You Ski Like a Girl!

[skibob]

Apparently a Toyota ad at a ski resort in Australia thinks it's okay to be demeaning to women:

And shame on the people at Kluger as well for not intercepting this before it went up. It makes me think of the sig line of a Pugski member (too lazy to look it up): Yeah, I ski like a girl. Try to keep up.

I think Toyota's penance for this ought to be free season passes for female skiers everywhere. Oh, and kids too. I've had my doors blown off by 10-12 YO ski schoolers more often than I care to remember.

And a shout out to Ski Essential's awesome Friday Chairlift Chat, where I shamelessly stole this.

 

[Monique]

There's a thread about this on SkiDiva, of course. People seem split between "meh" and frustration. I am on the frustration end.

 

[Bill Talbot]

I think you may be over thinking this...
Clearly non skiing advertising types just put up the 'green, blue, black' and filled in the blanks.
Sensitive much

 

[Monique]

I think you may be over thinking this...
Clearly non skiing advertising types just put up the 'green, blue, black' and filled in the blanks.
Sensitive much

After my parents following up my objections to their crap by saying, "You're too sensitive!" - water off a duck's back. Okay, I'm sensitive, and?

 

[skibob]

After my parents following up my objections to their crap by saying, "You're too sensitive!" - water off a duck's back. Okay, I'm sensitive, and?

Nah, can't agree with bill's assessment at all. The fact that they put kids in green and dad in black pretty much shows that the ad types knew that each was progressively harder and thought "gee, mom can't handle what dad can". And in the extraordinarily unlikely event that they just thought those symbols were icons or bullet points with no referential value: the people at the ski resort sure as hell understood it.

BUT, let me give you, Monique, a much more satisfying perspective (I hope). 20+ years ago here is what happens: A woman sees it and complains. A man laughs it off, possibly with a further degrading joke. This probably happens several times with different actors. Meanwhile, the sign stays up. Little boys and little girls see it. Some little girls are cowed and chastened by it. A few are pissed off. Some little boys are encouraged and puffed up by it. A few are pissed off. Whatever happens next happens slowly and randomly.

What happens today: Within hours or even minutes of it being hung, somebody sees it and is mad. Might be a woman, but might be a man too. They take a photo. Post it somewhere prominent online. Viral. Meme. Discussed in little corners, like pugski, all over the world. Sign comes down. Advertiser apologizes. Whatever happens next happens at an extraordinarily faster pace and with much farther reaching implications.

You don't live in a perfect world. Discrimination still exists. It still sucks.But you are looking at the upside of change.

Hope this helps.

 

[Bill Talbot]

Try this then, some kids rip up the mountain, so do some women and maybe a few men too.
There are men just learning to ski, kids sliding for the first time and some girls learning to ski after school.
So what? It's just a freaking add....

 

[crgildart]

Pfft, kids should be black diamond ahead of both mums and dads..

Seriously though, the ad comes across as sexist.. whether you care or not depends on whether you are the target of the ribbing..

 

[Monique]

You don't live in a perfect world. Discrimination still exists. It still sucks.But you are looking at the upside of change.

Absolutely agreed on all counts. And I think we can keep doing better. Would love to live in a world where people could look at that ad and just be puzzled. But we've litigated the "is this really <foo>-ist?" subject on other threads. Shockingly, no one changed his or her mind ;-)

 

[Bill Talbot]

Lighten up Francis...

 

[skibob]

Lighten up Francis...
View attachment 11461

I'll like a Hulka-ism any day.

But its not "just" a freaking ad.

And don't call me francis

 

[Bill Talbot]

It IS just a banner put up to say bring the whole family to our mountain.
Nothing more.

It seems our 'everybody gets a trophy' world has gone insane.

 

[skibob]

It IS just a banner put up to say bring the whole family to our mountain.
Nothing more.

It seems our 'everybody gets a trophy' world has gone insane.

I know I am:

But it DOES say more than "bring the whole family". It says Daddy skis better than Mommy.

 

[Tricia]

I think its poor public relations on their part but I also see why the generalization exists. I mean, I work in a ski shop where the generalization is reality more often than not. Meanwhile I spend a ton of time with people for whom the generalization is far from reality.

If I were to ski at this place and see this sign, I'd probably roll my eyes and wonder who thought it was a good idea, then I'd get on with my ski day and have a great time.

The reality is, we've come a long way when it comes to gender bias, but there is always room for improvement, both in things like this and tolerance.

When was the last time we saw ads like this?

 

[David Chaus]

Actually, I'd be very much interested in a new range that was easier for clean ups. I actually do most of the cooking at home.

Re: the ad. Yes, it's just a banner. However, to the degree that we just accept the sexism inherent in the message and write it off as no big deal, we also send the message that such ads are OK enough so that advertising minds will perpetuate the sexism, whether overtly as in the kitchen appliance ad, or in more subtle ways. This banner indicates the abilities and aspirations of the average female are not equal to the abilities and aspirations of the average male. Are you OK with that? I'm not.

 

[dean_spirito]

I found this ad to be extremely offensive. I only ski double black diamonds and I hate hot chocolate!

 

[SBrown]

What about the children?? Think of the children!!

 

[fatbob]

It's also offensive to the childless, LGTB and the unmarried of both sexes - also orphans.

me I'm kinda in Trish's boat - it's a generalisation that often works. Would I have run an ad like that? Probably not.

 

[KingGrump]

I've been told by @Lady_Salina that I ski like a girl.
I take it as a compliment. You mean it isn't.

 

[skibob]

I've been told by @Lady_Salina that I ski like a girl.
I take it as a compliment. You mean it isn't.

Well, if you can keep up with her, I'd take it as a compliment .

 

[crgildart]

Tricia makes a good point. Women's gear is marketed along the same lines for the most part. They should market skis by ability and weight alone rather than spending more ad dollars promoting "women's" skis as "forgiving" and "easy to turn". Even the high end race skis are segregated women's and men's due to different size, length rules.