Sunsilk Color Showdown – Showdown
Sharpen your claws, girls; the Color Showdown is on. Now that we can all bump up our color any time we want with Sunsilk Color Boost, it’s finally time for blondes and brunettes to duke it out once and for all. We wanna know who’s smarter, who’s sassier, who has more fun and, in the name of all things hot and fabulous – who’s got it going on more!
Just when it wasn’t enough for us to continue exuding erotica whilst dead – after being shot, strangled, decapitated, falling down stairs and sustaining multiple injuries – as demonstrated (not too succinctly) by the photography in the previous post .
No – we need a Cat Fight (in the best passive/aggressive, controllable, adorable and ‘feminine’ “don’t bother your little head…you cutie!’)
Between – Oh noes!
The Blondes and the Brunettes!
Imagine this – we turn this ‘feminine’ exchange around to a Male exchange…I shall call them Jack ~ who speaks with a Geordie accent ~ and John who speaks with a Souse accent (bear with me this is therapeutic)*
Jack – How man Jurrn u got broon hair like.
John – calm down – calm down – ah said – calm down – ya fukkin nutta
Jack – Na! Ya a fukkin blond like! Ah, canna be ganning on wit this like!
John – Likke a said calm the fook down. You have brrown hair – you got a problem with that? Fookin hell mate ya sounding like a Julie!
Loosely translated into English would look something like this…
Jack – John – you have brown hair.
John – Yes – So what is your point…exactly?
Jack – Um yes, exactly…what was the point here?
John – I don’t know but this has gave me an idea, let us divide the women with hair warfare —-or something?
Memo to the media – Stop infantzing women. Stop suggesting that we behave like twelve year olds who get into cutesy little verbal exchanges about our ruddy hair colour! It’s pathetic how much time energy and money goes into patronising women in an effort to maintain our status as frivolous and dim witted children. I haven’t got the patience to comment on the other blatant sexual stereotypes that made me want to jab my eyes out with a fork!
Men would not be depicted in this ludicrous way, as it would be judged demeaning and yes “feminine” you know an insult.
Clue: Women do not argue – who has the best hair colour even when it may be crucial in ”who’s smarter, who’s sassier, who has more fun”
Ack Ack!
* For me
The old “divide and conquer” strategy – set up the rules of being “feminine” then sit back and watch the struggle – men know exactly what they’re doing to women.
Hair colour, body shape, breast size, age, weight, they have it all defined, and they make sure we see examples of it countless times a day year after year so that we don’t even realise it’s being done anymore.
You see the “rules” on the covers of men’s mags, women’s mags, lad’s mags, even in children’s mags (little girl’s mags now having advice on how to give blow jobs etc – I digress ) in newspapers, on the internet – all designed to keep upping the ante and making women feel insecure and competitive. The men sit back and enjoy it all – no wonder they don’t say anything – it would mean a lot less wank visuals and a lot less blow jobs.
And then they expect women to love it – “invest my money in stocks or property? God no, I have to have SHOES”.
Shopping til you drop? Who has time to do that? Who really wants to any more? Don’t answer that.
And weren’t all the models in the previous post killed by ‘models’ anyway?
Oh yes…we are so killing one another in order to be the ‘most attractive’, ‘most fuckable’..
Gods. I want to spit.
i hate to disagree… and i agree that it is pathetic patronising shite probably dreamed up by some12 yr old with a goatee and a t-shirt that cost a real person’s monthly salary; but men do get this from advertising – advertising really doesn’t give a shit who it patronises or fucks over – it is an equal opportunities sack o’sick with the same lack of respect for the value of any human being except the one currently feeding it money. the vauxhall zafira advert is perhaps analagous: men are all kids who think of nothing but their cars – and really boring crap cars at that – and converse endlessly and pointlessly in platitudes while doing nothing of any use. it is in short a ‘wacky new’ take on the ‘2 c k’ format featuring two equally stupid women in a kitchen talking about washing up liquid/fabric softener/eye shadow etc. (‘female’ products only of course). where the difference does come in (and this is why they don’t go round claiming pictures of ‘dead’ men is fashion or art or whatever) is the context. you don’t have the level of violence against men in society to make such concepts as that stupid offensive dead women thing possible. ‘ah yes, but the context is all’, you say, and that is true but i believe advertising is simply echoing that in a vile amoral way rather than being inherently sexist. it does all come down to a rather academic point in that it’s hard to posit a difference between advertising carrying its own inherent sexism or merely echoing that of society – i don’t know how i would spot the difference, but that’s my analysis of it. whichever scenario you accept, the result is depressingly similar; which might mean that even if my post is correct, it’s somewhat pointless, but there you go.
Daisy you’ve beaten me to it. Yes that old clever ploy set woman against woman is being used yet again. All to ensure the male of the species do not have any qualms about women supposedly achieving equality. Of course the fact women depicted are always white, heterosexual and seemingly earning large sums of money only serves to increase women’s anxiety because they have ‘failed.’ They have not achieved the white supremacists’ dream – being a successful sexualised object with money to spend on maintaing this illusion.
