Re: She may not be your first...

[der Mouse <mouse () rodents-montreal org>]

> > But I also agree with your detractors that it is perpetuative of
> > sexism and offensive in at least a few ways.
> If ads went non-offensive to everybody, [...]

True enough.  It's actually not _that_ it's offensive but _how_ it's
offensive - or perhaps to how many it's offensive, or some such.

So, merely remarking that it's offensive to me is actually pretty
pointless.  I need to go into a little more detail.

The grounds on which I find it offensive:

- It's perpetuative of sexism (as I mentioned), in that it's predicated
   on the assumption that women are what car buyers find sexy, and,
   worse, that surface gloss is what makes a woman sexy.

- It's perpetuative of various other twisted notions Western (FWVO
   "Western") society have about sex, such as the idea that sexual
   inexperience is desirable (it's even so important that it has a
   special word dedicated to it, at least in English).

- It is selling something (to the extent that it does sell it, that is)
   based on an emotional response rather than on the merits of the
   "something".  Yes, Paul, advertising often depends on emotional
   responses, but, done right, they are the hook, the attention-getter,
   not the pitch; for them to be the entire ad is basically telling
   me-the-target that the merits of the thing don't matter, that I can
   be led around by my emotional responses.  Even - perhaps
   _especially_ - to the extent that that's true, it's insulting.

   Unless you think that it actually is a fair analogy to draw
   parallels between used cars and experience in a sex partner?

- I like looking at women's bodies too, as it happens.  But what they
   make me want to do is not go out and buy a car[%].  As such, this
   feels like bait-and-switch, bordering on fraud, to me: apparently
   offering sex but actually offering something drastically different.
   (Maybe I'm an outlier in that I don't get off on cars.  I doubt it.)

[%] Though given used-car dealers' stereotypical reputation, there may
not be all that much difference, in that both constitute getting
screwed.

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