. The sites solicit online members who pay $19.95 a month to download photos that regular web surfers can't see. Most sites also sell videos of the girls. Although none of the girls appear naked, the sexualized nature of the photos and videos is obvious. And just who is buying this stuff? Well, mostly adult males — pedophiles to be exact, the reports suggest.

WTVJ discovered that Webe Web also hosts adult pornography sites. Their reporter tracked down and made a visit to one of the girls' homes, but was turned away by her stepfather and mother, who has reportedly appeared on adult sex sites herself. MSNBC's March 28 report details how adult male "fans" send gifts to the girls and discuss their physical attributes on Internet news groups.

Who's receiving the money being made off of these girls' bodies? Under what conditions/supervision are the photos taken? Are these girls being initiated into the sex industry? Do some of the "fans" get special access to the girls? We commend WTVJ's reporting — which led the FBI to review the sites — and MSNBC's efforts to broaden coverage of the issue.

Contact the Justice Department and ask them to pressure the FBI to determine what's going on behind the scenes of these web sites. The FBI must do more than determine whether or not the photographs and videos qualify as child pornography, they must investigate the possibility that these girls are being led into a lifetime of sexual subordination.

Speak Your Mind

Click here to speak your mind by writing a letter to anyone in the media. And if have your own media praises and gripes — about TV, movies, radio, magazines, newspapers or the web — send them to communications@now.org and you just might find your suggestions and thoughts in future columns.

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