quelling the angry beasts
I just flew on United, which, after 4 hours of delay, I have moved onto my "Things I hate" list. Then I discovered this:
United has some very sophisticated and very sexist ads out right now. I feel kind of gypped, because the ads have lovely graphics. But cool graphics get you only so far with cranky feminists.
The woman-version ad depicts a businesswoman on the phone with a client, imagined as a monster on the other end of the phone. She travels, ostensibly, to allay her fears about the monster-status of this client. When she arrives for her business meeting, the conference table is full of various unpleasant beasts. By the end, however, they are humanized (never underestimate the strength of power point). Trip taken to quell inner anxieties a resounding success.
In the male version, however, a very different goal (and narrative technique) emerge. The man, after kissing his sleeping boy good-bye, hops on a white goose and flies to a distant forest. In the forest, he joins a round table of other business men (kings, to the man). But the business meeting is interrupted by a dragon! Never fear, the man leaps into action, slays the dragon, receives token of esteem from the princesses, and returns home to present his child with a miniature dragon. Moral of the story: men are dragon slayers, women humanizers. Nice to know that United is doing their part to clarify the division of labor.
United has some very sophisticated and very sexist ads out right now. I feel kind of gypped, because the ads have lovely graphics. But cool graphics get you only so far with cranky feminists.
The woman-version ad depicts a businesswoman on the phone with a client, imagined as a monster on the other end of the phone. She travels, ostensibly, to allay her fears about the monster-status of this client. When she arrives for her business meeting, the conference table is full of various unpleasant beasts. By the end, however, they are humanized (never underestimate the strength of power point). Trip taken to quell inner anxieties a resounding success.
In the male version, however, a very different goal (and narrative technique) emerge. The man, after kissing his sleeping boy good-bye, hops on a white goose and flies to a distant forest. In the forest, he joins a round table of other business men (kings, to the man). But the business meeting is interrupted by a dragon! Never fear, the man leaps into action, slays the dragon, receives token of esteem from the princesses, and returns home to present his child with a miniature dragon. Moral of the story: men are dragon slayers, women humanizers. Nice to know that United is doing their part to clarify the division of labor.
posted by aelis at 9:58 AM
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