Friday, May 28, 2010

British Home Office reminds men that 'no means no'—even if she's wearing her hot Do Not Enter panties.

(click poster) Rape awareness poster hanging in public men's rooms in the Merry Olde UK. Tipster Fintan just spotted one in a bathroom in Nottingham. The campaign apparently started back in 2007 when the ad appeared in English lad mags like Nuts. Call me confused, but showing a half-naked woman in a rape awareness ad being viewed by plastered horny pissing men is just bloody stupid, right? Previously in Rape:
• Statutory rape D-Cupped right into our faces.
• Italian rape helpline poster features naked crucified woman.
• And, the 1960s Broomsticks slacks Gang-Rape Ad Series™.

10 Comments:

Blogger BusyB said...

lol totally agree!

4:05 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Right.

5:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Except that showing an attractive half naked woman saying no is what is needed. This is about date rape, and pointing out to drunk guys that no still means no even when a woman is in her underwear is a vitally important message.

This ad is not designed to prevent a guy from violently raping a stranger. This is a way to make them pause and think about their behaviour. Many date rapists honestly don't realise that they have done anything wrong because they perceive that the woman was "up for it" at the time.

What is really wrong with this ad? The complaint seems to be that you can't associate rape with sexy, scantily dressed women. If guys can pause and realise that apparent availability still carries issues of consent, well that is all for the good, right?

9:04 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Kinda agree w/ Ananonymous. I took it to be, "Hey does this look enticing? Yeah? Well, unless she said yes, it shouldn't."

10:33 AM  
Blogger copyranter said...

The Headline: ..."next place you enter..." (?) I don't think this is the place/issue for such insensitive wordplay.

10:40 AM  
Blogger unclesmedley said...

perhaps it might be apropos of the mission to post in ladies restrooms, adverts featuring a turgid lad in his underwear, with a message about the perilous enticement of cavorting in one's panties with a date with whom one wishes not to have sex... No means no, but semi-undressed can be inferred as maybe...

11:03 AM  
Anonymous Simon said...

@Copyranter, I'm the first anonymous poster.

I see your point about the bad pun, but honestly I think that with the target audience we are talking about then any approach that might be effective is acceptable. Bearing in mind that this ties together the text to the visual - no entry, reinforced by humour.

Being serious and worthy will not work, and the idea that some things are not to be joked about really doesn't exist for a lot of Brits, and for the target group this is the kind of thing that will stick in their mind.

Yes, there is an argument for sensitivity here, but this is something that is going to be viewed pretty much exclusively by men in pubs. The point of avoiding offence shouldn't be to scrub our culture of anything that might offend, it is to have offensive material restricted to those who will not be offended by it.

Yes, it is uncomfortable and nasty, but so what? It might work and is probably the most effective ad I have seen, and that is in part because of the inappropriateness.

2:03 PM  
Blogger copyranter said...

Well Simon, you make some good points...but since I am copyranter, I have to say go fuck yourself, you know, staying in character. No offense (sorry, offence).

7:57 PM  
Blogger Curiouspencil said...

Simon<>CR,

Beyond the incredibly clumsy copy 'says yes to it' / 'next place you enter' (page one of the punvertising book of 'don't fucking put your name to this or your career's gone'), surely there's this visual quandary:

"Your honour, her knickers didn't have any sign on it".

11:48 AM  
Blogger Sylvia said...

I paused on this and had to think about it. I also looked at this one:

http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/scots_make_it_clear_my_skirt_isnt_asking_you_to_rape_me

And in the end, I think - "you need to get a YES answer" is a lesson that can be understood by borderline cases. "She might not be asking for it" is less clear and the skirt-situation is too specific and easily dismissed.

Rapists don't rape because they see a half-dressed women - that feeds into the notion that they can't help themselves.

It is complicated. I don't know what the best message is. But I think this one might be in the right direction.

8:57 PM  

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