Today, I bring you more feminist hysteria over absolutely nothing. At Feministing, they're busy hyperventilating over this promotional shot for Showtime's new series, The Tudors:
Feministing blogger Vanessa yelps:
I'm sure some of you love The Tudors... [b]ut I find this really disturbing.It's not the first hyper-masculine, sexist ad the show has run ... but this over the top. While it does seem like Henry IIX's character is also sexualized in other ads and the show (the series itself seems to exude sex), spousal strangulation is just not screaming "hot" to me.
(The picture actually makes me wonder if it's a precursor to Anne Boleyn's beheading, which would make it even more unsettling; although I tend to doubt SHO is trying to incorporate historical cues into their marketing.)
I'm really curious to know how fans of the show feel about this image.
I will freely admit that I don't watch The Tudors. I never have, and you know what? I probably never will. But what is it about feminists screeching with outrage over the smallest possible offenses? I mean, jeez, overreacting much?
Really, who looks at that picture and thinks that it conveys "spousal strangulation" just because his hand is on her neck? Personally, I look at the picture and see a very, very sexy ad.
And, oh no, a precursor to Anne Boleyn's beheading?! What horrible sexism was Showtime trying to perpetuate?!
Um, maybe that Anne Boleyn was, in fact, beheaded.
How sexist!
This is the other ad that Feministing is all in a huff over:
Oh. My. Goodness. Look at Henry the 8th, sitting there surrounded by women baring cleavage. How horrifying! Look at how comfortable Showtime is with objectifying women!
Will new wave feminists never realize that by getting so upset about such minor things, they're doing the feminist movement more harm than good? There are women who are truly oppressed around the world, women who suffer real discrimination. But what's really important to the heavy-hitters in American feminism is abortion -- and apparently, ads for TV shows that are too overtly sexual. Interesting, though, is how sexual ads are deemed BAD, and yet women who sleep around like men are GOOD (Amanda Marcotte can tell you all about that).
True oppression, true discrimination, takes a backseat to petty shit like this. And that's why no one takes feminism seriously anymore.
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Comments (18)
In reference to the second ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by jpm100 | April 7, 2008 2:03 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
In reference to the second shot, "Its good to be the king" is an expression for a reason.
1. Posted by jpm100 | April 7, 2008 2:03 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 14:03
2. Posted by jpm100 | April 7, 2008 2:04 PM | Score: 4 (8 votes cast)
Seems to me was had a womanizing leader about 7 years ago they didn't say a peep about.
2. Posted by jpm100 | April 7, 2008 2:04 PM |
Score: 4 (8 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 14:04
3. Posted by Th_Ph | April 7, 2008 2:23 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
I think what's significant about the second ad is not all the lovely cleavage but the fact that the frame of the image has cropped off the ladies' heads... Henry's women have all lost their heads... as Henry's wives were wont to do.
3. Posted by Th_Ph | April 7, 2008 2:23 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 14:23
4. Posted by Peter F. | April 7, 2008 2:36 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
My wife and mother-in-law watch "The Tudors" religiously, so by sheer osmosis I hear/see it and I can tell you this much: The show is cut into segments where 5 minutes is loosely based on history followed by 3-4 minutes of soft core porn.
If I didn't know better, I'd swear fucking was the Grand Old Pastime back in Henry VIII's day. And it probably was.
4. Posted by Peter F. | April 7, 2008 2:36 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 14:36
5. Posted by ThisIsMe | April 7, 2008 2:56 PM | Score: 0 (4 votes cast)
Look, I'm not a feminist - I'm a guy. And not a prude. But those advertising shots DO seem to sensationalize violence against women. Do they really need to show a picture of a woman symbolically being strangled (look at her eyes - it's scary) to draw viewers? It turned me off completely. I was disgusted the first time I saw the above ad.
5. Posted by ThisIsMe | April 7, 2008 2:56 PM |
Score: 0 (4 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 14:56
6. Posted by LCB | April 7, 2008 3:07 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Who the heck is Henry IIX? I always thought he was Henry VIII!!!
