Last night, I recounted on the phone a story I had once heard about a Nike commercial. So, while this post may seem slightly outdated as the story is from the 2001 Olympics, unfortunately, I think many of the issues are still applicable. In short, during the 2001 Olympics, Nike RAN a commercial (pun intended...even if I am the only person that ever laughs at that joke) that featured a female athlete being chased by a man wearing a hockey mask and holding a chainsaw. She is able to outrun her attacker in part because of...(can you guess?...need another second....no, I am sure you already have it)...HER NIKE SHOES!!!!
I don't know why we spend time on this blog discussing violence against women when we could all just go out and buy some Nike shoes to solve our problems...eek, even though that was sarcastic, I still feel uncomfortable writing it.
Now, at first glance, it might not seem like a big deal. Nike is just parodying a serious situation to garner attention for its shoes. My problem, of course, is that it seems as though women's issues are always the issues that are up for parody, the easy joke. History seems to have a knack for using humor against the societally oppressed. Go back in time and look at comic strips or other public mediums of humor and it seems that whatever group of people lacks equality in society also gets the honor of being the butt of the joke or the one whose situation or worth is just not taken seriously. When's the last time you saw a gay joke on television or heard one on the radio? Gay jokes seem to be very en vogue right now and, dare I say it, it may somehow be connected with gays being on the bottom of that socially constructed hierarchy of groups that many use to make themselves feel better about life.
So, what I am trying to say is that sometimes its the subtle jabs that give the biggest insights into what many in society are blatantly saying.
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