Dishes @ Work

At our office we have serious issues with the dishes in the sink. Somehow K and I became the office dish washers, because we seem to be the only people it bothers.

Until someone else notices. But they don't ever wash them, they just send an email out requesting a wash. Since no one else will bight the bullet, K and I end up washing them.

I don't know about other offices, but how come at ours, no guy ever offers? Well today I pitched a fit and claimed that the guys love to point out what needs to be washed, but they never actually wash them.

Then the unbelievable happened. One of our junior level account managers washed the dishes. Then he sent out this email:

The bigger issue is why it's always the females of our office who end up washing the dishes. Part of my theory is that K and I happen to be people who don't talk about it, but we do it. Instead of complaining, we fix it. That is not gender specific though. I think what might be gender specific is that we care. Women tend to care about little things, and somehow the men don't even see the dishes. Or smell it. One might even argue that they just expect one of us women will clean them, because that's what usually happens.

Either way, today that guy made me smile. Thanks for washing the dishes!

T Ad Graffiti

This one really made me laugh:

The Threat of Ugg Boots

Personally don't own a pair. But this tweet definitely caught my eye. They are probably the number one most hated footwear by men. But women still love them, and still keep wearing them.

Kudos.

The Music Artist

K brings up a few questions that had my brain ticking about not just ads, but music artists. Madonna was one of the pioneers of "sex sells" music. Remember how provocative her music videos were considered?

Then came Brittany Spears and people started to wonder, how young is the music industry going to push it with "sex cells"?

Now today we have Rihanna. Her videos are like none I've ever seen before. Although I have to admit I don't watch music videos often, so maybe I'm a prude when it comes to this. But aren't they border line too much?

The bigger question is who's behind this? Is it the producers, or the artist? If it's the artist I completely respect her right to show off her body however she pleases. However, when it becomes the producers, something about a removed group of people deciding that a performer should be half naked in a video making moaning noises, concerns me.

What makes it ok? What makes it wrong? Like K says, where is the line?

Sex sells

When does the "sex sells" mentality go too far? Should we have the freedom to write an advertise anything we want? Should there be boundaries?

I have a lot of trouble answering these questions. I fully support the Libertarian notion of "Minimum Government, Maximum Freedom." I also support the idea that freedom should not come at the expense of hurting another person. So what does hurt mean? Physical? Psychological? Does objectification count?

I saw a NYT article today about Manga comic books, which originate in Japan. They depict young girls in sexual and compromising positions. People on one side of the fence call it perverted, others call it freedom of speech. I think it's perverted. I do. But does that go against my belief in freedom? This entry really didn't come to a conclusion - I just wanted to throw the topic out there and see where it leads. I'll ponder this one a bit more and reflect later.

What are your thoughts?

I want a Darth Vader child

T, I have to agree with you that most of the ads seem to be targeted at men, which is sort of funny because most of the women I know watch the Superbowl only for the ads (including myself). My pick of this year was Volkswagen's: The Force commercial. It featured the cutest little kid attempting to gather up the force within him to make objects move, turn on the car, etc. This spot actually made me want to have children (topic for another day). The thing I loved about it was the type of humor they used. T's right - a lot of the Super Bowl commercials use "boy club humor." I think a lot of advertisers forget that just because men love football, doesn't mean they're the only ones watching on Super Bowl sunday.

According to Treehugger, 40% of people watching the Super Bowl are not football fans. That's a serious number of people who don't fit the stereotype of sports fanatic or "bro." I think this is one of the reasons, VW's commercial was so successful (21,515,239 views on VW's YouTube channel alone). It wasn't a typical car commercial trying to entice men into buying a shiny object. It was a quirky, funny spot that captured something anyone could connect with: childhood. It brought us back to how we acted when we were little - how we thought we had the power to do anything - and that's special. It's a "force" to be reckoned with.

The Super Bowl

I admit my favorite part of the super bowl (besides the food and beer) are the ads. I find this ironic, because last night as I watched through my new Playing with Cards outlook, most of the ads were directed towards men (with very good reason since the target audience is majority male).

Then why do I like the ads so much? Here's an example of one of my favorites from last night:

It's the sense of humor. I downright love the stupid, over the top, border line slapstick humor of the Super Bowl ads. Does that mean I have the sense of humor of a man? Sometimes I think yes I do, and then I wonder if this is why I get along well as "one of the guys" with the cards I play. I understand men and women can have different levels of sensitivity, but I guess when it comes to humor, I tend to lack that. Funny is funny. I try not to worry about caring when I'm laughing.

This probably puts me in the "bitch" category, and perhaps I am one, but isn't that what we call successful women these days?