OtherPress. Room 1020 — 700 Royal Ave. Douglas College New Westminster, BC V3L 5B2 TELEPHONE: 604.525.3542 WEBSITE: theotherpress.ca EMAIL: editor@theotherpress.ca STAFF LIST Natalie Serafini Editor-in-Chief Meditor@theotherpress.ca Eric Wilkins Assistant Editor Massistant@theotherpress.ca Angela Ho Business Manager Chris Paik Distribution Manager Cody Klyne Layout Manager Joel McCarthy Graphics Manager Ed Appleby iHustrator Jony Roy Social Media Coordinator Angela Espinoza News Editor Minews@theotherpress.ca Cheryl Minns Arts Editor Marts@theotherpress.ca Sophie Isbister Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca Elliot Chan Opinions Editor Mopinions@theotherpress.ca NOW HIRING Sports Editor Msports@theotherpress.ca Sharon Miki Humour Editor Mhumour@theotherpress.ca Brittney MacDonald Cazzy Lewchuk Staff Writers Senior Columnists Joshua Grant Margaret Matthews Jerrison Oracion Columnists Patrick Vaillancourt Andrea Arscott Contributors Nelu Oncel Mercedes Deutscher Michael Sopow Not everything 1s in black and Whitecaps Ree the Whitecaps eleased a series of adver- tisements. The premise of the ad : : Whitecaps’ marketing team didn’t select the featured fans at : : random. They madea decision, : : conscious or not, for the only : female fans in the videos to : be young and conventionally : beautiful. I can guarantee : that there are Whitecaps fans : who don't fit the young, : blonde, and slender category, : but they were passed over. and old, male and female, cheer- ! : women in sports—even when : on the sidelines—as young, : attractive, and cheering for : men, does relegate women to : aspecific, less-active role. It : perpetuates the idea that being : attractive and supportive are : women’s rightful positions, and : it’s also exclusionary to anyone : who isn’t young, white, blonde, : or slender. So yes, ina way the : complaints are warranted. campaign was to show record- ings of Whitecaps ticket-holders : at games reacting to the drama of the competition. Video clips were set to slow-motion and classical music to further dramatize the event. The ads, asking viewers to “bea part of the best sporting atmosphere in Vancouver,” capture the spirit of the team, with fans both young ing and groaning along with the team’s feats and defeats. Well, [should be more accurate: there are no women in the ads anymore, after the single video featuring female Whitecaps FC fans was pulled. The reason for its being pulled? Accusations of sexism. The video in question featured three young blonde women, wearing Whitecaps white, celebrating a team vic- tory. Cheering involved briefly jumping up and down, much like most fans do. Assumedly because the women were traditionally attractive, and the clip was set in slow-motion, the video has been hailed as another example of sexism and female-alienation in sports. Assistant Teaching Professor of Political Science, Dr. Janni Aragon, said, “It’s almost like I’m watching © Getloknowus! © The Other Press has been Douglas College’s student newspaper since 1976. Since 1978 we have been an autonomous publication, independent of the student union. We area registered society under the Society Act of British Columbia, governed by an eight-person board of directors appointed by our staff. Our head office is located in the New Westminster campus. © The Other Press is published weekly during the fall and winter semesters, and monthly during the summer. We receive our funding from a student levy collected through tutition fees every semester at registration, and from local and national advertising revenue. The Other Press is a member ofthe Canadian University Press (CUP), asyndicate of student newspapers that includes : the ‘Baywatch’ opening.” I can understand this argument, honestly. Clearly the Continuing to feature I’m not sure I would say : the ad is prima facie sexist, : though. Discounting the ad : entirely based on the fact that : the women are attractive means : : judging the women on the basis : of their appearance, saying that : : they cannot be involved in an : ad campaign because they're : too attractive. What, these : real-life fans of the Whitecaps : can’t be advertised as fans of : the Whitecaps because they’re : attractive? Just as I think it’s : ludicrous to single them out : for the campaign on the basis : of their looks, I also don’t see : the point of dismissing them on the basis of their looks. This sort of judgment : becomes a bizarre, arbitrary : selection of who is “unat- : tractive” (or, less traditionally : attractive) and can therefore : be featured in an advertise- ? ment. Or would the ad have : been acceptable if the three : fans hadn't been jumping : and cheering along with : everyone else in the stands? Just because the slow-mo- : tion effect harkens back to : the babe-some beach bods of : Pam Anand others doesn’t ? mean that it’s sexist, either. : The slow-motion increases the : dramatic effect of the ad, as : does the orchestral music—isn'’t : : that, like, film editing 1101? If : they’d only used the slow-mo- : tion effect on the women, I’d : think there was something to : those accusations of Baywatch : mimicry. The effects were : used equally amongst the men, women, and children : inthe campaign though. The real issue is that the : Whitecaps didn’t feature any : other women, so the young : blonde women were the faces : of female Whitecaps fans. Now, : : though, women are entirely : absent from the marketing : campaign; if we weren't alien- : ated before, we sure are now. Emily Guedes, who had : been among the three women in : the ad before it was pulled, had : her take: “What’s misogynistic : is the fact that men are in the : videos—and kids cheering : for [the Whitecaps]—but not : a couple of women. ... lam : not offended by the video but : [lam] adamantly offended : by their removal of it.” Iknow many are applauding : the fact that the Whitecaps : removed the video, but I’m with : Guedes on this one. By remov- : ing the advertisement, these : women have been denied as : legitimate, acceptable examples : of female fans, and women : in general have been erased : from the stands. It would be : entirely possible to find women of varying ages, sizes, colours, : and general appearances : to feature in the ads. That’s : how think the Whitecaps : should have addressed the : complaints of sexism in the : first place: by showing women : as “part of the best sporting : atmosphere in Vancouver,” : regardless of being traditionally : or untraditionally beautiful. Hello gorgeous, Natali Serafini Editor-in-Chief coc Ug 9) CEM] @ facebook.com/DouglasOtherPress papers from all across Canada. (J twitter.com/theotherpress youtube.com/user/theotherpress instagram.com/theotherpress © The OtherPressreservestheright to choose what we will publish, and we will not publish material that is hateful, obscene, or condones or promotes illegal activities. Submissions may be edited for clarity and brevity if necessary. All images used are copyright to their respective owners.