"She Makes Fitness Look Lke Fashion"

[Ginger]

I read this in the Times this morning and was just wondering what people thought. It's a profile of a butch executive for Equinox.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/fa...-up-close.html

[girl_dee]

very interesting article!

will come back when i have a moment to read it properly.

[Kobi]

It made me twitch and not in a good way.

I can get passed the stereotypical, bad ass, butch lesbian with her irrevelant attitude, tattoos, male attire, alcohol/party hearty mentality, who bears an uncanny resemblence to KD Lang. I can see a cult icon in the making here.

What I can not get passed is a woman promoting this kind of exploitative advertising of other women:

Much of the credit goes to Ms. Kosoy, who leads a team of 10 designers in Equinox’s headquarters in the Flatiron district, where they create a brand image that marries sex and sweat, wellness and bad behavior. “It’s not fitness,” the tagline reads, “it’s life.”

To that end, she has hired provocative photographers like Terry Richardson to shoot Equinox’s ad campaigns. The most recent campaign features a young blonde in a schoolgirl uniform (shirt, tie, knee socks, yes; skirt, no) pinned under a muscular young man in nothing but boxers, glasses and leather loafers. Judging from the Chesterfield sofa and leather-bound volumes, they are in some sort of library. “Brainpower by Equinox,” the tagline reads.


To me, it is an example of internalized sexism. Just as offensive and derogatory to women as if it was done by a male.

I'm disappointed.

[Ginger]

Originally Posted by Kobi

It made me twitch and not in a good way.

I can get passed the stereotypical, bad ass, butch lesbian with her irrevelant attitude, tattoos, male attire, alcohol/party hearty mentality, who bears an uncanny resemblence to KD Lang. I can see a cult icon in the making here.

What I can not get passed is a woman promoting this kind of exploitative advertising of other women:

Much of the credit goes to Ms. Kosoy, who leads a team of 10 designers in Equinox’s headquarters in the Flatiron district, where they create a brand image that marries sex and sweat, wellness and bad behavior. “It’s not fitness,” the tagline reads, “it’s life.”

To that end, she has hired provocative photographers like Terry Richardson to shoot Equinox’s ad campaigns. The most recent campaign features a young blonde in a schoolgirl uniform (shirt, tie, knee socks, yes; skirt, no) pinned under a muscular young man in nothing but boxers, glasses and leather loafers. Judging from the Chesterfield sofa and leather-bound volumes, they are in some sort of library. “Brainpower by Equinox,” the tagline reads.


To me, it is an example of internalized sexism. Just as offensive and derogatory to women as if it was done by a male.

I'm disappointed.

I had the same reaction. I used to buy the "it's different when a butch does it" cultural justification for behavior that demeans women, but I'm over that. I wouldn't trust this person.

[BullDog]

She does look a lot like KD Lang. Other than that she just seems gross. To say I am a pig and ogle after women is just as sexist as any man doing it.

[princessbelle]

She may be laughing all the way to the bank, but, it appears she is being used as nothing more than a pawn, an advertising "in your face" circus act to draw attention.

I think it's actually kinda sad really.

[Daywalker]

This one makes me sick:





Target Audience?

[Ginger]

Originally Posted by Daywalker

This one makes me sick:





Target Audience?

I think the subtext is about "meat."

And it promotes the idea that the purpose of women getting hot for each other is to arouse men.

I still feel icky, when I get the "can I watch?" response, when straight men learn I'm gay.

The culture of male role models supporting this ad is abundant.

I love butches who look beyond that, and create something that is truly their own.

Example: Butch "A" made a demeaning blond joke around me at the Center in NYC once, and Butch "B" said to her, That's not okay.

I didn't need rescuing, but it felt good to have support.

Butch "B" wasn't emulating a stereotype. Butch "B" got my attention.