Minute 1.
Scene: Lunch with two colleagues at a popular city restaurant. While being seated in the noisy restaurant (including patrons who are responding to loud mobile phones with loud telephone voices) we pass a table appearing to be a grandmother and a mother with her infant and toddler.
Maitre De: We won’t normally have children here.
Me: Well, they’re perfectly welcome as far as I’m concerned.
Maitre de: I suppose so.
Me: Mothers have to eat too.
Maitre de: Yes, that’s true.
Minute 2.
Scene: A recent appointment with a new gynaecologist, and we get to talking about the BMI standards.
Gynaecologist: The problems for a person with a high body mass index are clear – greater risks of heart disease, high blood pressure, and certain cancers.
Me: I’ve read some really interesting research recently which disputes those assumptions.
Gynaecologist: You can find research that will say any story you want it to say. Doesn’t mean it is right.
Me: Indeed!
Minute 3.
Scene: At work, looking over an advertising submission vaguely related to my work area.
Me: This prospective billboard advertisement is sexualising dead women.
Person overseeing the advertising submission: Ah… which advertisement is that?
Me: This one on page 45. You know, some fashion advertisements had to be withdrawn recently because they were deemed offensive for sexualising dead women.
Person: Oh.. um.
Me: What is this billboard even supposed to be saying? Isn’t the target audience young men? Why is there a young dead woman in this picture? And why is she half-naked? What is that supposed to say?
Person: I’ll call them up and talk about that pitch.
Me: Yes, and please let me know the outcome.
10 minutes later.
Person: They said that billboard was only a mock-up and that they’ll ensure the picture doesn’t include a topless dead girl. Would you like your position noted in our report?
Me: Yes please. Note our strong opposition to that image, thanks.
(For the record, this is my one and only feminist victory ever at work. Four years and counting. Go me.)
Woo hoo! Go you! I’ll remember that middle one when I have to defend my choice to introduce solids early on Friday… 🙂
It’s amazing what you can do in three minutes, bluemilk. And your bit about the ad ROCKS. Go you!
Sweet victory, indeed!
Wow, sometimes I have to make a stand about things I believe in at work but I’ve never had to explicitly state “no pictures of dead naked women, please”. My job’s looking better all the time…
Congratulations on your victory, and may you see more in the future.
A worthy victory, and I hope the first of many! Go, you, indeed!
I have just found your blog via hand mirror. Its great! Go you!
I love this post. And yes. Go you.
Woohoo! I loved this, particularly the first one. You are so courageous. I’m sure we can all think of similar instances where we’ve just gritted our teeth and growled, Marge Simpson-style.
“they’ll ensure the picture doesn’t include a topless dead girl” – LOL – talk about low expectations!
Thanks all of you!
[…] are these incidents happening in such numbers? What restaurants or cafes are they frequenting? Because I don’t see much of these behaviours. And seeing as how I hang out quite a lot in places with children around, being a stupid parent and […]