Sexual Relationships 
Sexual Health 
If you haven't heard about this story, Bloomingdale's recently published an ad that jokes about spiking a friend's drink. Here is the ad in question:
The first question that comes to mind is: how did this even get published?
Seriously, in our hyper-PC society, corporations are walking on eggshells with the messages they promote in their marketing campaigns. How could this have possibly gone to print?
Because it reflects how we honestly talk about rape in our daily lives.
Rape is a subject that we joke about in private, but speak seriously about in public.
I don't think the literal act of rape is funny at all, especially since I'm a girl and more likely to fall victim to it. However, I'd by lying if I said I don't make jokes about rape on a regular basis.
Rape is my go-to analogy for my amazing and terrible performances on exams in school. Either I raped the test or the test raped me. Throughout college I've made and heard comments like this repeatedly, without ever seeing a negative reaction.
Now, of course, I wouldn't ever make a joke like this in front of someone that was an actual victim of rape, because that would be terrible. However, that's exactly what makes us so hypocritical about this subject.
This ad was reviewed by an entire team of men and women within their ogranization, and probably at an agency they worked with, before getting approved. Why didn't anyone speak up and stop it?
It got approved because they thought it was a joke and it didn't stand out as odd to make a joke that subtly refers to date-rape -- because we joke about it all the time!
While I don't think it was a good idea for Bloomingdale's to publish this ad, I can't criticize them for something I'm guilty of myself. It's easy to condemn a corporation for saying something offensive, but it's hypocritical to do so when it reflects our own behavior.
That's my take. What do you think? As a society, do we really endorse rape culture, have we become so PC that we can't make a joke, or are we all just a bunch of hypocrits?
What Girls & Guys Said
0 2I don't get the humor they were trying to go for. That's pretty bad.
There's no such thing as widespread rape culture.