Sarah Haskins takes on vag euphemisms
Sarah Haskins taking on the "mow the lawn" commercial = heaven. Hilarious.
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this is great! i fucking haaate those damn commercials. and all commercials that are for products for vaginas but cannot say VAGINA. the vagisil ones drive me nuts...VAG is in your name you idiots.
anyways, sarah haskins is brilliant. i heard something about a sarah haskins movie or something? wait, was that posted here on feministing? clearly im a bit scatterbrained right now.
i only wish that she would have pointed out the racism...in that first commercial especially.
Me too on the racism. I get it, black women are hairy and Asian women are not (plus she's trimming an Asian-looking tree) har har, but the Asian women giggling behind her hand just makes it so much worse.
Actually, one look at Japanese porn will tell you how hairy Japanese women can be. Women have hair, man. It doesn't matter what colour you are.
Especially Okinawans and Ainus. Lord are we furry.
I'm Asian (well, a different sort of Asian from the girl in the commercial) and I'm hairy as. Yay fuzz!
Also, I'm now calling my pubes "my gentle alpaca", because that's awesome.
I wonder if the reason they don't mention any actual names is because they're not considered family-friendly? I haven't seen any male ads that refer to the penis, either. Condom ads tend to be very euphemistic too. So I don't think this is necessarily gender-specific.
Anyone who can intelligently use "semiotics" in a punchline is gold in my book.
It's rare that I watch a T:Women without laughing out loud at some point.
At least there is no double standard where commercials about penises say "penis."
But still. They are freaking genitals. Just say their name. "Vulva." I like it.
This is true. There is that "certain part of the male anatomy." I think it would be better if they would go ahead and use the proper names for body parts. A couple of my friends are in the medical field and it drives them crazy trying to get information from people who come in with "female pains" or "private troubles" because it apparently takes forever and usually a diagram to get people to point to exactly where they mean they are experiencing problems.
I'm a sharer. I just come out and say what's wrong with me. But I've got endometriosis. Any shyness I might have had was killed when, after one involved laparoscopy, a nurse walked briskly into my room, lifted my sheet, parted my legs, had a look, then put the sheet back and walked out. It's like, after that? "Oh what the hell - it's my VAGINA."
I don't know, the racism in the commercial is crap, and I don't like the implication that you HAVE to have a well-manicured vagina but the concept doesn't strike me as particularly sexist given they use a similar state of shaving euphimisms for the Norelco Bodygroom.
The site still cracks me up. (Warning: has sound)
http://www.shaveeverywhere.com/
Ok. After that, I don't feel SO bad about the mow your lawn commercials anymore; but still, they shouldn't have to use these ridiculous euphenisms, and metaphorical images for body parts period. It's funny that I didn't seem that commercial from their site on television either, which is wierd. Thanks for the link though.
Actually, it IS sexist - because men aren't required to shave their bodies the way women are - and a man who chooses not to shave his body won't be villified the way a woman would.
I know I've never shaved anywhere other than my face - and I've never felt any social stigma for it.
But imagine the reaction American woman would get if she were to stop shaving her legs and underarms, especially in the warmer part of the year, when those areas are more likely to be visible?
And in recent times, that longstanding mandatory underarm and leg shaving requirement for American women has been extended to their pubic hair as well.
But, no such requirement is imposed on men - even shaving one's face is optional for guys.
I know, and it didn't even occur to me how much we take it for granted that a woman is supposed to shave untill I stopped shaving my pits. Suddenly I was getting the stinkeye from people I didn't even know, because I had the audacity to wear a bathing suit with hairy armpits. Someone I went to school with even tracked down my old blog and wrote a comment about it. Luckily I have a strong enough sense of self to find all of this hilarious rather than being hurt, but it's really silly. Now I also get the stink-eye for not shaving/waxing my bakini line. I laugh at those people too.
PUBES VAGINA VULVA!!!!! YAAAAAAAHHHH :) She is great. And I'd like to add PENIS TESTICLES ANUS to that. LOL.
Go Sarah Haskins! Great vid.
When I'm talking to my friends in public and use a word having to do with genitals or sex, sometimes one of my friends tries to shush me. My typical response is to yell the word. Yeah, it's juvenile, but it lets her know not to censor me and not to be so embarrassed about these words.
Haha, yeah, I hate to admit it but I'm just like your friend; I know it's something I shouldn't be ashamed of, but it's an impulse for me to avoid directly addressing sex/genitalia. I have no idea why it's so embarrassing to me.
Awesome! I love Sarah Haskins.
I still think the commercials are utterly ridiculous, but at least I can understand the tongue-in-cheek stupid euphemisms. It's in the talk shows- Kathy Lee and the Oprah "vajayjay"- that it kills me. I just want to hear one woman on TV use the word vagina in a professional, non-giggly manner, without flinching. Please?
This is complete ignorant bullshit on Haskin's part. I'm so sick of people who come off with these know-it-all rants that are predicated on personal ignorance and the assurance (sometimes false assurance) of the ignorance of the target audience.
A fucking Sarlacc is not a "sand pit", a Sarlacc lives in a sand pit. Just like a Trap-door spider isn't actually a fucking trap door.
Get it right for fuck's sake.
On a related note "Wookie Bush" is my favorite euphemism for pubes.
Um, for one thing - calm down. Even if someone makes an error when referencing something from pop culture, to call it "complete ignorant bullshit" is a little ridiculous. This was one part of one sentence. Seriously.
