Page 6 | What is a Woman? Advert. The tide is truly turning...

Appalonia · 2022-04-13T09:00:55+00:00

"Florida-based watch manufacturer Egard Watches has created an ad spot in defense of biological women’s rights. What are the details? The video opens with footage of accomplished women, including female athletes and others, and shows women through the decades and even centuries fighting for equal rights. "What is a woman?" the female narrator says. "Is women's history of achievements quickly being erased? Is a woman a feminine force of nature? Is a woman a sister, a daughter, a mother? Is a woman the wonder of childbirth?" "Is a woman a caregiver?" the narrator continues. "Is a woman a warrior who fought for her place?" The video continues, "Is that now being taken away, soon to be forgotten? Is that not worth protecting? And how long do we sit idly by and not stand for the sacred value of womanhood as it loses all meaning?" "Because we believe that womanhood is a birthright," the narrator concludes. What else? In a statement provided to Blaze Media, Egard CEO Ilan Srulovicz said, “The overwhelming majority of Americans are appalled by Big Tech, Big Business, and Big Government’s coordinated campaign to erase the hard-fought gains earned by untold millions of amazing women in our society." "Yet, almost nobody is speaking for them," Srulovicz continued. "We crafted an ad campaign that celebrates our grandmothers, mothers, sisters, aunts, and daughters, and everything they represent to paint a stark contrast to the lies we are all being told." Srulovicz added, "The push for transgender rights is no longer about equality, it’s now a cleverly-crafted lie that comes at the expense of women. We ask all Americans to join us to speak truth.” This is a VERY powerful advert [[https://youtu.be/5_JXZuXxc3M]]

Nnique · 14/04/2022 15:56

[quote LookMoreCloselier]@SelfPortraitWithPterodactyl the reason we pop up on this board to remind you that these people or companies are not totally virtuous is because people on these threads act like they are - ie I am voting tory because I like one thing boris said, I'm lining this shitty company's pockets because i like one advert they've made. There's a bigger picture. If you're repeatedly aligned with the right and far right on this issue you should take a look at yourselves. The right thrive on culture wars, look at those trans people taking your rights! Look at this tiny minority of people - they are going to attack you in the bathroom! What if this happened, what about that?

I don't disagree that we need caution when amending any laws around trans people so we don't inadvertently fuck over womens safe spaces like domestic abuse shelters, prisons etc. But that's literally all that needs said/done on the matter.[/quote]
There is so much to unpick in this ridiculous statement that I don’t know where to start!

Suffice to say I don’t think I’ll be taking advice from you on considering bigger picture/taking a look at myself. Thanks anyway.

StopStartStop · 14/04/2022 14:57

There is always value in interrogating assumptions. Sometimes we can balance what we value against what we do not, and come down in favour or against. I am still in favour of Egard, but aware of their possible motivations.

LookMoreCloselier · 14/04/2022 14:53

@SelfPortraitWithPterodactyl the reason we pop up on this board to remind you that these people or companies are not totally virtuous is because people on these threads act like they are - ie I am voting tory because I like one thing boris said, I'm lining this shitty company's pockets because i like one advert they've made. There's a bigger picture. If you're repeatedly aligned with the right and far right on this issue you should take a look at yourselves. The right thrive on culture wars, look at those trans people taking your rights! Look at this tiny minority of people - they are going to attack you in the bathroom! What if this happened, what about that?

I don't disagree that we need caution when amending any laws around trans people so we don't inadvertently fuck over womens safe spaces like domestic abuse shelters, prisons etc. But that's literally all that needs said/done on the matter.

doublemonkey · 14/04/2022 14:22

@Whatiswrongwithmyknee, I mean, why are we talking about Egard like this. So what if they're conservative. So what if they're religious. Why are we witch-hunting companies and people who hold these views?

Purity spiraling helps no-one.

Nnique · 14/04/2022 12:30

Womanhood is sacrosanct though. Which I accept might not the the way they’re using the term in this ad. I’ve not watched it, and I’m not going to. I applaud the statement itself because it’s on the side of material reality. That’s where my applause ends, as I’m not going to be drawn into arguments about all the various perspectives from which one might approach this ad or indeed any company that runs an ad to make money (which we all know is the primary objective).

As an aside, women (as well as men) are allowed to find the traditional, more conservative roles associated with their sex a better fit for them personally. Nothing wrong with that as long as you don’t go trying to force everyone else into that particular box.

I appreciate that in the US there are many, many shades of shit layered into the Right vs Left thing. As I said previously, that’s a problem for Americans to solve.

