Saturday 26 February 2011

Someone Needs A Damn Good Slap For This…

A Rochdale company has withdrawn a punchbag with an image of a woman on it from sale after being slammed by domestic violence campaigners.
An image? You mean, like a target, or something?
Sporteq Design Ltd, of Maldon Street, Deeplish, has withdrawn the product, which encouraged keep fit fans and boxers to pummel the silhouette of a female pole dancer, after coming under fire from women’s groups.
Oh…
Kerry Reddy, Rochdale’s domestic violence inter-agency co-ordinator
Their what..?!?
…said: "I thought the image of a naked woman being used to sell merchandise was history – evidently not.

"I think this is a really confused marketing ploy, with the end results being at least confusing, and at worse sick and offensive. "
Is anyone other than the professionally-offended complaining? We aren’t told.
"We have in the past used the image of a punch bag within the family home to depict the strong message that their home is the least safe place to be."
So it’s OK for you to do it, but woe betide anyone else?
"This image could be seen to be encouraging violence against women, which in itself either intentionally or unintentionally is colluding with the perpetrators of abuse.

"For those of us who work day in, day out, with women who have been abused, this merchandise shows a real lack of understanding of the reality and danger this has on the lives of women and children within this borough.

"This punchbag takes me back to the 70s and is on a par with the inappropriate racist, sexist, homophobic and mother-in-law jokes."
Good god, you’re not kidding! I’m reminded of the 70s too, and not in a good way…
Ben Jamal, of the Domestic Violence Intervention Project
GAH!!
… said: "Men’s violence to women is often underpinned by a belief that they are entitled to be violent.

"A product like this carries with it a message that it is OK for a woman to be the subject of violence.
"Everybody in society has a responsibility to challenge these attitudes."
It’s a picture on a punchbag, you cretin! Does someone need to beat some sense into you?

And encouraging them by giving in to their mad claims is just asking for trouble:
Sporteq Design owner Tony Hussain, said he was shocked by the reaction and was happy to withdraw the bag from sale after realising it had caused offence.
He added: "We originally made them to order for a sports bar. I didn’t realise they had caused a problem. It’s an image of a girl dancing around a pole. It’s not like she’s a target or anything.

"It’s just a gimmick, something for the bachelors out there. We certainly don’t want to promote domestic violence. I never really thought about it, but if it causes problems or offence, then I’m happy to withdraw it from sale."
And now you’re a hostage to fortune for the next time someone decides something you do is offensive.

Well done…

13 comments:

Ian B said...

Feminism is evil. That's all that needs saying.

Angry Exile said...

I am offended that it's so hard to get a punchbag with a picture of a woman on it.

Where's me cheque?

Captain Haddock said...

So replace the picture which is so offensive to women of a certain type ..

And replace it with one of He who had sex with a 9 year old girl ..

That way, we could offend every bugger at once ..

Simple ..

Edwin Greenwood said...

"Kerry Reddy, Rochdale’s domestic violence inter-agency co-ordinator..."

I always find these job titles immensely confusing. Does that mean she arranges bouts of domestic violence between departments? As in, the Head of Parking Fines goes round to the house of the Chief Executive of Lamp Posts and knocks ten bells out of the latter's wife.

Richard said...

I'd be pretty uncomfortable seeing a punchbag with a woman's image on it, to be honest.

Not 'offended', wouldn't ban it, etc., but I don't like it.

Anonymous said...

Apparently they're bringing out a new range.

We don't know the full details, but at this stage they're just codenamed "Harriet", "Polly" and "Yasmin".

Early reservation advised.

Anonymous said...

So, where's the outrage over this?..http://thepqnation.com/livingwicked/2010/10/shout-it-from-the-rooftops/

Edwin Greenwood said...

Oh, I don't know, Richard. It's not a representative image of a woman that can be realistically imagined as or readily fantasized into a target. It's a stylized image intended as a logo. It carries about as much representative resonance as Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup can. As the manufacturer says,

"We originally made them to order for a sports bar."

Whether said sports bar offered pole dancing I dunno, but presumably it was part of the ladz image they wished to project.

Anonymous said...

I have a puchbag, it's made by Lonsdale, it has a silhouette of a lion on it, I am yet to feel more incline to assault a lion after using it.

Mr Ecks said...

Go to Angry Harry's website and read about the nice man-shaped kitchen knife block that causes feminists to squeal with laughter when they put the carving knife back into the figures groin.

Gibby Haynes said...

'This punchbag takes me back to the 70s...'

Wowee zowee, a punchbag capable of time travel. May I borrow it? I need to go back and correct some...mistakes.

dr cromarty said...

Could they not put a picture of a dwarf on it? That would be good. Or a clown. I've never liked clowns.

BTW does a domestic violence inter-agency co-ordinator co-ordinate domestic violence?

JuliaM said...

"Feminism is evil. That's all that needs saying."

I'm not sure this woman is a feminist in the true sense of the word. Merely someone with a cozy niche job who wants to hang on to it.

"That way, we could offend every bugger at once .."

:D

"I always find these job titles immensely confusing. Does that mean she arranges bouts of domestic violence between departments?"

LOL!

"So, where's the outrage over this?"

That's just another example of the double-standard. If anyone made adverts for cookery or washing items continually portraying woman as bungling idiots who don't know how things work there'd be hell to pay.

But men are fair game...

And then there's Mr Ecks' example.

"I have a puchbag, it's made by Lonsdale, it has a silhouette of a lion on it, I am yet to feel more incline to assault a lion after using it."

Don't give the RSPCA any ideas...

"I need to go back and correct some...mistakes."

Pack sandwiches. You'll be gone awhile..