Men on a leash: reverse sexism?

Several years ago a passing trend emerged in advertising; using sexualised images of men. In 2002, Voodoo produced an ad featuring a woman in a mini-skirt "walking" two naked men wearing collars - an image strangely prescient of the prison abuse images which have come out of Iraq. Is there such thing as reverse sexism? Who cares, as long as it creates a controversy that generates sales.

Voodoo's "men-on-leash" ad generated about 60 complaints to the Advertising Standards Bureau. All were dismissed. The ABS apparently appreciated the humour, reasoning: "This ad clearly intends to depict a tongue-in-cheek view of the well accepted right of a woman to be in control of her choices and her 'accessories'."

Censors in England were not so open minded. A very similar ad showed Jerry Hall holding men on a leash with the tagline: "Twelve get trained, only one gets kept". The ad was banned by London Underground Rail on grounds that it "breaches our advertising code relating to the depiction of men, women and children as sexual objects." A series of bans also saw the ad removed from television.

The fact that this kind of ad was only a passing fad indicates that they do not resonate with women and are not effective advertising. In fact, they probably attract more of a response from men. Is this kind of image offensive and exploitative? Clearly advertisers could not get away with using women in the same way. An image of a man walking naked women on a leash would certainly create an outcry. However, considering the rarity of this kind of image in mainstream advertising, they can be seen as redressing the imbalance to some extent.

There is never a shortage of advertising using exploitative images of women. Putting the boot on the other foot certainly makes commuting a great deal more interesting.

Palin: a pit bull in a bikini

Of course this photo of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin has been digitally altered, but it does outline what she stands for to at least some extent. Fake bikini pics of Sarah seem to be all the rage at the moment. Her popularity as an object of desire has been compared to that of ex British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Many of 'the iron maiden's' political colleagues expressed that they thought Maggie was a nice piece of crumpet. Her one-time junior minister, the late philanderer and diarist Alan Clark, was an admirer of Thatcher's "pretty ankles", Francois Mitterand described Thatcher as having "the eyes of Caligula and the voice of Marilyn Monroe" and Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi called her "una bella gnoccha"; roughly translated, it means "a nice piece of pussy". Does the attraction to strong and powerful women indicate a desire to be dominated in otherwise ultra conservative men? The intricacies of the conservative psyche are probably too distasteful to dwell on in any depth, but Sarah Palin has certainly made a splash and is rapidly attaining 'sex symbol' status.

By choosing Palin as a running mate, John McCain has truly nailed his colours to the mast. Palin is pro guns, pro death penalty and 'pro life'. Despite his calls for change, no one can now be in any doubt as to what kind of change McCain is likely to support. A McCain presidency would certainly usher in an even more conservative regime with stronger ties to the religious right. 'Pro life' is of course a euphemism for 'anti abortion'. These platforms seem to present an anomaly but are of course cornerstones of religious conservatism. If you are 'pro life', how can you support the death penalty or less control over gun lovers? How can 'pro life' campaigners justify attacks or even assassination of medical staff at abortion clinics? Exponents such as Palin would probably direct us to the good book for answers; all life is sacred yet the 'eye for an eye' principle still prevails.

The outcome of policies like these have obvious outcomes; unwanted children are brought into the world courtesy of pro life policies, only to suffer abusive, deprived childhoods. They progress to delinquent teen years and avail themselves of firearms thanks to pro gun policies, only to find themselves on death row facing the death penalty. The pro lifers can then be satisfied that justice has been done and that God's will has prevailed.

Palin's description of herself as 'a pit bull with lipstick' needs to be taken more seriously than she perhaps intended.