Last week I had a package delivered to my desk containing a lightbulb suggesting I may prefer to have sex with it on because it is dimmer than the average bulb.
It was not a piece of fanmail, but a PR push that began with “research” about how many women felt self conscious about their body during sex.
“We hope this helps you start seeing yourself in a new light – to love how you look and love how you feel,” it said.
The product it was promoting? Weight loss. Specifically, Weight Watchers.
First the weight loss industry came for our enjoyment of the beach intoning “bikini body” from the last day of winter onwards, and now they are coming for the bedroom.
I was inclined to tweet a photo and forget about it. But a week later I am still getting furious responses from women, a visceral reaction which shows this is still something women want to talk about … despite it being something they are sick of talking about.
Bridie Jabour (@bkjabour)
How many people thought this was an okay idea before it arrived on my desk as a piece of PR pic.twitter.com/7tH37yyqsS
October 14, 2016
This wasn’t just one of the numerous petty insults we are used to every day but something that was thought out for months, strategised, okayed by multiple people.
What is there to be said about weight loss campaigns that hasn’t already been said? Reams have already been written. We know insecurities are exploited for financial gain.
We know there is a relentless and unrealistic pressure put on women to look a certain way from when they were girls.
We know that more often than not, the product being sold just doesn’t work. Women either do not lose weight, or a much smaller number lose the weight and then discover all of their problems are not solved by being thin.
And yet, it is 2016 and I am still receiving a lightbulb in the mail suggesting I might prefer to have sex with the lights off for fear that my partner might, shockingly, see my body.
It’s almost embarrassing to have to write such an obvious point – overweight people enjoy sex, it is not just the domain of the thin. But this campaign isn’t just saying overweight people may not be inclined to show their bodies, it’s also saying any woman could, and perhaps should, be self-conscious taking her clothes off.
No matter your size you are susceptible to this campaign, whether you think you should lose 10kg, 30kg, or 2.5kg there is something in here for everyone. It’s not just about being overweight, it’s about every woman who has ever wished something about their body was different. Which is pretty much all women.
It’s so boring.
This is the thin edge of the Donald Trump wedge, the insidious everyday misogynistic messaging we are telegraphed about how we should look, how it matters. It is the other end of the sexism spectrum to Trump who trumpets it, says bluntly: “She is a fat piglet.”
If there is any silver lining, it is that more and more women are not putting up with this any more. Trump is actually losing votes over his comments and treatment of women. Weight Watchers was forced to respond to the backlash – it hasn’t pulled the campaign but Weight Watchers’ senior marketing manager, Rebecca Melville, conceded it could cause offence.
“We launched in stages and that has fuelled the conversation without context,” she told Mumbrella.
What context do we need? We already know the context: the company commissions the research that says we have a problem with our bodies during sex and, surprise, that company has the product to solve our problem.
It feels like we are stuck in this infinite loop, doomed to keep trying to tell the world our bodies are fine, we are fine.
We are tired. Tired of the commentary on how desirable we are, tired of being warned about summer bodies, tired of being told hair removal and makeup is a statement no matter what our decision on it. We’re tired of all that because there are so many more interesting things we could be talking and thinking about. We have better things to do.
Having sex with the lights off? It"s the thin edge of the Donald Trump wedge | Bridie Jabour
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