It's no secret that sexism is overwhelmingly active throughout the world through industries, relationships and societal expectations. But one of the more unexpected places to find sexism flourishing is in a pen company.
In 2012, BIC Pens introduced a new line of pens called "BIC for Her." These pens were mainly pink and purple and were apparently "designed to fit a woman's hand." This product even created a massive price gap between BIC's pens, "In September 2013, Amazon charged $9.04 for 16 Cristal For Her pens, compared to only $1.71 for a dozen gender-neutral Cristal pens." Outraged, Ellen Degeneres hilariously called out the company by sarcastically thanking them for finally creating a pen that she and other women are capable of using (as long as men read the instructions for us, of course).
As you can imagine, the product received ridiculous reviews, for a fittingly ridiculous product. I truly hoped that BIC had seen the comments and learned their lesson about misogyny from the "BIC for Her" fiasco. But a short three years later, BIC has made the news yet again.
On August 9, South Africa celebrated National Women's Day, the anniversary of the protest led by women against South Africa's white minority rule in 1956. BIC South Africa released an advertisement geared towards their female consumers which they believed to be honor this day. Ironically, there was a unbelievable sexist message. Check it out:
Let's break this down. On National Women's Day, women should be celebrated and empowered. Yet, this advertisement only insults women and reverts to the mentality that allows gender inequality to thrive.
The advertisement begins with the bold statement, "look like a girl." While this may be seemingly harmless, telling women to "look like a girl" dangerously feeds into the societal norm of over sexualization young girls, (take Aerial Winter for example). Additionally, the notion that women should conform to anyone's idea of how a woman should look like only regresses women's rights. In today's progressive society, women should feel entitled to look however they desire. Moving on.
What exactly does "act like lady" mean? Does it mean to be submissive, have impeccable manners and dress conservatively? If so, these traditional gender roles confine women to box instead of liberating them from such stereotypes. Quite the opposite of what should be celebrated on National Women's Day. If "acting like lady" entails something less traditional, perhaps acting respectful, classy, sensitive and loving, those are qualities all people should have regardless of gender.
The most offensive and misogynistic line by far is "think like a man." The fact that someone believes that a woman would appreciate being told this baffles me. When you tell a woman to "think like a man" you are suggesting women are implicitly inferior. I could name several women who have shaped and are currently shaping society with their own individual thought: Marie Curie, Jane Austen, Mother Thersea, Serena Williams, Ellen Degeneres and Michelle Obama just to name a few. I guarantee none of these women would cite "thinking as a man" as reasons for their massive success. These women are merely examples of the millions of women have shaped and are shaping society today, whether their stories are seen or not.
It's about time we move past the archaic idea women are dependent on men and should strive to emulate them. All women are independent intellectuals capable of unique and awe-inspiring thoughts.
Lastly, while there is nothing sexist about the statement "work like a boss," I must point out that women do not just work like a bosses. Women are and should feel empowered to become bosses.
BIC has since apologized and deleted this post, stating "Let’s start out by saying we’re incredibly sorry for offending everybody – that was never our intention, but we completely understand where we’ve gone wrong. This post should never have gone out. The feedback you have given us will help us ensure that something like this will never happen again, and we appreciate that." I applaud BIC greatly for recognizing their mistakes and hopefully, learning a powerful lesson from them. But BIC and anyone else who does not believe in gender equality, before you speak again, take note:
