Not MY daughters, Reebok!
I have always preferred Nike running shoes and athletic gear, but I have owned a few things from Reebok in the past, such as swimsuits and a few outfits and pieces of clothing. Not anymore!
As of yesterday, Reebok will no longer be getting any of my family’s hard earned dollars. Here’s why:
and this:
and the worse one yet:
I am so disgusted, I can barely string a coherent sentence together. Why (someone PLEASE tell me why), a commercial for athletic shoes needs to be sexualized like that?
Why is it OK for Reebok to tell my daughters that the “real” reason for exercising is so a man can appreciate their assets?
Why is it OK for my son to absorb the message that he should ogle women and only value them for physical appearance?
I have no problem with a shoe that helps tone the butt and thighs. That’s a good thing, really, and with a smart marketing campaign I might have been interested in these shoes.
I am definitely not interested in contributing to the misogynistic view that women are nothing more than bodies to be objectified, and that the only reason to be fit is to be sexually appealing to a man. What about good health? What about strength? What about endurance, self-esteem, and pride?
So, Reebok, you have decidedly FAILED in my estimation. I am sure there are many men who appreciate these “commercials” you have created. I’d be willing to bet there are plenty of women who see “nothing wrong” with wanting to look sexy so men will notice them.
I want to look attractive for my husband, too, but for more than my body! I hope he is attracted to my intelligence, my humor, my personality…as well as my physical appearance.
The real problem with these ads is that they feed into an already warped sense of value in America. Media images such as these lodge themselves in the minds of young children (and adults), and continue to perpetuate the dysfunctional idea of women as mere sexual objects. Girls begin to believe the message and their self-esteem becomes wrapped up in how sexually appealing they can be. Boys continue to embrace the message because it lets them off the hook in regard to their behavior and having to respect women as equals.
These might seem like “just commercials” to many viewers. But what does it say to us, as a society, if it can be so blatant, and yet we sit around asking, “What’s the big deal?”
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23
Many thanks to Cyndi for alerting me to these “ads.”
