you are viewing archives from 2005

commander-in-briefs?

I pass by not one, not two, but three of these billboards on the way home from the gym.






When I see them, all I can think is

This fall, a woman will have cramps in the Oval Office!

This fall, a woman will get her period in the Lincoln Bedroom!

This fall, a woman will send a Secret Service Agent out for Midol!


I’m a huge fan of West Wing, and political shows in general (was I the only one who watched K Street?), but I’m already annoyed at Commander-in-Chief. I understand that every show needs a hook, and every ad campaign has to capitalize on that, but the foreseeable future of “….but, you see, she’s a WOMAN” already makes me groan.

I understand that women are different than men. The weaker sex, the fairer sex, the cruel and conniving backstabbing sex if you watch a lot of talk shows, but it seems as if we’re still a total and complete mystery to the universe around us. Perhaps it’s due to the nature of our nethers: having genitalia that’s tucked away, shrouded in secrecy. We can’t slap our dicks on the table to prove our manhood, so to speak.

Of course, I don’t completely blame the hegemonic nature of our white male culture. (I don’t. I just wanted to use “hegemonic nature of our white male culture” in a slack article!) Men generally fall back on the well, she’s got her woman problems because we don’t give them much of a choice. (I give you exhibit A: the “I’m fine” when you are clearly not fine.) How many of us have used “PMS” as an excuse for bad behavior, or were The Girl Who Cried Cramps as an excuse to get out of something we didn’t want to do, not because we actually felt poorly but because we knew someone wouldn’t argue with that?

I think Hollywood falls back on the clueless or conniving woman because a) it’s easy to write and b) because the mainstream don’t give them much choice. Do you read men’s magazines? I do. Esquire and Maxim are marketed toward men, and don’t fall back on the de-facto slovenly bachelor stereotype.

From the Monday, September 26th Maxim Online cover page:

Two kids lost at sea ride straight into the mouth of hell
Hipster Swedes who rock harder than IKEA office chairs
Gas Prices getting you stuck? Heed these handy tips
Avoid perpetual bachelorhood with a surefire proposal
Three bikes for any budget or terrain

Cosmo’s cover page?

Hot New Sex Tricks
Guy Without a Shirt
The Surprising Secret to Perfect Skin

If you check out the sidebar, the Sex & Love listings have lots of sex, little on love, and nothing about relationships. Go Cosmo Girl!

I don’t know if I’m being pro-woman or anti-woman when I rant about these things. I feel like blaming my own sex takes the White Male Hegemony (there! I did it again! But really, my friends, I kid!) off the hook. But I don’t think that’s all too terrible a thing. If we want to be taken seriously, we have act accordingly.

Maybe Commander in Chief will be excellent. Maybe it’ll help continue a dialogue that’s already been started. Maybe it’ll inspire a little girl to broaden her horizons.

Or maybe it’ll just suck. But don’t listen to me. I’m just PMS-y.