6. Posted by LCB | April 7, 2008 3:07 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 15:07
7. Posted by 914 | April 7, 2008 3:27 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Just gets sicker and sicker..I listen to radio a lot. cant stand this garbage they produce nowadays.
7. Posted by 914 | April 7, 2008 3:27 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 15:27
8. Posted by LaMedusa | April 7, 2008 3:43 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"Who the heck is Henry IIX?" Good eye! :)
8. Posted by LaMedusa | April 7, 2008 3:43 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 15:43
9. Posted by LaMedusa | April 7, 2008 3:48 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Come to think of it, the liquid spilling from the chalice in the second pic is very red and could be viewed as something else.
9. Posted by LaMedusa | April 7, 2008 3:48 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 15:48
10. Posted by LaMedusa | April 7, 2008 3:49 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Correction: chalice in first pic.
10. Posted by LaMedusa | April 7, 2008 3:49 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 15:49
11. Posted by SarahConnor2 | April 7, 2008 3:53 PM | Score: 1 (3 votes cast)
I really like the point that the feminists spend all their time getting upset about a freaking cable show and none about how women are treated in much of the world. What about women getting stoned for being rape victims? What about women not being allowed to go anywhere on their own without a male guardian from their family? As a woman, those are the things I'm more concerned about. But hey, it's easier to watch a sexually charged television show and then kavetch about it then to actually use their organization to take a stand on a real issue.
11. Posted by SarahConnor2 | April 7, 2008 3:53 PM |
Score: 1 (3 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 15:53
12. Posted by Oyster | April 7, 2008 4:17 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Oh my! How dare they depict Henry the "VIII" (yes, I saw that too) as he was! A womanizer; and a brutal one at that. The only other options would be to show him as a pussy cat or ignore his role in history altogether.
Let's hope they NEVER produce a movie about Betsy Ross and depict her sitting in a rocker - sewing. The feministas will go crazy.
12. Posted by Oyster | April 7, 2008 4:17 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 16:17
13. Posted by Mac Lorry | April 7, 2008 4:35 PM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Well maybe she's just a bad actor, but it looks to me the women in the first shot is showing enjoyment, which is the real reason it upsets feminists. There's nothing more sexist than sex and any women who would enjoy the touch of a man is a traitor to the cause.
In the second shot it's obvious the cleavage is the source of offense. After all, we never see that nowadays among liberated women like the Hollywood elite. Actually feminists burned their bras years ago and with gravity any cleavage is down by their belly.
13. Posted by Mac Lorry | April 7, 2008 4:35 PM |
Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 16:35
14. Posted by Maggie | April 7, 2008 4:50 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
There is a television series about the
Tudors? Who'd of thunk?
14. Posted by Maggie | April 7, 2008 4:50 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 16:50
15. Posted by Maggie | April 7, 2008 5:28 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Old man Henry VIII was a real randy.
He died of syphilis, not all of the women
he 'inter faced'with were his wives.
15. Posted by Maggie | April 7, 2008 5:28 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 17:28
16. Posted by PookieJ | April 7, 2008 6:05 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
If they don't like the cleavage in the second photo, they'd have had absolute fits over the way women of the Court actually dressed back then.
16. Posted by PookieJ | April 7, 2008 6:05 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 18:05
17. Posted by BigFire | April 7, 2008 10:40 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
One thing about the 2nd poster is that none of the women have their head showned. Considered he beheaded many of his queen, that's somewhat appropriate.
17. Posted by BigFire | April 7, 2008 10:40 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 7, 2008 22:40
18. Posted by Synova | April 8, 2008 5:23 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Not knowing anything at all about the show I interpreted the first picture as communicating violence but assumed that the woman was in on it. That both of them were violent, ruthless at least, and that the "love" portrayed wasn't going to be the sweet sort.
18. Posted by Synova | April 8, 2008 5:23 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on April 8, 2008 17:23