Sexist Satire?

Yesterday, on two separate occasions as I was driving around town, I noticed stickers on the back window of a couple of pickup trucks. These stickers caused me to reflect on a number of things, as they often do. So, I included them below so that I could share those thoughts with you.

IF IT HAS

TITS OR TIRES

YOU'RE GOING TO

HAVE TROUBLE WITH IT

and

Sorry About Your Face

Nice Tits

          My first thought about each of these was wow. Not the kind of wow in which I

would look for someone to share in my delight at this bit of misogynistic satire, but the

kind of wow in which I lost my train of thought for a moment because I couldn't quite

understand what would prompt someone to put a statement like either of these on their

vehicle for all to see.

          The first sticker caused me to wonder whether the owner of the truck was in a relationship with a woman, or perhaps had a daughter. For that matter, did this person have any women in his life whatsoever who he respected, and if so, what did they think about his 'decoration'? More than that, to what kind of socialization was this person exposed that he would think that this advice is worth giving (whether anyone wants it or not)? Sadly, I doubt there was much, if any, reflection on these things when the decal was purchased and applied to the truck's window. More likely than not (and unfortunately in my opinion) the person who bought this sticker probably found a certain amount of humor in this little piece of life philosophy. It probably reflected something he had been told growing up because the men before him were also socialized to believe that women were not people to be respected or treated with dignity. Life lessons for these men include stories where women are just a compilation of parts whose only purpose is to meet a man's sexual desires and who couldn't possibly offer anything else of value. These are lessons, sadly, that if this person does have children, be they male or female, he will undoubtedly pass along to them as well whether he intends to or not. See, lessons like this don't often occur as a result of good ol' dad sitting little Johnny of Jill on his knee and sharing his version of life's wisdom. These are the lessons, like most that kids learn, from observing what good ol' dad does...like affixing a sexist sticker to his truck. And what message does the sticker send? Well, take a look at the message for what it is.

"If it has tits or tires, you're going to have troubles with it"

1. What impact do you think there is on referring to a woman, or any person for that matter, as "it"? Which, by the way, this short, demeaning quip manages to do twice.

2. Notice the comparison between a woman and a vehicle? Another way in which women are dehumanized and therefore devalued.

3. What's the moral of the message? "Women are nothing but trouble" seems likely.

          I had a slightly different reaction to the second sticker. To me, the second sticker reeks of that type of adolescent immaturity to which many males fall victim to as they strive to figure out how to deal with sex and sexuality. I still wondered what would prompt a person to put this kind of statement on their vehicle. I still believe that the owner of the vehicle probably found more humor in the statement than did I (especially considering my teenage daughter was in the vehicle with me as we pulled up to the rear of this truck at the red light).

          That being said, the second sticker is sending the same basic message as the first, just not in such explicit terms. The statement:

"Sorry about your face, Nice tits"

1. Tells women that men don't care about how they really look as long as they have nice breasts and that the true measure of their beauty rests in their bras.

2. Tells other men that it's ok to devalue women as people and treat them without dignity or respect because their purpose is to serve as sexual objects for men. 

For those who may feel compelled to remind me that the intent of these stickers are jokes, I would like to offer the following:

 How do you suppose your mother, daughter, wife, girlfriend, aunt, grandmother, or other woman who is a part of your life would feel being the receiving end of that joke? How do you explain to these women that you're not really disrespecting them (and every other woman) because you don't really mean it? 

Do you think deep down that they really believe it?

Deep down do you really care about them?