Another way of looking at the increasing misogny is it could be interpreted as male terror of what they perceive as women’s increasing power. Not that I believe for a minute women of whatever ethnicity, sexual orientation or class have achieved equitable rights. No, it is even the hint of feminism which causes such anti-women strategies. Caryl Rivers has just written a book entitled Selling Anxiety about this same issue – how the media is perpetuating sexist myths and promoting lies about women not achieving the narrow criteria for what is supposedly acceptable feminine behaviour. Meaning males are first, second and last and it is all women’s primary purpose to always be sexually available for men, always have the right breasts, right body etc. all to please the male gaze.
Sunsilk Colour Boost?
I’m going to give it a prize for cramming in an overdose of stereotypical bullshit into 30 seconds.
meow anyone? ho-hum. menz invisible agains.
SW – I agree of course advertising targets men too, it has to because men are huge consumers with considerable disposable incomes. (Not go into that one at the mo) the difference is as Jennifer and Daisy have pointed out – it is aimed differently. Many of us feel there is also a hidden agenda in the medias portrayal of women. Occasionally a sorta role model pops up, but even then, blatant and dangerous stereotypes are in evidence…money grabbing ball-breaker for example. Men are more portrayed (as in car advertising for example) as “boys will be boys” and/or “boys toys” which does not undermine your maleness. Messages that are frequently aimed at women in advertising DO undermine our femaleness and our integrity. They perpetuate lies and damaging sexual stereotypes. Moreover, it is far easier to brush off sexism in advertising when you are a member of the dominating class. Men’s position is pretty clear as – Top Dog – and women want back what has been stolen.
It’s about context and perspective. And yes, there is now, more than ever, a hidden agenda.
Keep women occupied and pre-occupied with shopping, getting hair done, trying to save up for boob job or whatever, and she has no time or motivation left to go after some real power for herself, as she is being told that her power lies in her lack of power – ie, being a sexual object. Many women are just so used to “doing it cuz that’s the way it’s always been done”, that to break out of that “mould” is hard – one of the most difficult things a woman can do today.
And btw – those 2 little wankers in the zafira ad I’ve always said were offensive little examples of boys being raised that way, at that age,over the land. Up and coming self-serving, male entitled misogynists.
mouth wide open … utter shock!!!
Daisy, you crack me up!
“those 2 little wankers in the zafira ad”
It was the turn of phrase that amused me, but I do also agree with the misogynists-in-training sentiment.
Stormy – they probably also have pushy show-biz parents – ah, but I’m not being judgemental
Okay, when i see stuff like this – I don’t know whether to laugh or cry! I mean – this was so bizarre and so campy that it’s just frustrating that they would use such outdated notions to sell hair dye.
And yet, it happens all the time. I mean I remember a friend of mine who had major esteem issues – going out and buying fake glasses to look smart. Later when her esteem issues morphed into being about appearances – she dyed her hair blonde.
Now, I’m happy to say she is happy with who she is (most of the time).
But it’s interesting isn’t it?
So though this is ‘outrageously campy’ it’s also outrageously true to a degree. We internalize these ideas about what is going to make us appear a certain way.
Women do not argue – who has the best hair colour…
Are they kidding!? For a woman with dark hair to tell a woman with light hair that her dark hair is better or makes her better, why, that would be immodest!
Everyone knows that there’s nothing a woman can do to make herself appear less feminine than behaving immodestly.
Instead, the argument would go something like this:
Blonde-haired woman: Brunette Woman, you’re hair looks fabulous!
Dark-haired woman: Oh, thank you, Blonde Woman. But you’re just being nice. My hair looks horrible and you know it. Your hair, on the other hand, looks so beautiful.
Blonde-haired woman: Oh, no it doesn’t but thank you, anyway. You know your hair is prettier than mine.
Dark-haired woman: No, it isn’t. Yours is.
Blonde-haired woman: No, it is not! Yours is!
Dark-haired woman: That’s bullshit and you know it! My hair looks like shit! Your hair looks better and you know it!
Blonde-haired woman: Stop lying! My hair is fucking ugly! Not like your beautiful hair!
Dark-haired woman: Listen, Bitch With Gorgeous Hair! Stop patronizing me and just admit that your hair looks great!
Blonde-haired woman: Did you just call me a bitch? Screw off!
Dark-haired woman: Me? Screw off? I’ll slap you bald!
Now, that’s how we really fight. Okay, not really. But we are socialized to accept compliments gracefully while not believing a word of it and instead thinking that the one complimenting us is just trying to be kind. And we’re socialized to always think that other women (and their hair) looks better than we do.
Spot on coolAunt.
Being modest is one of the feminine traits. Many of us are conditioned not to accept compliments and to “blow your own trumpet” in my family was not encouraged. It’s sad how it becomes so internalised. In the personal development work that I used to do I would notice a huge difference between the sexes. The men would accept the positive feedback no problem but the majority of the women would be “oh no…but” “well thank you…but” Hell of a job to unravel it all and that is why PD work is an on going process.