The Salvation Army Anti-VAW Ad

OK, everybody has seen this, right?

All over the Internet, feminists (some self-identified, others I'm assuming) are bitching about it.

The ad comes from South Africa. Why is the woman white?

The woman is white. Other groups also experience VAW.

The blood and bruises are fake. (I don't know what this is meant to criticize. The photographer should have engaged in a little cinéma vérité and beaten the model up? The DRESS should have been taken to an emergency ward and shopped around until someone agreed to pose in it?)

VAW is not just physical. Why doesn't this photo expose other forms?

There are no trigger warnings. (Um, ?)

The ad is decontextualized. (Frankly, I don't understand this one. What does that mean?)

And a bunch of other stuff I don't understand because I am a bad feminist.

Here's the one I can get behind: It's the fucking Salvation Army.

Yes, it's the poverty-wage paying, homophobic, transphobic, everythingphobic Salvation Army.

Who had this time-sensitive, arresting image offered to them by an ad agency looking to do some pro-bono work and who knew -- and this is the only positive thing I will ever say about SA -- the SA has a history of going with edgy advertising.

The kind that agencies LOVE to do. The kind that wins awards. The kind that gets people talking.

Just like this one did.

People are talking. And that's good.

The ad is clever. I think it's great.

And that makes me a bad feminist.

Fine.

Fetus Fetishist Frenzy

Fetus fetishists -- notably SUZY CAPSLOCK -- are in seventh heaven.

They've won a battle with the UK government to have abortion statistics released.

Here's some background.

The arguments date back to 2002, when figures were released showing that an abortion had been carried out, after 24 weeks, for a cleft lip and palate. It led to huge debate about the ethics of abortion and whether this malformation, which can be corrected surgically, was sufficiently serious to warrant a termination.

The Department of Health has now released nine years data in one go. It shows that in the period 2002-2010 there were 27 abortions for cleft lip and palate, one of those occurring after 24 weeks.

The government has been fighting the zygote zealots, citing privacy, arguing that the numbers are so low that individuals could be identified. The stats also include information on other fetal conditions, age of women/girls, etc. Just about everything a rabid misogynist needs to prove just how damned selfish and irresponsible these women are.

But to go back to the cleft palate SHRIEEEEK outrage:

The new data may lead to fresh argument but it does not shed much light on individual cases. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has guidance on the issue.

This says: "cleft lip and/or palate are, in some cases, indicators of serious congenital malformations". In other words, they can be markers for other, more severe problems, which include brain development and heart disease.

The Royal College argued that the interpretation of 'serious abnormality' should be based upon individual discussion agreed between the parents and the mother's doctor.

There they go with that facty-sciency stuff again.

But fetus fetishists don't give a damn about individual cases. They just want to know the details to shame the sluts more effectively. Or, more politely put:

Ann Furedi, chief executive of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), said: 'The publication of these statistics after a campaign by the anti-abortion lobby reveals little more than their own vindictiveness.'

In related news, UK fetus fetishists will get a chance to go apeshit again, because abortion clinics will be able to advertise on telly.

Under the draft recommendations, drawn up by the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, which regulates TV and radio commercials, dozens of independent hospitals carrying out abortions will be able to advertise their services to consumers.

Until now, restrictions have meant abortion clinics can only advertise their services if they are not run for profit. Because of the rules, just one advert, by charity Marie Stopes International has ever been aired, last year, to great controversy, and more than 4,500 complaints.

Remember that SHRIEEEK-FEST?

Ad Free Since 2008

Note the new thingy in the sidebar. From its website:

By using this icon on my website I am stating...

1. That I am opposed to the use of corporate advertising on blogs.

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3. That I do not accept money in return for advertising space on my blog.

signed,

the author

We at DAMMIT JANET! saw it at driving fast on loose gravel and thought: DAMMIT, that's cool.

Because, you know, there is enough bloody advertising in the world. Just when you think: 'OK, that's it. They can't find another spot to yell at me from. . .' Whammo! -- fucking ads turn up on litter bins, in bathroom stalls, and my personal fave, on taxi hubcaps. (That one mercifully went away.)

And you won't be finding any Begging Buttons here either.

You're welcome.