Smack my witch up....marvellous

[SlowComfortableShrew]

Accordig to white stuff, hitting women is fine, just make sure you don't hit the cute woodland creatures....

www.smackmywitch.com/

and the more women you hit, the more money you make...

[BigZing]

Utterly strange and not in the slightest bit funny. Just...juvenile and weird!

White Stuff = horrible, shapeless and over-priced anyway.

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

what the farrrrrk? I played the first round, but couldn't believe the queen was also a witch (any woman = bad though, right?)

Do recommend round 3 though, where you get to decapitate princes.

[Bue]

And do you want to know the worst part? When you get to the end and want to claim your voucher (yes, I went all the way through and whacked those poor witches and won a 5% off voucher)... they don't have Ms. as a a title option!!!


This is just all-round nasty.

[HuckingFell]

yep count me unimpressed, although is the 5% in addition to the 20%?

[tabouleh]

this is so obviously a play on the "smack my bitch up" track

We are in the middle of 16 days of activism against gender violence FFS.

I have written an email of complaint to [email protected].

[PollyPhonny]

I thought it was funny. But I like the clothes too.

[Secrettoshare]

Its the cultural reference though innit.

White Stuff could not have this campaign without Smack My Bitch Up.

They are making Smack My Bitch Up mainstream.

[tabouleh]

Reality I take offense at you calling me a "mad head".

The serious point, for me, is that an established brand finds it amusing to link to a fairly song which was notorious for its fairly obvious DV message.

BTW have you see the fairy tale thread - plenty there for feminists to take exception to.

[tabouleh]

fairly song ? to a song

[Goblinchild]

'what the farrrrrk? I played the first round, but couldn't believe the queen was also a witch (any woman = bad though, right?)'

E&M, the first story is Snow White, the witch Queen is a character from the story. She transforms herself into a hag. So that's why there are two sorts of witch.

[juneybean]

[Goblinchild]

'BTW have you see the fairy tale thread - plenty there for feminists to take exception to'

Oh Bother, it's one of the first threads on the F/WR board that I've really got into and enjoyed. Oh Well, perhaps I can sit in a corner and swig gin with Reality.

[Goblinchild]

juneybean, it's the third post on this thread, ElephantsAndMiasmas didn't understand why the queen in the first round was considered a witch as well, so I was explaining. Sorry that it confused you.

[juneybean]

Nooo sorry my hmm was at the thread in general sorry !

[upsydaisysexstylist]

I am more worried about the labour conditions of the no doubt mainly female workforce who suppy their tat/lifestyle clothes, having spotted crochetted items that must be hand made, by their nature, yet relatively cheap.

[ElephantsAndMiasmas]

I don't think anyone needs to get their knickers in a twist over the fact that this thread exists. It's not like we're writing a book on it or anything, just commenting on what we see. "Oh look, a lovely game that references a song about beating up women, and coincidentally involves thumping/slicing away at women."

[tabouleh]

so a piss poor response from White Stuff!

My complaint:

Dear White Stuff,

I am writing to complain about your game "smack my witch up". It is in extremely poor taste. Are you aware of the problem of violence against women?

At the moment we are in the middle of 16 days of activism to highlight this issue. Please see www.womankind.org.uk/16-days-of-activism.html for more information.

What is violence against women?

In all societies, women and girls are subjected to physical, sexual and psychological abuse that cuts across lines of income, class and culture.
Poverty, marginalisation and specific aspects of women?s identity, such as their race or ethnicity, leaves some women more vulnerable to violence. While men also experience violence, women?s lower social status puts them at particular risk and the number of cases of violence against women continues to grow at an alarming rate.

The 1992 UN Declaration on Violence Against Women, the first international human rights instrument to address the issue, contains this definition:

?The term "violence against women" means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life?.

Some women experience domestic violence in the family at the hands of an abusive partner or relative. Others face sexual harassment in the workplace. In some countries, women are subjected to harmful traditional practices ? such as female genital mutilation ? which can leave them scarred or severely traumatised, or may be forced to marry at an early age, increasing their vulnerability to abuse. Women may also be forced into prostitution by traffickers and, in times of conflict, it is women who are most likely to be the target of sexual violence, especially rape. And abuse is not just physical, but may also be emotional, sexual or psychological.

The game's name appears to be inspired by the song "smack my bitch up" - see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smack_My_Bitch_Up.

Women were tortured and persecuted for "witchcraft" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch-hunt.

Please consider how this "game" reflects on your brand.

I urge you to remove this "game" from your website and look forward to your confirmation that this will be done as I can't believe that you will have a good justification for this.

Regards,

tabouleh



Their response (from the online brand content assistant):

Hi Tabouleh,

Thanks for taking the time to contact us.

Our theme for Christmas is ?Once upon a White Stuff?, loosely based on the fairytales of Hans Christian Anderson and the Brothers Grimm.

We designed our online game to be a bit of lighthearted fun, filled with the wicked witches and evil queens as told in the often gruesome fairytales of lore.

And like in the fairytales, the baddies in the tale often get their comeuppance. But they are just that, fairytales.

We do not condone violence in the real world against anyone, including animals.

We appreciate all feedback, and hope you were not offended by our game.


Talk about not addressing the point! Loving the namecheck for animals - don't mention the women!

"hope you were not offended by our game" - uh obviously I was offended or I wouldn't have complained

Anyone else feel like complaining?

Need to consider my response.


Many thanks,



White Stuff

[tabouleh]

Reality - fair enough you don't agree with me but no need for you to say I am quite mad.

I am well aware that it is a "fun" little game and if it wasn't called "smack my witch up" I am sure that I would not have objected.

I don't think for one minute that there will be a direct correlation between anyone viewing this game/playing this game and violence against women.

For me it is more about the principle. Our culture trivialises violence against women and not enough is being done to stop that.

I want to explore why a "trendy" brand of clothing finds it acceptable to have this promotion and link it to a controversial song "smack my bitch up".

I would like to push for a position where companies had clear policies on their stance towards advertising: portrayal of violence against women/portrayal of women as sex objects/sexualisation of young women and children.

Is is quite clear to me that most companies have no such policy.

What would happen if this was in any way racist? Answer - it would never have made it out there as a game. Racism is culturally and politically and corporately unacceptable but sexism still is.

Out of interest - before I continue to bang my head against a brick wall here - did you object to the Suit Supply ad campaign or was that all fine and dandy with you?

[tabouleh]

Thanks for the apology.

Perhaps there are better uses of your energy than trying to persuade me that something I find sexist is not sexist?

truce?

[sethstarkaddersmum]

I'm with you Tabouleh. And so is dh (though he has just played the game and won a 5% discount )

this comes into the category of 'not top of my activism list but would write and complain if I had a mo'.
it is just yet another of the 10000001 little things which chip away and say that violence against women is fine.

I am thinking the people who came up with this are probably used to playing that game where you get extra points for killing prostitutes so merely hitting a cartoon witch will indeed have seemed trivial to them.

Reality - re liking the Suit Supply campaign, I personally don't have an issue with people thinking it was well done or clever or even sexy. If you think it was a fine and appropriate set of images to put in a public place where kids can't help seeing it, though, I will think you are quite mad