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“Give pleasure to your boss!!!”
These days, a new commercial about a new coffee brand appeared on TV. I presume you’ve already seen it. A secretary slips when bringing coffee to her boss, slides down his desk on her stomach to stop in front of him with the coffee in her hand? I am not sure how you react to it, but after I had seen it for the first time I was left with my mouth open. It was a mixed feeling of bewilderment, sickness, disbelief…how could somebody think of something like that? How could nobody react to this commercial?
The advertising agencies mainly use women, that is, their physical appearance to increase the sales of their clients’ products. Deliberately or not, they depict the female stereotype roles in the society. Well, nothing is more stereotype than this commercial! What are the messages this commercial sends? Women are hardly able to be secretaries, they can’t even bring the coffee as they should in the conference room (in the commercial she falls on her way to the conference room). Therefore, my ladies, do not raise your voices and do not try to be high-fliers!!! Give just one glance to the conference table in the commercial. There are only men sitting there. Naturally, isn’t it? And what does it mean to see the secretary lying on the table? Dear God, isn’t that too much!?
It seems not. The top of it all is the verbal part of the commercial, its explicit message: “Give pleasure to your boss!” How many meanings does it have? Two, three, as many as you want to. It’s hideous! We haven’t seen such degradation of the female role in the workplace in the media for a long time.
It is not the first time that women accept the roles that are imposed to them without thinking. Not only this ‘secretary”, but many other beauties have been exploited to point to the women as objects. However, neither those who act in the commercials nor those who watch them, are aware of the damage they cause: they strengthen the stereotypes about women; they will make our children have the same expectations in the future; or that nothing would change unless somebody asks for it.
We do not expect the country to solve this problem, too, don’t we? Why do we declare ourselves to be civil activists if we expect for the country to solve such problems? I expected at least the organizations that work in the field of women rights and dignity to react to this treatment, but nothing. It is devastating how we leave things take their course as if they don’t concern us, but somebody else far away from us.
These days, when we mark 8 March, it is good to remind ourselves what Clara Catkin and Rosa Luxemburg fought for. The biggest obstacle for the men-women equality has always been the prejudices created over the centuries. Those prejudices that are repeatedly shown on the commercials, and to which we do not react.
Think of that when you get your annual dose of roses. Happy holiday!
Gonce Jakovleska
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