Friday, 5 September 2008

The EU: Addressing The Real Problems In Society

MEPs want TV regulators in the EU to set guidelines which would see the end of anything deemed to portray women as sex objects or reinforce gender stereotypes.

This could potentially mean an end to attractive women advertising perfume, housewives in the kitchen or men doing DIY.
And this is worth someone’s time? This is of such earth-shattering importance that our legislators feel a need to implement more rules and regulations?
The new rules come in a report by the EU's women's rights committee.

Swedish MEP Eva-Britt Svensson urged Britain and other members to use existing equality, sexism and discrimination laws to control advertising.

She wants regulatory bodies set up to monitor ads and introduce a "zero-tolerance" policy against "sexist insults or degrading images".
Tell the silly cow to get back in the kitchen and leave governing the country to the men in future! There, that ‘sexist’ enough for you, sweetie?
Ms Svensson said: "Gender stereotyping in advertising straitjackets women, men, girls and boys by restricting individuals to predetermined and artificial roles that are often degrading, humiliating and dumbed down for both sexes."

She added: "Gender stereotyping in advertising is one of several factors that have a big influence in efforts to make society more gender equal. When women and men are portrayed in a stereotypical way the consequence may be that it becomes difficult in other contexts to see women and men's resources and abilities."
Yep, because you watched the nuclear family in the ‘Bisto’ ads, you’re going to grow up with a skewed idea of gender. According to some barking-mad boot-faced Swedish harridan, that is. Yeah, I can see why she’d throw her toys out of the pram at the thought of ‘attractive women advertising perfume’….

And so what’s needed is new bureaucracies and posts for people like her to spout inane crap in the European parliament while the normal people work to pay for it all.
The Advertising Standards Authority however had said there are already checks in place to prevent "discriminatory or harmful" material.

A spokesman said: "Although the ASA supports the overall objectives of the report... the approach suggested is inflexible and impractical."
Quite. We’ve already got laws – we don’t need any more. And we certainly don’t need to implement them to satisfy some Nordic Green MEP who has found a homely woman’s ideal revenge on her prettier sisters…

5 comments:

  1. Posting that link was a bit harsh ... I've just lost my breakfast!

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  2. Sorry!

    But after all, when you saw the phrase 'Nordic Green Swedish MEP', what exactly were you expecting...? :)

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  3. Hmmm... instinct tells me Ms Svenson is quite into DIY.

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  4. So then they'd want to rid our airwaves of those ads where the dad is portrayed as a goof and made the butt of jokes by either the wife or the kids...somehow I don't think so

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  5. Are they posting those weird, insipid Brooke Shields "Routan Boom" VW ads in europe? While I don't support legislation on the issue, I kind of like anything that would wipe those off the air:

    Routan Bust

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