2008 Woodie Awards
Girls: Go Wild Somewhere Else
Taylor Alfonso
Issue date: 9/12/07 Section: Opinion
The class laughed when my UC Irvine Art History professor said she wrote a letter to Comedy Central explaining that she would boycott the station unless they stopped playing "Girls Gone Wild" commercials. Her reasoning: it was sexist of the station to assume that only men watch "The Colbert Report" or "South Park" and play infomercials exploiting drunk and sometimes underage girls to their supposed overwhelmingly male audience.
Of course Comedy Central does not care if one feminist Art History professor boycotts its station. But it is sexist to assume that the only demographic that watches Comedy Central and Spike past 11 p.m. is
male. You don't have to be a 20- or 30-something-year-old guy to find "Reno 911" or John Stewart funny. And you shouldn't have to consistently change the channel or sit through commercials of young girls making out with their friends and taking off their shirts and skirts.
But "Girls Gone Wild" does not limit its advertisements to "guy" networks like FX, Comedy Central, Bravo, and Spike. To continue with stereotypes, "Girls Gone Wild" commercials have even entered the realm of women: TBS. With programs like "Sex and the City," "Friends," and "My Boys," TBS is as close to "chick TV" as Lifetime or Oxygen. If anything, TBS is a neutral station with programs like "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Family Guy," and "Seinfeld." But even without the "Girls Gone Wild" target audience, at midnight still comes the topless girls making out in the shower.
It's true that not all women, and even not all feminists, find "Girls Gone Wild" offensive. But whether or not you have found the commercials offensive, there remains plenty of valid and logical reasons why
the "Girls Gone Wild" business, much less advertisements, should be called into question.
According to the Los Angeles Times article, "Joe Francis: Baby, Give Me a Kiss," by Claire Hoffman, "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis not only capitalizes on very drunk and attention-hungry young women, but has been accused of harassing women, forcing sex on an 18 year old, and drugging and intoxicating women in hopes they will either have sex with him or strip for his videos. The article also cited instances where he was accused of child abuse and sexual exploitation.
Of course Comedy Central does not care if one feminist Art History professor boycotts its station. But it is sexist to assume that the only demographic that watches Comedy Central and Spike past 11 p.m. is
male. You don't have to be a 20- or 30-something-year-old guy to find "Reno 911" or John Stewart funny. And you shouldn't have to consistently change the channel or sit through commercials of young girls making out with their friends and taking off their shirts and skirts.
But "Girls Gone Wild" does not limit its advertisements to "guy" networks like FX, Comedy Central, Bravo, and Spike. To continue with stereotypes, "Girls Gone Wild" commercials have even entered the realm of women: TBS. With programs like "Sex and the City," "Friends," and "My Boys," TBS is as close to "chick TV" as Lifetime or Oxygen. If anything, TBS is a neutral station with programs like "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Family Guy," and "Seinfeld." But even without the "Girls Gone Wild" target audience, at midnight still comes the topless girls making out in the shower.
It's true that not all women, and even not all feminists, find "Girls Gone Wild" offensive. But whether or not you have found the commercials offensive, there remains plenty of valid and logical reasons why
the "Girls Gone Wild" business, much less advertisements, should be called into question.
According to the Los Angeles Times article, "Joe Francis: Baby, Give Me a Kiss," by Claire Hoffman, "Girls Gone Wild" founder Joe Francis not only capitalizes on very drunk and attention-hungry young women, but has been accused of harassing women, forcing sex on an 18 year old, and drugging and intoxicating women in hopes they will either have sex with him or strip for his videos. The article also cited instances where he was accused of child abuse and sexual exploitation.
Viewing Comments 1 - 6 of 11
Snusket
posted 9/16/07 @ 5:55 AM PST
Everyone knows that women have much less humor than men. women do not always understand irony for example. which is why they can safely assume that more men watch the comedy shows. (Continued…)
jesse
posted 9/24/07 @ 1:23 PM PST
very nice taylor..stand up for what you believe in.
lolwut
posted 10/22/07 @ 10:38 PM PST
Sounds like someone lives with mom.
wiggles
posted 10/22/07 @ 10:52 PM PST
"forcing sex on an 18 year old"
why waste so many syllables? just say rape.
Scott
posted 10/23/07 @ 10:19 AM PST
If people do not agree with the commercials then turn the channel. If you are afraid of your 15 year old brother seeing it maybe your 47 year old mother should monitor what he watches. (Continued…)
Dan
posted 12/19/07 @ 1:03 PM PST
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN NICE if the professor and/or author would have considered the idea that not everyone is straight.
Instead, in the rush to complain about the "sexism," the professor seemingly forgot to say something about how the videos are also pretty blatantly racist, sizest, heterocentric (if not homophobic), ableist (see any positive representation of women with disabilities in those ads?), etc. (Continued…)
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