Skinnygirl Cocktails: Because we all want to be a skinny girl
Skinnygirl cocktails sounds like a great idea at first (to some) but I’m not buying it (figuratively and literally). The existence of these low-cal beverages, always marketed toward women, contribute to the larger cultures of reinforcing gender binaries, body shaming, and the diet industry.
This type of gendered marketing is frequently based on false stereotypes that are not only harmful to the group the marketing targets, but also to others and their perceptions of that group. Marketing something such as a beverage toward a specific gender reinforces gender binaries, keeping men and women trapped inside of limiting roles that the media and society attempt to set for us.
Meet the "new girl." It's the bottle of alcohol, not the woman.
Skinnygirl is obviously marketed toward women. Created by Bethenny Frankel, a reality show personality and natural foods chef, the name alone has a lot to say. A “skinny” girl is what the media tells females we should always aspire to be. Infinite advertisements suggesting that skinny is the only way to be beautiful shame those who don’t fall into that skinny category into constantly obsessing over achieving these unrealistic beauty standards.
And the way these beverages are gendered is ultimately objectifying. She even refers to her most recent creations as “the new girls.” Which also makes me ask, are any other women out there tired of being referred to as “girls?” I’d like to think that if I’m old enough to legally drink alcoholic beverages, I’m also old enough to be referred to as a woman, and not a girl.
According to the web site, “When [Bethenny] found out just how high in calories restaurant margaritas were, she saw an incredible opportunity: Give women a low-calorie version of the cocktail that didn’t sacrifice fresh, delicious taste.” It really irks me that it is constantly assumed that women want lower-calorie versions of everything we consume.
When I get together with friends for adult beverages, the last thing on my mind is the calorie content of the drinks I’m consuming. I’m in it for the fun and good times, for socializing with other people, and definitely not to be body-shamed into consuming instead an alcohol with the label “Skinnygirl” across it, to spare myself a few calories.
If Skinnygirl's connection to the diet industry wasn't already evident, they've now partnered with Weight Watchers.
Of course it is great to be health conscious, but these types of beverages are directly linked to the dangerous presence of the diet industry and body-shaming in the media. Women are constantly bombarded with images in the media showing and telling us exactly what we are supposed to look like, while also showing and telling us what to buy in order to obtain that image. Enter Skinnygirl. You don’t have to give up your favorite adult beverages for the sake of remaining skinny! Just drink Skinnygirl beverages instead!
Think Skinnygirl has nothing to do with the diet industry? Bethenny’s blog tells us that Skinnygirl Cocktails have now partnered up with Weight Watchers. Your Skinnygirl White Cranberry Cosmo is now part of the Weight Watchers point system. The diet industry, ladies and gentlemen.
Keep in mind that we vote with our dollars every time we make a purchase. If you don’t support constricting gender roles, body shaming, or the harsh diet industry, don’t buy Skinnygirl Cocktails.
Miller revokes ‘man cards’ for men lite on manliness
Making an 'unmanly' choice...
The sexism of beer and other alcohol commercials has been well-documented by About-Face. So, I can’t say I was terribly surprised to see the line of the latest Miller Lite commercials. I’m referring to, of course, the series of advertisements that the company has been promoting as part of their “Un-Manly” campaign.
I’m sure you’ve seen them. Men who cry are deemed “unmanly,” men who don’t want to be apart from their significant other are “unmanly,” men who like Kelly Clarkson are “unmanly,” men who ask another man to go to the bathroom at the same time as them are “unmanly” … all leading up to men who choose any light beer other than Miller Lite being “unmanly.” Luckily, these men always have a posse of dudes to remind them how unmanly they’re being and set them on the straight and narrow by ordering a Miller Lite. All is then right with the world, men are again masculine – meaning a safe distance from anything that may be considered – shudder – feminine. Miller Lite will SAVE you from being a woman, it seems.
Two of the ads that I find most worthy of criticism manage to both mock men who exhibit emotional lives as well as portray women who are supposedly in “heroic” roles as unnecessarily sexualized.
Exhibit A:
Here we have a group of women who are impersonating real-life heroes (lifeguards), for the purpose of being able to showcase women in bathing suits, while pretending to save a man from the insult of being compared to … well, themselves.
Even these female lifeguards are horrified by the thought of a man being feminized. They make sure to point out that drinking anything other than Miller Lite is worse than using strawberry body wash – apparently, scented body wash previously held the title of least manly/worst thing a guy could use if he’s trying to maintain a masculine identity. To make sure you didn’t miss the effort to paint the women as sexually gratifying, the man in question plays into the women’s “rescue” theme by saying “I think I need mouth-to-mouth!,” as he watches the women rush out. Apparently they are scared off by a “manly” woman who appears to rescue him!
Exhibit B:
This ad heightens the drama, by having a man tell his friend that he will be taking away his “man card” if he makes one more misstep. (I didn’t know one’s gender identity depended on the approval of one’s friends. Or that one’s gender identity could be revoked.) His two crimes against masculinity, of course, being drinking a non-Miller Lite beer, and asking his male friend to go with him to the bathroom.
This one particularly mocks the behavior of going to the bathroom in groups, or with a friend that is generally seen as feminine. Not only is he supposedly unmanly for adopting an action that is usually only done by women, but it makes sure to emphasize that this behavior is supposedly ridiculous, foolish, and overly dependent. It’s not enough for Miller Lite to tell men that they can erase their recent behavior history that could be seen as shamefully unmanly. They need to exaggerate these behaviors to point out how silly and ridiculous they think women look when engaging in them, as well. However silly someone thinks that behavior might be – say, going to the bathroom with a group of friends – the point Miller is making is that the behavior is silly just because it’s a female behavior.
