Equality Of The Sexes - Men And Motocycles

[gary0618]

 

 

Interesting little ad campaign:

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/15/if-men-posed-like-motorcycle-babes_n_4101152.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D392807

[JeffB]

Color me unimpressed. The men were, for the most part, unappealing, hardly models from the pages of GQ. Now, is it just me, or did it look like those guys were wearing the same damn pair of shoes? All in all, this was one big fat FAIL.

[Heelster]

Hell - - this is one of those times when I can honestly say - - 'I think I could do better than those dudes.'

 

I'll take a pair of her heels in a size 10 please.

[Shafted]

Sticking very masculine guys into feminine poses is never going to work in my book. The photo layout could have worked very well if they weren't trying to emulate feminine poses.

[hh4evr1]

Would have been better if the shoes weren't too small for him.

[ilikekicks]

Color me unimpressed. The men were, for the most part, unappealing, hardly models from the pages of GQ. Now, is it just me, or did it look like those guys were wearing the same damn pair of shoes? All in all, this was one big fat FAIL.

 

Those shoes were FUGLY! They beat up some old lady and took her sunday church shoes. Im figuring she had to be at least 90 years old!

 

Would have been better if the shoes weren't too small for him.

 

I caught that as well. It seemed all the guys wore the same pair of shoes.

 

Just awful!

[Dr. Shoe]

Had that been done properly (ie shoes that looked better and actually fit) I think it might have been kinda cool!

[Logjam]

I think that the dealer may have intended the whole business as a light-hearted spoof of other bike photography.

 

(From the perspective of a motorcyclist, albeit not Ducati.)

 

Regards, Logjam

[Rockpup]

I think that the dealer may have intended the whole business as a light-hearted spoof of other bike photography.

 

(From the perspective of a motorcyclist, albeit not Ducati.)

 

Regards, Logjam

Exactly, I saw this campaign as a bit of a joke. They were not trying to be real about it.

[Curt]

Shafted was right! Very masculine men can't pull this off. Maybe I'll post a pic of me draped over a bike. My legs and ass are just as hot as hers!

[Gudulitooo]

Had that been done properly (ie shoes that looked better and actually fit) I think it might have been kinda cool!

 

I think that the dealer may have intended the whole business as a light-hearted spoof of other bike photography.

 

If you look at what Sarenza (shoe dealer) did with Marie Claire (french women magazine) for womens day this year, you both have your answer. (google marie claire 8 mars).

This time the shoes were fitting, and the guys rocked them nicely.

 

Yet the whole thing is flawned (I am only bringing in what the commenters said) because 1) the campaign largely exists for the sake of marketing shoes and 2) there is no actual, solid, "physical" relationship between garments and gender.

 

Though the campaign may weaken the reactions against guys in heels (as a result of people getting more acustomed to see this), it also emphasizes the fact that this is out of the real world, as the guys only are putting the shoes on for a theme related campaign.

Which does not apply to the last pictures Kneehighs posted, on which one could see male celebrities wearing heels, while attending non shoe specific events.

[Trolldeg]

 The men were, for the most part, unappealing, hardly models from the pages of GQ.

 

Didn't you read the text? "the men who work in the dealership turned the camera on themselves."

The photo layout could have worked very well if they weren't trying to emulate feminine poses.

 

How do you define a "feminine" pose?

I think that the dealer may have intended the whole business as a light-hearted spoof of other bike photography.

 

 

EXACTLY. I think it's an excellent satire of the whole concept of women being used as decorative objects together with vehicles such as motorcycles or cars, wich is incredibly stupid and sexist.

[kneehighs]

Perfect satire on socially constructed stereotypes of the photographic type.

[Pumped]

Shafted was right! Very masculine men can't pull this off. Maybe I'll post a pic of me draped over a bike. My legs and ass are just as hot as hers!

 

I don't know about that! I saw some pics a while back, huge guy, muscles on muscles, beard and moustashe nicely trimed, wearing thigh high boots with a high heel. Wearing nothing but a thong covering the privates. It made me think twice about my hetrosexuality! The guy was HOT!

 

It just takes the right guy!

[RonC]

C'mon guys...it was supposed to be light hearted.  They weren't going for a "look, men can wear high heels too" viewpoint.  Just a spoof - give some credit to the guys putting on the heels.  Many guys would have been too macho to even think about risking all of their masculinity to do that...lol.  

[SleekHeels]

They certainly weren't trying to promote guys in heels, but fair play to the guys for doing it, just as RonC says.

The article talks about how "absurd" those poses are, suggesting that the photos are showing that it's just as absurd for women to be posing like that. However I really don't think the photoshoot had such a feminist agenda in mind.

 

Personally I don't agree with women being reduced to nothing more than sex objects, but at the same time it'd be an over-reaction to make all the girls get crew-cuts and wear baggy race overalls. If there were no men in the world maybe that sort of marketing would disappear, but if there were no men in the world maybe some women would still enjoy wearing high heels and a pretty dress simply because it's fun to dress up.

 

I think the flip-side is apparent in a recent quote from an interview with Natalie Portman about female roles in movies:

"The fallacy in Hollywood is that if you’re making a 'feminist' story, the woman kicks ass and wins," Portman said. "That’s not feminist, that’s macho. A movie about a weak, vulnerable woman can be feminist if it shows a real person that we can empathize with."

 

http://www.policymic.com/articles/66469/enough-with-the-strong-female-characters-already

 

It's funny how these female macho characters aren't seen as "satire" like the guys on the bikes are. I think the male macho movie characters are just as absurd. I agree with Portman's sentiment, but I disagree that women should be portrayed and defined as "weak" and "vulnerable" - women are strong, we just need to redefine our notion of strength to encompass that. Maybe that's what I'm expressing as a guy wearing heels.