Double standards in advertising

K-Mart has caused quite a stir with their new holiday commercial for Joe Boxer. Television viewers are up in arms, saying it's indecent, inappropriate, and should be banned. Personally, I thought it was funny.

Is it suggestive? Certainly. Are the men covered? Definitely. Has the brand been known for being tongue-in-cheek? Always, especially before K-mart purchased it. But there are so many ads that are just as suggestive and even more sexual in nature. Why the fuss over this one?















This commercial is for perfume.

It is far racier than the Joe Boxer commercial, which is at least advertising underwear. The Joe Boxer commercial is being called brash, distasteful, offensive, and vulgar. Many of the general public are outraged! Comments on Kmart's facebook page say "Pull this ad, it has no place on public television." "What is wrong with you people? This is uncalled for!" "Kmart your new commercial sucks and is disgusting! I will never shop at your store again!" "Think of the children who will see this!" But no one is outraged over the Victoria's Secret commercials, the Hardees/Carls Jr commercials, the GoDaddy commercials, the various beer commercials. So why the double standard? Is it really okay for women to be portrayed as sex objects in advertising but not men? What are people afraid of?

Still thankful

I'm thankful for my job
Netflix
Our pets
Blankets
DVR
Babies (Happy birth day beautiful Ellie!)
Books
Sunshine
Tea
Friendship
Heaters
Cuddles
Singing
Laughter
Technology
Snapchat silliness
Ohmygoodness hugs
Mom-daughter time
Kisses on my forehead


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Day 10

The toy commercials are out in full force. As a result, I am SO thankful for Santa Claus. Why? "Ask Santa" prevents this conversation from happening a thousand times a day:

"I want a Loud Crappy Toy!"
"No"
"Pweeeeeese! I want it!"
"No"
"But I neeeeeed it! Can I have it?"
"No"
And tears.

Instead, this exchange happens:

"I want that! Can I ask Santa?"
"Yes"
"Yay! I'll ask Santa!"

Because I KNOW that 99% of these things she's asking for will be forgotten. I feel no guilt at all with Santa being a type of scapegoat. She doesn't get that piano? "Sorry, sweetie, Santa couldn't carry it on his sleigh."



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Days 8 and 9

Day 8
I'm thankful for ice cream, chocolate syrup, and Glee on DVR. I'm thankful for girl time with my oldest daughter. I'm thankful for laughter.

Day 9
I'm thankful for Saturday. Enough said.

Day 7

Today was spent at home, mostly on the couch on a heating pad. It seems Sophie is getting too big for me to carry to bed when she falls asleep in mine.

So today, I'm thankful for flexibility. I'm thankful for cell phones and internet connections that let me do my job from the couch. I'm thankful for ibuprofen and heating pads, Disney Junior and Netflix. I'm also thankful for little imaginations and cuddles and kisses.




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Day 6

I am thankful for 72 degrees in November, and eating lunch outside in the sunshine with one of my oldest friends.

I am also thankful for friendship, for good friends who know all of you - the good and the bad - and love you anyway. The friends who have seen me at my worst and supported me, and who are always there for each other no matter what.



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Days 4 and 5

Day 4. Monday.
On my 5 pm commute home, that is over an hour driving west, I am very thankful for Daylight Savings Time. It is such an eyesight saver!

Day 5
I'm thankful for Pinterest. I've found some delicious recipes there! Here are some of the more recent ones:

 

 

 

http://growingupgabel.com/amish-baked-chicken/

http://jujugoodnews.com/taco-pasta-bake/

 

Day 3

I'm thankful for my parents. They are wonderful people and I'm very lucky to have them.

Thankfulness, day 2

I'm thankful for my husband.











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Thirty days of thankfulness

It's always a good idea to remember why we are thankful, especially when things have been less than ideal.

Day 1: I'm thankful for our daughters.



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Respecting each other - is that the answer?

I fully support blaming the rapist and not shaming the victim. No is no, and men should be held responsible for not respecting that. I do NOT think that men cannot control their urges, nor that seeing a provocatively dressed woman will cause them to lose their minds and attack her like dogs chasing one in heat. Humans are separated from the rest of the animal kingdom by our intellect, and our ability to control ourselves.

However, having a teenage daughter makes me not so comfortable with the opposite extreme, either. Should women be able to walk around in however little clothing they choose without fear of getting raped? Absolutely. But should they?

I've been torn about this. But, I'm not just a feminist, I'm an equalitatist. Men should respect women enough to not rape, and women should respect men (and themselves) enough to expose their bodies so much. How respectful is it to dress up in ultra-sexy clothes, and parade around men basically saying "You can't have me?" It isn't at all.


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Fun with Siri

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Boo!

Last night we went to our favorite Halloween event, Boo at the Zoo. Since we had visited the zoo twice already earlier in the month, Sophie had seen all the preparations and was super excited about going. The only problem was narrowing down a costume! She wanted to be Ariel, Belle, a pink princess, and a superhero. All at once. We finally decided on Doc McStuffins, and E was a ladybug. E's boyfriend also joined us, dressed as a soldier.

Many of the animals were not out, but we saw elephants and zebras enjoying the crowd. Parts of the zoo were blocked off to keep patrons on the trick-or-treat trail, but there were so many things going on we didn't miss seeing them. The city had a police car, a fire truck, and a big tractor for exploring, the minor league baseball team had their bouncy house there, and there was face painting, dancers, music, and a big Monster Mash dance party in the party tent at the end. The carousel is also "haunted" for Halloween - it goes backwards! We had a blast.

The girls with Thing 1 and Thing 2

Bouncy!

Trick or treating on the trail

Doc McStuffins!

There were costumed characters throughout the zoo for pictures.

We all got masks, too!

E's favorite movie

Fire truck!

Mediterranean breakfast quinoa

It's no secret I love quinoa. I keep a lookout for new recipes, and recently found several good recipes in various cookbooks on my kindle. Two were breakfast recipes, and I tried one yesterday.




It's not a sweet breakfast, but it's tasty and OH so filling! In general, 1 cup dry quinoa yields two cups cooked. I split this into two bowls and could only eat half of one. I was so full!

Recipe:
1 c quinoa, rinsed
2 c milk
1/2 c chopped almonds
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp honey
1/4 c raisins
3 dried apricots, chopped

Combine quinoa, milk, & cinnamon in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.

When I made this, I didn't have almonds so I omitted those. Next time I make this, I'll use more apricots and raisins, though. It didn't seem like enough fruit to me. Probably more honey, too, as it seemed to need more sweetness. The extra fruit would probably be enough, though.


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What I'm listening to lately

My favorite song right now - Royals by Lorde. This is one talented teenager.

*****

Summertime Sadness by Lana Del Ray

*****

Applause. Yes, I still love Lady Gaga.

*****

Same Love by Macklemore. I love this song so hard.

*****

Roar might be the first Katy Perry song I download.