It’s important to note how misogynistic these messages are. While they attempt to be sold as funny (you weren’t laughing?), fundamentally these commercials are telling viewers that actions seen as feminine are weak, thereby reinforcing the message that women are less capable and competent. Worse, if a man takes on her characteristics, he’ll be threatened with total emasculation. The end result is that Miller Lite are willing to risk half the population’s purchasing power to appeal to their male customers. I won’t be rewarding them with any of my money.
- Larkin
Chick Beer: because those other beers are for dudes.
Pink is for ladies, obviously.
OK, so we all know that beer marketers have a terrible history with selling their products to women. Mostly this isn’t a huge problem for me because the Big Two brewers who get the most air time (MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch) make terrible beer that I’m totally OK not being sold. You keep your Coors Light, really, I don’t want it.
It seems that that’s what the makers of Chick Beer were thinking, too. Except, well…something seems to have gone dreadfully wrong. In an attempt to even the market and create a beer that isn’t all about Manly Men Doing Man Stuff (Like Drinking Beer And Looking At Hot Ladies), Chick Beer has swung the pendulum entirely in the opposite direction, creating a beer that doesn’t just market to women, but stereotypes them in the most ridiculous way possible. Continue reading
Stella Artois considers women and beer “things of beauty”
Which does he consider "a thing of beauty": the woman, or the beer?
I love hoppy beers, so up front, I’m going to say before I get into my other reasons, I do not like Stella Artois.
I don’t like the taste of it, and frankly, I don’t understand why it is so popular. I’d take a Trumer over Stella any day.
However, my real problem is with their current ad campaign. Their slogan is, “She is a thing of beauty.”
Okay, right off the bat it’s easy to see the issue with that slogan.
Women are things; women are things like beer is a thing.
In the ad, a blonde woman is sitting across from a guy in a suit who is creepily watching her drink a Stella. The imagery is odd because it seems like a he is making her participate in his weird fetish.
Also, (clever ad guys, clever), we can’t tell if “she” refers to the beer or the hot woman. I totally see what you did there. Yup, no difference between the thing and the girl. Which is beautiful? Both? Or just the beer? I read it as the beer is the beautiful one, but the woman thinks it’s her.
Silly lady, you are not nearly worth as much as an object. Continue reading
Gallery of Offenders: Forget the woman, get yourself a Bot!
Questions to Consider:
Source: Billboard, 2010. yunchtime.net/?p=780
* Are women on their way to becoming perfectly constructed robots?
* Why does Svedka use a female bot and not a male bot?
* How does this ad represent women?
* What would it mean to be bought (purchased)?
* Who is the target audience of this ad?
What We Think:
Svedka has come out with a new wave of “R. U. Bot Or Not?” ads, including a TV commercial. The Svedka Bot is a woman who has been broken down to the most “essential” physical features. She is branded with SVEDKA down her leg. As an animatronic woman, she is designed to serve and she has no needs of her own. Her singular body type leaves no worries of men having to put up with a woman who falls outside the body ideal of 2033 (and today).
The “R. U. Bot or Not” tagline has three levels of meaning. First, it asks if women have achieved the body type of the Svedka Bot. Second, it asks if women have been claimed by men who have bought them a (Svedka) drink. Lastly, if men can purchase a Svedka Bot in 2033, the ad also asks if women have literally been purchased by men. (by Juliet Weintraub)
Take Action! Contact:
Leah Pepper
Sr. Manager of PR and Events
Svedka
What’s the opposite of Spectacular?
Have you heard of Kiely Williams? She was a flash in the pan of my adolescence as a member of girl group 3LW, and later found fame in Disney’s The Cheetah Girls, but now she’s trying to ditch her good-girl past and reinvent herself for an edgier audience. That’s fine; artists do it all the time.
What’s not fine is that for her choice of comeback anthem, Kiely has decided to release “Spectacular,” a song that attempts to be sexually liberated but instead encourages binge drinking, unprotected sex, and rape. Some choice excerpts: “woke up in the morning, couldn’t get out of there fast enough;” “I hope he used a rubber or else I’ma be in trouble;” “I can’t believe I blacked out.”
Sounds awful, right? An experience that you definitely wouldn’t want to re-live? Not in this song: “even though I don’t remember his name, he could have it again if he wanted it.” And why? “Because the sex was spectacular.” Continue reading
Why are Beer Commercials Still Ignoring Women?
A Heineken ad featuring a blonde, female robot serving beer
I drink beer. I’m a woman.
According to the Beer Institute, I’m not alone: women make up 25 percent of the beer market.
Hmmm. Strange. Because most beer commercials I’ve seen recently either a) don’t include any women at all;
or b) depict women solely as Barbie cheerleader types who serve men beverages. Continue reading
Media discourse has it wrong on sexual violence: the Richmond gang rape
An earlier version of this article was previously posted at AAUW’s blog, Dialog.
This Dolce & Gabbana ad (2007) glamorizes gang rape
Most people have heard about the alleged gang rape of a teenage girl a couple weeks ago, along with many shocking and horrific aspects of the event. However, some reported details may have done more harm than good in increasing awareness about sexual assault. Continue reading
Quilmes: A beer commercial I can get behind
Check out this commercial for Quilmes (one of Argentina’s most popular beers):
What is different about this beer commercial than ones we typically see? Continue reading