Stop using my body to sell things. When you're saying nice things about my lovely ass, or when you're telling me it's too big, shaped funny, doesn't look good in these jeans, whatever, you're still using my body as an object to pump up your bottom line.
Between the model's skin and hair color and the fact that the ad is about her ass, Nike clearly means for us to assume it's a Latina ass they're objectifying. Great, because women of color don't have enough media attention focused on their bodies? (My mind is a puzzling place, but this called to mind Queen Emily's post from last year about visibility and invisibility, particularly this quote: "...to whom is one visible, and why? Under what circumstances, and in what light?") Hyperfocused approving attention is not an antidote for hyperfocused disapproving attention. The point is that we pay attention to the bodies of women of color in a way that is overly sexualized, fetishizing, and creepy.
To add more race fail, the model is wearing a cutoff tank top and too-small spandex shorts. If you're so proud of her ass, why is she wearing shorts a few sizes too small? Do you not make them bigger? The cutoff tank top looks like something out of a sexy version of West Side Story, complete with people (especially women) of color wearing clothes that are too-tight, "urban," and torn. Her hands are wrapped like she's boxing or overly prepared for a streetfight. (In productions of West Side Story, including the 1961 movie, the white "jets" wear light, cool colors and are prim and proper with tucked-in shirts and clean sneakers. The Puerto Rican "sharks" wear warm colors, torn clothes, black jeans, and boots.)
She's standing on her toes. Her shoes are flat sneakers, made for running and jumping and doing athletic things, and she is standing on her toes, as if she's in high heels. What are high heels for? Oh, to make our calves and asses look better. (Or to make us totter like we need assistance crossing the street. I love my high heels, but that doesn't negate the sexism of their cultural significance.)
The post's author opines that this ad is "exactly the type of message that women need to hear and see." Oh, so the author is a woman, perhaps a woman of color as the model appears to be, who has struggled with body image issues and is relieved to see a positive, butt-approving ad, right? No. The author appears to be a moderately sized trim white dude, and his blog is about fitness and being a personal trainer. Please, sir, tell me more about what I need to hear and see. (To be fair, he says it's what he "thought" when he first saw the ad, and he didn't state it as objective fact. Fine, whatever, he can have half a point back.)
At the end of the post, the author writes, "I’m so sick and tired of seeing models with no ass, no muscle, and no shape being touted as the ideal 'look' for women to aspire for. Why not just get a 2×4 and put a dress on it?" Aside from the fact that the woman in the ad still has a figure that is unattainable for the vast majority of women, why do we have to hate on skinny women? Eating disorders and unhealthy body images are not just the business of fat women. Some of the smartest body image talk I've heard came from a friend who battled an eating disorder for a good part of her life. She told a story about grabbing available food for lunch on her way out of the house to go to her job at a feminist health clinic one day. As she sat down to eat the cheesesticks and tofurky that were the easiest thing to bring with her and eat on a short lunch break, a coworker of hers began bemoaning how she could never eat so little and not be hungry, and she wishes she was as skinny as my friend. That is not a compliment; that is not helpful. It took years for my friend to gain weight, and even more years to be ok with the fact that she did. And clothes shopping is still a trigger, and cooking is a trigger, and eating in front of other people is a trigger. Let's quit with the question of who has it worse. Any "perfect" size is still going to be oppressive for every woman who isn't that size (and is likely oppressive for that woman as well).
I know, I know, it's a Nike ad. It shouldn't be touted as the new perfect ad campaign, but what more do I expect for products made in sweatshops that exploit workers (who are often women and/or people of color)? How about this? "these were made in a cooperatively owned factory" or "we pay a living wage, support a unionized workforce, and would like for you to buy our products, thanks." Maybe "these shorts will keep you from chafing" or "these shoes provide great arch support." That might convince me to buy an overpriced pair of shorts or shoes. But "hey, look! New standard of beauty, complete with new and improved racism and sexism"? No, that's not going to sell me anything.
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