Why feminists drive me nuts
I'd have commented, but clearly, this blogger wants the dialogue to be a monologue.
I'd refer to my sneetches post to address some of this.
Just to tackle one of the many silly points she raises: The reason women are targeted is because women do most of the buying, and most of the worrying about health. I won't get into a chicken and egg discussion about whether marketing causes worry or worry attracts marketing. But go to any health site. Any. Most of the ads will be targeted at women (color schemes, images, story lines). Why? Sites know that 66%-90% of their visitors (depending on the site and its focus) are women. Same goes for Banana Republic (not being accused of subjugating their target market): 90% of its best customers are women, so the ads speak to women. It's basic business, not some subversive conspiracy cooked up by white dudes during our secret "how to keep control of the world" meetings that we hold in the whites only men's room.
The fact of the matter is that women still do most of the consumer spending in the US economy, so the person who will chose to put your product in the cart is most likey a woman. So ya better talk to her. If anything, the attention reflects the true financial power that women have over household expenditures.
And this is why feminists (generally) drive me nuts: "The big bad world is being mean to poor little us, it's not our fault, you did this to us. Oh, but we're powerful."
Either you're empowered, and your circumstances are your own responsibility, or you're powerless, and it's someone else's fault. Can't have it both ways.
She sounds like a baby boomer. Gen X has largely put this crap behind them.
I'd refer to my sneetches post to address some of this.
Just to tackle one of the many silly points she raises: The reason women are targeted is because women do most of the buying, and most of the worrying about health. I won't get into a chicken and egg discussion about whether marketing causes worry or worry attracts marketing. But go to any health site. Any. Most of the ads will be targeted at women (color schemes, images, story lines). Why? Sites know that 66%-90% of their visitors (depending on the site and its focus) are women. Same goes for Banana Republic (not being accused of subjugating their target market): 90% of its best customers are women, so the ads speak to women. It's basic business, not some subversive conspiracy cooked up by white dudes during our secret "how to keep control of the world" meetings that we hold in the whites only men's room.
The fact of the matter is that women still do most of the consumer spending in the US economy, so the person who will chose to put your product in the cart is most likey a woman. So ya better talk to her. If anything, the attention reflects the true financial power that women have over household expenditures.
And this is why feminists (generally) drive me nuts: "The big bad world is being mean to poor little us, it's not our fault, you did this to us. Oh, but we're powerful."
Either you're empowered, and your circumstances are your own responsibility, or you're powerless, and it's someone else's fault. Can't have it both ways.
She sounds like a baby boomer. Gen X has largely put this crap behind them.
posted by Kenneth at 3:26 PM
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