AnotherLass · 14/04/2022 12:21

Ugh, I REALLY dislike this advert. This is just a load of sexist stereotypes. And yes, this is the religious right, and it is exactly the genderist strawman of the GC position.

Womenhood isn't sacred and women aren't all pretty sweet care givers. Women are just adult human females.

Darkandlong · 14/04/2022 11:55

I just ordered the necklace! I found an Egards coupon code online and got $5 off. HOLIDAY20

Thanks, I'll hunt that out.

It's exciting to find a company that supports women's rights.

Snoodsy · 14/04/2022 11:47

[quote Chrysanthemum5]@fridgepants Fair enough you don't like this company. But having been insulted by countless other companies (Monsoon, M&S, Lush, Body Shop, John Lewis) who expect me not to mind their prioritising men's ego over women's safety, I'm actually quite excited by a company that isn't lying to me[/quote]
Don’t forget Adidas. That was a biggie.

I just ordered the necklace! I found an Egards coupon code online and got $5 off. HOLIDAY20

Unmadbed · 14/04/2022 10:15

Christ, I am so tired of the posters who pop up on every bloody thread to point out that just because someone (politician, company, whatever) has said something true and sensible they are not automatically paragons of virtue or allies in every other way.

Exactly, Egard are a company that supports traditional values on gender roles and I think that is a good thing.

Whatiswrongwithmyknee · 14/04/2022 09:29

@doublemonkey

Why are we even talking about this? The witch-hunting has to stop.

I guess it will when people stop pretending that men are women and that things like sport need to be divided by some undefined identity concept.

doublemonkey · 14/04/2022 09:08

Why are we even talking about this? The witch-hunting has to stop.

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 14/04/2022 08:57

@SelfPortraitWithPterodactyl

Christ, I am so tired of the posters who pop up on every bloody thread to point out that just because someone (politician, company, whatever) has said something true and sensible they are not automatically paragons of virtue or allies in every other way. For fuck's sake, WE KNOW. We are not - unlike some people, apparently - naive enough to assume that someone who says one right thing is a Good Person Who Can Do No Wrong. Seriously, if you see an advert that you approve of and automatically think that business must be worth supporting for every other reason that says a lot more about you and your approach to the world - and indeed, to my mind, suggests the sort of unsophisticated black-and-white thinking that is exacerbating the culture wars. We are recognising here that merely speaking the truth on this topic is unusual, and that we want to encourage it. Does that mean said truth-speaking is necessarily altruistically motivated? Obviously not. Is speaking a self-evident truth an exceptionally low fucking bar? Yes. Does it mean the speaker is a Good Person? Again, obviously not. 🙄 What we are rewarding is the action, the much-needed, refreshing and significant action - while also deploring the need for it and regretting that people who claim to be more charitably motivated can't go one better. We're not idiots, and we're not awarding a fucking sainthood.

Well said.

And the point is not that this company is great, but that any company in the US thought that this was sayable and would increase custom. It's even more encouraging that they are in Florida. Florida has a strong libertarian tradition, but it's a swing state with a really mixed population, and trending younger. It's not Oklahoma or somewhere else where 'traditional values" necessarily play well.

IsabelaMadrigal · 14/04/2022 08:09

Yes, on reflection all that glitters isn't gold.

Will still be on the lookout for something understated though, the above is a little 'young' for me.

tabbycatstripy · 14/04/2022 07:51

I was pleased to hear about this, had a look at their website and decided I didn’t like the feel.

NonnyMouse1337 · 14/04/2022 07:46

For those in the UK looking to buy some jewellery, there is a GC woman who makes some nice necklaces and earrings.

www.etsy.com/shop/womenarepeopletoo/?etsrc=sdt

StopStartStop · 14/04/2022 05:49

It's certainly useful to hear of the other things they've done. But advertising is what it is - advertisers want the best return for their investment. Everyone knows that. If they cynically use an emotive and important issue, are we surprised? I found the impact of the ad very positive about women, and perhaps there are others out there who will, too.

Amerej · 14/04/2022 02:06

Egard made that pro-toxic masculinity advert from a few years ago

ÉGARD’S APPALLING “WHAT IS A MAN?”
LOREN SCIURBA JANUARY 28, 2019

By now, everyone who is even remotely familiar with social media has seen the Gillette’s “We Believe: The Best Men Can Be.” The ad has over 26 million views on YouTube. In the short video, Gillette addresses “toxic masculinity” and challenges men to do better in the #metoo era. Apparently, the folks at Égard Watches took issue with it because they felt the need to produce a response video. I think it is garbage.

www.thetimebum.com/2019/01/egards-appalling-what-is-man.html

MangyInseam · 14/04/2022 01:38

If they'd chosen to show someone like Biles, for example, they'd have needed her permission, and I doubt it would have been forthcoming.