Also? "In the original Return of the Jedi, the Sarlacc is simply a barbed hole in the desert sand which characters fall into and are consumed; some are pulled into the Sarlacc's mouth by its tentacles." So maybe you are even wrong, another reason not to get so flipped out about this.
Yeah, might be wrong but, I took his comment as a joke.
First few sentences going all-out, stereotypical, hostile concern troll, but reading on, you discover that all the huffing and puffing amounted to little more than nerdrage of the Star Wars kind.
But, hey, the first paragraph got a rise out of me too!
I'd like to think that we all learned something about Sarlaac today.
The internet: SRS BIZNEZ.
Wait, I'm confused. Sarah's vagina ate Boba Fett?
The Sarlacc does, however, really look like some sort of monster vagina.
I swear, the people who made this toy's packaging (most of the sandy area) were trolling everyone:
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/7944/sandvagina.jpg
It even has a sort of clitoris.
It's fun and educational.
Logrus,
If this was a Star Wars trivia website, you MIGHT be justified in vilifying the awesome Sara Haskins for her failure to be aware of an obscure point of Star Wars arcana.
And you'd still be a jerk for voicing your objection in such an obnoxious way.
But this is a feminist website - and I'm sure 99% of the readers here (including myself) neither know nor care about the details of that particular Star Wars reference.
So you're being inappropriate here.
I think s/he might be sarcastic...
1) I bet you're the life of the party.
2) "But this is a feminist website - and I'm sure 99% of the readers here (including myself) neither know nor care about the details of that particular Star Wars reference." - Way to gender-box homeslice, of course the people on this site (predominantly women) can have no clue about Star Wars. Your ass is showing.
3) I have a link you need to check out which explains the important role Star Wars has played in defining egalitarian roles for all people: http://smouch.net/lol/
Semiotics!! Bwahahaha.
To jump on the other side here, you know the commecricals I hate. The ones foviagra or cials or anything other pill that gives a man an erection, that refer to "a product that increases the size of a ceratin part of a mans anatomy" What, like his foot? You're selll erections, why cant you just calledd ut a peins
Those are not for Viagra or Cialis. Those are for Enzyte. They carefully avoid saying it will make anyone's penis get larger because they can't make the claim. First, it's a nutriceutical -- so it hasn't been approved for safety or effectiveness. It's just snake oil. And I think they are worried about consumer fraud claims if they actually say it will do anything -- because I doubt it does anything. So they just strongly imply it.
Viagra and Cialis give men erections at all, not bigger erections. They are FDA approved and they perform the function they are intended for. They use different euphemisms, and assume that everyone who takes them is cis, het, male and married.
That's right, Viagra and its friends use the "When the time is right" stuff and pretend that boner pills are ALL about the woman in the relationship. It's not ego! It's altruism! Really! The gift of erect cock!
Ah, mow the lawn. Sexist AND racist, nice work British ad men! (yeah, I just assumed they're men, but who knows)
To jump on the other side here, you know the commercails I hate. The ones for viagra or cialis or anything other pill that gives a man an erection, that refer to "a product that increases the size of a ceratin part of a man's anatomy" What,like his foot?! You sell erections, why cant you just called it a penis?
That was hilarious.
As annoying as the constant use of euphemisms is, I'm happy that they actually acknowledge the fact that women even have pubic hair.
Yes, but we must rip it out by the root!!! : P
The point where I laughed out loud was the burning bush and the voice of Moses... Priceless. Also, I'll go for the alpaca reference
"My gentle alpaca."
BWAHAHAHA. I love you, Ms. Haskins.
I think my favorite is Sarlacc,the Sand Pit from RotJ.
Because well, uncircumcised penises look like the Sandworms from Dune...
(said really seggzyly) "Hey bebby, would yur Maker like to explore the depths of *my* Sarlacc? Winkwinknudgenudge."
"Hey bebby, would yur Maker like to explore the depths of *my* Sarlacc?"
This is my new pick up line.
I love Sarah Haskins! More, more, more!
I can still remember my great aunt's disgust over menstrual product commercials, and I was maybe eight. My mother just didn't discuss that sort of thing, in fact my great-aunts disgust was probably how I linked running down a beach to having your period.
I for one sympathize in some ways with the advertisers (except for the racist one) to promote a product that women want without exactly saying what it means for sensitive ears. It does remind me of the vigara commercials, and of all "feminine products".
Part of me understands this, Christian home with kids in the room and all. Now if only the Axe products would be so sensitive to both my needs as a thinking breathing women and fundamental homes........why does Axe get away with what it does? (granted the don't use the "dirty words")
And yes.. Sarah Haskins just rocks.
OMG! Sarah Haskins + Star Wars reference = AWESOME! :D
Totally made my day. Thank you!
Man, I didn't think it was really that funny.
Not so much that I didn't get it - it just lacked the sarcasm, cynicism and disillusionment I usually find high-larious.
And I'm pretty sure the point of the Aussie ad was more to celebrate having a cunt, rather than to shame one, we just have the fucking moral brigade up in fuckin' arms over here at the moment so anything involving sex or the sexual organs has to have those euphemisms.
And fuckin' hell, some fuckin' wowser got up in arms because a woman named her art exhibition "CUNT" (and it was just gigantic sculptures of different womens vaginas) - because it was offensive to women. Haw haw haw. I'm not entirely sure were this was going but, yeah, I'm really fuckin' cool.