Pinup Girls of Color

I had never really thought about how overwhelming white pinup girls typically are.  It makes sense given the era and context in which they are made.  But it is good to see that some people out there are addressing the imbalance, including Noir-A-Go Go which produces black pinup gal themed items. Although they could use a better range of art work and a lighter touch with fonts.

For more vintage material Ayanna Pedersen has a great Pinterest board showing that the pinup aestheitc was not as white-washed as the published illustrations make it seem--and also a blog "That Black Pinup Girl".

See:

• The lost history of black pin-up girls (NSFW)
• The Black Pinup Afro Antics Black Pinup Models and Vintage Sleaze from the Racist Past

Handbags are Shoes?

k4dordy / Foter.com / CC BY

How is it that on retail websites like Amazon handbags are a sub-category of shoes?  Do most women really know that you have to click on "shoes" to even find bags?  Really? Is it time I surrendered my girl card? Because is so, why am I shopping for handbags in the first place?

Mark Grist / I Want a Girl Who Reads

Modern Librarian Pinups

No, really.

Although I think most of the photos are actually a bit: meh

Links:
Rhode Island's tattooed librarian calendar defies stereotypes
Librarian Tattoo Calendar Challenges Stereotypes (PHOTOS)

I suggest we give Wartune what they are asking for:

No female or pro-female customers.

Shirtless Mark Twain

Because: why not?

Milk Pinups

Link

He's not....

recubejim / Foter / CC BY-SA

Have you ever really looked at the Battleship game box?

A game for all ages, but not both sexes.  

Those dishes aren't going to do themselves.

Seriously?

This title from the Express only makes sense if you assume men want-slash-deserve jobs more than women. Which is fucking ridiculous.

Their title:
A quarter of men jobless as more women go to work

My title for the same story:
One third of women jobless.

Tampon disposal

ecastro / Foter / CC BY

On Bustle "Elizabeth" asks a question about tampons that come with their own resealable disposal bag:

"Does this seem complicated to anyone else? Who wants to hang on to a plastic wrapper for hours just so they can wrap a tampon back up in it? What's wrong with toilet paper — too bourgeois?"

To which my answer is:
1) You use the wrapper on the one you just took out to put the new one in, and
2) Fine if you want to carry a soggy pink mass of paper out into the public area of the restroom (which in my office is the only place with a rubbish bin).

Wow

This advertising is tasteless on so many simultaneous levels; I just....

Death and the Emmys

Is it really necessary for the Emmys to be so overwhelmingly about dead people?  The death of peopke is said, but as soon as you make death and musical dance numbers your two main features, the event becomes awkwards.

Because, transitions.  They were terrible.  Hey, that was a sad eulogy, now some tap dancing! Ha ha, um....

Because, inequality.  Some people don't get mentioned.  Some do but no solo eulogy.  Even with the pictures some get clapped more than others.  It's like an audible vote for who basically wasted their life. Then the interview with family members who are awkwardly offended for their loved one not getting a big enough Emmy send off.

mugley / Foter / CC BY-SA

Maybe we should just hand out the awards, tell a few jokes, and be done with it?

A beer ad that is pro-gay

Kudos to Miller Lite (ad shown in Australia).

Oh celebrity mags, you so original

They should still make this:

Love Pillow Butterflies

"Love Pillows" are basically body pillows with covers showing sexually posed manga/anime characters.  Usually women posed in explicit ways.

As per Amazon rules the vendors have to cover their nipples and genitals.  but I find it hilarious that they chose to do so with little blue butterflies.

It makes it look like these unfortunate women are being molested by gangs of pervert butterflies.

NSFW ADULT links 

• Bestfyou® Decorative Body Pillow 
• Bestfyou® Decorative Body Pillow Anime To Love Ru
• Bestfyou® Decorative Body Pillow Anime One Piece

Vintage Bra Ad

Text: I dreamed I was a knockout in my maidenform bra.

Coke Zero Man-vertising

I like Coke zero, but the brand has started going down the man-vertising road.  Which really pisses me off.

Aerosoles Review

My review: I found these shoes ran very small.  The memory foam insole was kind of crunchy and fell apart. Also I only received one, and not a pair. One day I came home from work and found most of it had vanished.  That night the dog was very flatulent.  I have no idea why.

P.S.: as of July 15th Amazon no longer allows customers to upload images of products.  Good forbid one of us try and load a picture that is actually of a shoe.

American Pillows

Ain't Xenophobia Cute....

Shelly finished driving in the stake. "That'll stop those Scandinavian bastards moving in and lowering our property values," he said.

"I think I see one coming now," replied Hoppy.  "I'll go get my baseball bat."

How can you spot a female construction worker?

According to BestLock, a maker of construction sets, there are two ways.

1) Everything they build is pink

2) They come to work in a pretty tank top, full make-up, and no hard hat.

Wanting it, badly

Today the front page of the New Zealand news site Stuff tastelessly juxtaposes a tale of a model who almost died from an eating disorder, with a list of 5 reasons you're not losing weight.  The last of which is "you don't want it badly enough".

I know it's a strange place to draw the line...

While I think it is perfectly fine to dress up like the TARDIS, dressing up like the TARDIS control panel is just weird.

The Latest Way AT&T Pissed Me Off

I am an AT&T customer purely because they were the only available carrier when I got my iPhone and I have been too lazy to change.  But I may get around to it sooner rather than later.

It is annoying enough that I can get no reliable signal to my phone anywhere inside my own apartment.  A problem none of my visitors who use other carrier seem to have. This is kind of a high priority for me when it comes to phone carrier satisfaction.

But AT&T also has this smarmy habit of sending mail that is designed to look like the address was hand-written, to fool you into thinking it is real mail.  And when you open it up is is emblazoned with overly familiar greetings like "HI!" and invitation to chat with someone called David.

Here is what I want:

Dear AT&T

Hi!

I don't want to buy any other services from you and I do not want to chat with David about high speed internet or cable. 

I do want to be able to send and receive phone calls from inside my own residence.

Do you think may be you could stop sending me full-color deceptively package junk mail and get onto that?

Sincerely

Emily

The Case for Manual Ad Checking

I am all for advertisements including as many scantily clad figures as the advertiser may desire.  But I think a case could be made for manually checking where these ads appear, or at least ensuring they don't appear on pages with words like "rape" on them.

This would avoid a page that opens with "Sydney man studied how to be serial rapist"...

...would not be emblazoned with a tower advertisement featuring a scantily-clad female figure and the words "your body is my party, let's get started".

Nike's New Low

Successful people are allowed to fuck around, apparently. It may even be true to some extent, but I don't see it as an aspirational statement that enhances Nike's brand.

Hmm

I like a romance hero with unconventional looks.  But was it really necessary to use a pose where he is wiping his nose with her ice cream cone?

Glade

Bzzagent got me a free sample of this limited edition Glade fragrance spray.  The idea is that it looks a good deal more stylish than your average aerosol, with the swooshy-looking reusable cover. You spray it by squeezing instead of pressing down, FWIW.

It was perhaps a little too stylish for me so I punked it up a bit....

The smell is a nice, sort of generic sweet flower--like a lily maybe.  Certainly better than the smell of my dogs with all the rain we've been having.

Cloche

A cloche or bell jar is basically a way to protect a delicate item, or can be used as a terrarium.

What I don't understand is why it is necessary to point out how non-gender-specific this thing is?