MangyInseam · 14/04/2022 01:37

@Misstache

I mean, for an ad in the US you choose a medal ceremony of Soviet gymnasts in like 1972 to talk about women’s success in sports and not Simone Biles or Serena who are by far the most recognizable athletes? I guess they don’t have that feminine spirit and grace. This is an ad locating itself in a nostalgic white past where white women won gymnastics and white women did the caregiving (which is in fact done largely by immigrant non- white women like Filipinas, Latinas, Black women, etc.) where women weren’t CEOs (other than the questioning of Justice Brown no professional women here) and white women stayed nicely home and gave birth. This is really quite bad under the “we support women” surface.

I thought they were looking for some historic events rather than modern recognizable famous people.

Moodlesofnoodles · 14/04/2022 00:29

So the company's CEO is also a professional actor in films, a director, a professional painter and a martial arts expert.
He's clearly a conservative, and has been featured on Fox News. Here he is talking about cancel culture:
"The foundation of any country that's getting any society that's going to progress is going to be built on the notion of freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of thought. We've been having a decay of that for quite some time. I mean, it's not a new concept. Like I said, it is Orwellian. I mean, people have written about this for many decades and have warned against it. The notion that people are now saying we have to reprogram people to think the way we want them to think is scary. I don't care which side of the aisle you're on. It should be something we can come out and say, ‘Hey, this is wrong.’ We should be able to have dialog. We should be able to have debate when that's out of the equation."
It looks as though it isn't just a marketing ploy?
www.foxnews.com/entertainment/walking-dead-ilan-srulovicz-cancel-culture-media-censorship

Dancingbea · 13/04/2022 22:53

Have you seen some of the other posts on their Twitter feed defending police shootings.

Terfydactyl · 13/04/2022 22:36

Here's the definition of sacred from Collins dictionary

1. exclusively devoted to a deity or to some religious ceremony or
use; holy; consecrated

It has other meanings though ;-regarded as too valuable to be interfered with;sacrosanct.

EwwSprouts · 13/04/2022 22:29

I'm no expert on USA politics and tensions. The company is happily showing many people (mainly male) of many ethnicities to plug the product. www.egardwatches.com/pages/whos-wearing-egard

Whatiswrongwithmyknee · 13/04/2022 22:29

@MoonbeamSprinkles

Well I don’t think this company does agree with me on this issue.

I think that they believe that humans can’t change sex and I believe that too but that is where the similarities end.

I don’t believe in gender as an innate thing. I don’t believe in a ‘sacred womanhood’, I think that that idea is reductive and unhelpful.

I think gender is a prison whether it’s being pushed by the Christian Right or the TRA’s.

And I’m not going to applaud an advert that is celebrating narrow gender ideals simply because it also says you can’t change sex.

I didn't read it as talking about woman as anything other than biological sex. Did they mention gender or have you just projected that onto what they're saying?

Terfydactyl · 13/04/2022 22:13

@SelfPortraitWithPterodactyl

Christ, I am so tired of the posters who pop up on every bloody thread to point out that just because someone (politician, company, whatever) has said something true and sensible they are not automatically paragons of virtue or allies in every other way. For fuck's sake, WE KNOW. We are not - unlike some people, apparently - naive enough to assume that someone who says one right thing is a Good Person Who Can Do No Wrong. Seriously, if you see an advert that you approve of and automatically think that business must be worth supporting for every other reason that says a lot more about you and your approach to the world - and indeed, to my mind, suggests the sort of unsophisticated black-and-white thinking that is exacerbating the culture wars. We are recognising here that merely speaking the truth on this topic is unusual, and that we want to encourage it. Does that mean said truth-speaking is necessarily altruistically motivated? Obviously not. Is speaking a self-evident truth an exceptionally low fucking bar? Yes. Does it mean the speaker is a Good Person? Again, obviously not. 🙄 What we are rewarding is the action, the much-needed, refreshing and significant action - while also deploring the need for it and regretting that people who claim to be more charitably motivated can't go one better. We're not idiots, and we're not awarding a fucking sainthood.

Absolutely true. Every bloody word.

Ok people, we know we are dining with the devil, but at least the devil is stating truth, plus it's a choice to buy stuff. Cant get worked up about women spending their own money.