[1056] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Re: "Bling Bling" party posters
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Laura G Dean)
Sun Feb 24 02:24:04 2002
Message-ID: <200202240723.CAA29854@multics.mit.edu>
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2002 02:23:13 -0500
From: Laura G Dean <lgdean@MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Fri, 22 Feb 2002 16:34:51 EST."
<20020222213451.GF28695@yiff.mit.edu>
On Fri, 22 Feb 2002 16:34:51 EST, rax wrote:
> These posters bore an impressively and disturbingly graphic
> depiction of a penis being cut in half by a pair of scissors.
[...]
> Now, it is possible that the goal of the posterers was to make my
> stomach turn. Well, you certainly succeeded. I am really rather
> fond of my penis, you see, and the image of it being cut off is
Now that I've seen the poster, I believe that was the intent.
> extremely unpleasant. I do not believe that my penis has ever hurt
> anyone, nor that many men who walked down the hall and experienced
> the same sickening feelings had "guilty penises." You did succeed,
> also, in causing me to think about what would make someone put up
> these posters - the first posters, which had faded from my memory,
And that, too, was the intent. They want to make you understand how
they feel. And though I am penis-free, it worked for me...
> returned. I do not think the first posters were in particularly
> good taste, and I did not intend to attend the party in question.
> However, I do not feel that the response was at all called for. The
> portrayal of a shirtless woman as advertising for a party (and I
> have asked a number of female friends about this; they agree with
> me) is on a completely different scale.
...to an extent. It failed to convey *why* they feel that way.
As you say, it really is a different scale. I believe the point is
that they both create, or contribute to, a hostile environment for the
sex in question.
But I didn't get all the way there. I still don't understand why
images of [heterosexual] sex are in all cases hostile, which *seems*
to be the message. But see, since I don't actually know what the
message is, I've just created a random strawman.
I'd like to understand where they're coming from, unless it involves
actually being taken advantage of by a man (in which case, I hope I
never understand). But I don't think it does, because I have heard
men agreeing. I just haven't yet seen the words or image that will
convey it to me.
> Not only were these posters placed along the infinite corridor, but
> when I got home to East Campus and went to the door to front desk,
> hoping to check my mail, the same giant picture was in my face. I
(One advantage of FSILGs -- more control over your home environment.
The most they could do without breaking and entering would be to stick
it in your house's mailbox. Well, and to put your house's name on
posters...)
> If one wanted to parody the poster without being patently offensive,
> one could have despicted a number of things: just one dumpy nerd on
> a couch, perhaps, or a man being rejected by a woman. That would
> have been clever, and (at least comparatively) subtle.
I do not think subtle was a goal. I also don't think nerd or
rejection posters would have conveyed their desired message.
They would have conveyed only that they didn't like the originals.
> I wonder what the reaction to a poster which depicted a
> clitoridectomy would be? Certainly and justifiably, negative. Then
> why is this even close to acceptable?
[Note: I'm not commenting, in this message, on acceptability.]
> Please, whomever is responsible, try to keep in mind that if your
> goal is to enlighten, you will not succeed by driving away your
> target audience.
I have heard of ways that work without alienating. Well, I've heard
of one. It involves asking the men "what's the worst thing that could
happen to you on a date?" and then asking the women the same thing.
(Obviously, this involves having everyone together in person -- not so
much an option with a postering campaign.)
The message to be conveyed there was: "understand that women might
feel vulnerable, and respect their personal space."
I wish I could similarly identify the message people want to convey
with the posters. (I'm pretty sure it's not "men's dicks should be
cut off.") Then I'd know whether I agree with it.
Laura
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