Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Women as Furniture

If you have been around this blog in the past month, you must already know how much I hoped Spain would win the World Cup. When they did, I was ecstatically happy but only until I started watching the after-game award ceremony. Just watch the following appalling video, and you will know what I mean. It disturbed me so much I didn't even feel like celebrating.



So here we have the happy Spanish athletes getting their well-deserved medals. We see a group of paunchy older gentlemen handing them the medals. So far, so good. But look at who is standing behind the row of paunchy medal-giving gentlemen? A group of women. Lined up in a neat little row, all dressed the same, all made up the same, all with the same frozen Stepford-like smiles glued to their faces. All white, except for a token black woman. We are in Africa, you know. Gotta represent that population.

The women's sole purpose of being there with their forced toothy smiles is to hold the trays with medals. I just wonder, how did that job search go? "We need people to hold trays while wearing idiotic getup and smiling stupidly. That sounds like a subservient position. We need to hire us some women for that!!" How was the decision to base this particular hiring on gender? Is there some way in which having a vagina makes one better suited to holding trays?

How nice of FIFA to show us women exactly where we belong in their worldview.

6 comments:

Izgad said...

This reminds of the girl’s handing out the trophies on Oscar night. :p

Iris said...

I fail to see how an organization that promotes men running around in shorts kicking balls and exuding testosterone can be expected to show women in any way but as receptacles.

Has the world suddenly changed and one doesn't have to have a penis to be considered a person?

Cheers

Anonymous said...

I hate to butt in, but:

http://www.inewidea.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/20100202804.jpg


-Mike

Clarissa said...

That's too funny. Is that supposed to be an actual piece of furniture? I have a friend who would kill to have it at home. :-) :-)

Anonymous said...

I don't know if it's ever been mass-produced, but it's real, by the sculptor Peter Rolfe.

Some more here.


-Mike

Sungold said...

It reminded me of the women in yellow dresses on each day of the Tour de France. And I'll admit I also thought "Stepford, Stepford!" when I saw those women lined up like so many life-sized dolls.

I'm wondering if we'll see Ken-doll men when the women's World Cup is awarded. I'm not holding my breath.