After covering WIZO’s newest annual tradition of giving out a most-chauvinistic-ad award (2008, 2009), I thought I’d one-up myself and actually suggest a couple of ads for next year’s shaming ceremony. Following are two TV spots that caught my eye, one is gratuitously sexual in a let’s-find-an-excuse-for-leering kinda way:
I should probably mention that I have discussed these ads with a couple of female friends who did not see anything particularly shocking with these ads. They did note the ads’ sexist nature, they just didn’t think it was any different from most other Israeli ads.
Obviously, I disagree.
The Israeli branch of WIZO, the Women’s International Zionist Organization established in 1920, continues its annual tradition of announcing the most chauvinistic Israeli advertisements created during the past year. The worst ad will be announced during International Women’s Day, but the top ten finalists were revealed last week. Following are the most sexist TV spots of 2009 and while they are in Hebrew, sexism transcends language barriers:
The day before yesterday we learned that the Israeli parliament celebrated International Women’s Day by teaching its female members self-defense. This evening the Tel Aviv District Committee of The Israel Bar Association will try to top that:
Let us play a game called What Is The Name of The Tel-Aviv Bar Association’s Main Event On IWD 2008?
Is it:
“Equal Pay, Equal Rights – The Advancement of Women in Israel”
“Sexual Slavery and Human Trafficking In Israel”
“An Enriching and Amusing Lecture about Styling, Make-Up and Hair”
Whether you can read the following invitation in Hebrew or not – deep down you already know the answer:
What kind of a bizarro world do we live in when International Women’s Day is celebrated by the Israeli parliament by giving female Knesset members self-defense lessons?
I am all for female empowerment but I have to wonder whether the legislative branch became so toothless that the message it wants to convey to the female citizens can be broken down to:
men are coming to harm you
the country cannot/would not defend you
better learn to scream ‘no!’ and prepare for a fight
