So something has been bothering me for the last two weeks and it is this: my shower is the most anti-feminist thing I have ever encountered.
Firstly, my roommate has this Aussie shampoo which reads, *ahem* "It's the reason you've dated a chain of Mr. Wrongs. Now watch as healthy, touchable hair lures many Mr. Rights." Oh, gag.
Secondly, my Suave shampoo reads, "Every mom can ride the bus to beautiful. Instructions: Get kids safely to school and retreat to shower. For best results, use with Suave blah blah blah before your own grown-up playdate. Then apply conditioner. Leave in for three minutes...more blah blah...Use the time to plan an outfit that does not involve an elastic waistband. And while you're at it, do something else just for you-like blah blah blah and restock your lingerie drawer fully with the likes of things that drawer has never seen." P.S. I am wearing elastic waistbanded shorts right now, and they are damn comfortable.
Ok, so because my life lacks feminist oriented luster and I actually crave to read the shampoop bottles (which is way lame) I have taken to being utterly disgusted when I take a shower. This is sad because I just bought a new shower head that is pretty damn fancy and I'm not even able to get my money's worth out of it because when I get in there and am reminded of the heterosexualized mainstream product trying to make me into a mom and my roommate into a straight lady I just want the fuck out of that shower. This is not to say that being a mom isn't wonderful or that mom's don't deserve to feel beautiful or that maybe my roomie's Aussie products won't give her the man of her dreams. It's just that I don't understand the appeal. Beauty is on the inside and at the end of the day what makes me feel beautiful is not that my hair looks good, it's that I did a good job at work or that I had a really meaningful conversation with my mom or that I wrote a poem that made me feel like T.S. Eliot. Not that I am anything as good as T.S. Eliot but it's cool to feel like I might be for just a brief second in the same mindset as him. But I'm pretty sure Eliot wouldn't care what kind of shampoo I use or even if he would mind if I had showered that day.
Thoughts?
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3 comments:
Perhaps you could start an alternative line of personal hygiene products?
On the other end, I should say that most of the products that I use don't really say anything like that. They may talk about how nice your hair will be, but they are mostly gender neutral. Maybe if I used something like axe, that would be different...but I don't. I don't even think my deodorant really stereotypes it's users either. I guess it might be because most guys don't really care. But you might try reading a few different bottles in the grocery store.
wow you are right about the showers.. i put myself into the shoes of a feminist for a moment and evaluated the likely advice and promises luring women to their product, and what a crock of "american dream" .. you should counter this with your own line of shower needs.. claiming exactly what the product actually does, rather than being stereotypically suggestive, and guilty of making presumptions about ones self,based on the obvious. maybe even twist the generalities being made in the other direction for fun
what a candid idea, jesse.
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