This clothing ad ran in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly with the caption, “A custom-tailored suit is a natural aphrodisiac.” Several readers have complained that the ad portrays women in a negative light, reports a Boston Globe article. In a letter to Mass Lawyers Weekly, the President of the (Massachusetts) Women’s Bar Association objected to the ad, saying that “[a]s lawyers, we are obligated to fight against gender discrimination, in whatever form it may take.” Over at slate.com, Dahlia Lithwick asks:
[C]an someone please explain what it is about this particular ad that “demeans women” and undermines our success in the workplace? Can someone help me understand why the president of the Women’s Bar Association wrote in to the publication in question, calling this ad a form of “gender discrimination”? Am I supposed to be outraged about the fact that this nearly naked woman is using her near nakedness to seduce a colleague (a trick that goes back to the first fig leaf, I believe) or that a clothing company is using the promise of uncontrollable, spontaneous workplace sex to seduce clients (a trick that goes back to the first Fig Leaf Emporium)?
Lithwick’s full Slate article is available here. Perhaps the Women’s Bar Association shouldn’t throw stones too quickly or too hard. Its website features a slideshow of photos — many captioned “scent-sational women attorneys” — from a recent membership event held at a store that sells “natural perfume and cologne.” Seems to me that the Women’s Bar Association relies on stereotypes, too.
-Posted by Bridget Crawford
