The Cutprice Guignol

So, over the last week in Britain, some fuss has been kicked up over these adverts appearing on the tube in London:

As you can see, the ads are for a protein shake product that helps with weight loss. Cool. Whatever. The problem arises from the caption; the idea that there is any specific kind of “beach body” is patently ridiculous. I have a beach body right now, in that I have a body and could go to the beach. I understand why there has been such a vociferous reaction (including a march scheduled for today), and I strongly believe that if you see something that you don’t like, you should have every right to stand up against it in whatever way is appropriate. I’m down with that, especially when you consider the fact that a) the advert seemed to be entirely aimed at women and b) was advertising meal replacement supplements in order to lose weight. While I think it’s pretty shit, and that some of the reactions to it have been justified, this is the kind of thing that would make me roll my eyes, make a mental note not to give this company any custom, and move on. But still, if you’re one of the people who tweeted about it, or wrote about it, or got angry about it, more power to you.

But basically, be prepared for a ridiculous backlash. Because not only will the head of the company refer to the critics of this advert as “terrorists”, but the brand ambassador will brush it aside as some “feminists letting off some bra-burning steam” as well as explaining to us clueless fatties that a size 16 is unequivocally unhealthy and that she relied on these protein shakes to get her beach body. Bloggers will start churning out thinkpieces that prove little beyond the fact that they know nothing about feminism. It’s frustrating, as a feminist, to watch hundreds of people screaming from the rooftops about how a number of people not liking an advert and not being afraid to say so means that modern feminism is pointless and hurtful, while throwing out body-shaming nonsense at people they think might not be totally down with this stupid fucking advert. If you want to shout about all feminists being fat cunts who are only jealous of the woman in the advert, you go ahead, but accept that you’re proving the point of the people who are protesting it. It’s Saturday, and I don’t want to spend all afternoon on a feminist rant, because I have movies to see and flats to clean. But what I do want to say is this: you’re more than welcome to go ahead and tweet body-shaming nonsense at everyone who thinks these adverts are bullshit, but every time you do, you’re adding to the shitstorm that caused these ads to be a problem in the first place. If you really want those stupid feminist bitches to shut up about body shaming…stop body shaming.