An explicit lingerie advertisement carrying the slogan "remember me" and showing a handsome young man sniffing a pair of red culotte (underpants), has been banned by the Paris Metro -- even before it went on display across the French capital's underground rail network.
The ad, already displayed on thousands of billboards throughout France, had incensed many women as pornography. The feminist writer Florence Montreynaud, whose lobby group "La Meute" has been campaigned against sexist ads -- even awarding prizes for the best and the worst -- said it was the first time an ad due to go up in the Paris Metro had been banned
before even hitting the walls.
In a statement, La Meute welcomed the ban and quipped: "While we will continue to call for an anti-sexist law, we see no reason why men should not concern themselves with such items of underwear, for example by washing them and putting them tidily away."
Montreynaud said while her group believed humor was certainly one way to persuade advertisers not to use sexist themes, the ads did represent unacceptable violence against women and said the parade of pictures of long-legged and well-endowed young women publicizing virtually anything from kitchen equipment to cars should be dropped. French television ads are scrutinized by a regulatory watchdog but magazines and newspapers can do much as they please.
La Meute (which translates as a pack of hunting hounds) was launched in 2000, and now has about 4,000 people signed up to its anti-sexist manifesto in 45 countries with particularly enthusiastic support in Belgium, Switzerland, Canada's Quebec province and France.
"Attitudes are changing as women's education improves and there is a growing sense of solidarity," Montreynaud said. "We are also getting support from men, which is an encouraging sign."
But she admits that getting rid of sexist attitudes is a huge task and believes they will not be overturned in her lifetime.
"As a historian, though, I am used to taking a long view." she said.
La Meute activists work a good deal in urban areas where most of their target ads are found and are not afraid of direct action. They daub the ads with graffiti and even go up to people in the street.
Activists reckon that about half the people they speak to give them a sympathetic hearing.
"What we have done is invent a new approach to the problem of dealing with sexism, bringing together linguistics, political action by feminists, and the study of sexuality," said Montreynaud, whose latest book, Appeler une chatte une chatte (an untranslatable play on words) looks at attitudes to sexuality in different countries and civilizations.
"We have not created a new science -- that would be impossible -- but have developed a combined approach that one could call socio-linguistics. We also make annual Femino awards for the best non-sexist ads, and give Macho awards for the worst sexist ones."
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese