a Bare The giving of gag gifts Who “ee the last laugh? By Jacey Gibb, Opinions Editor h, the holidays, a time of the year brimming with Secret Santa’s, Chinese gift exchanges, white elephants and every other variation of the same concept. In an attempt to avoid being the person who simply wraps up a gift card or a crisp twenty dollar bill, you might feel the need to get creative with your present. It is usually in this quest to be unique and witty that you fall prey to the lure of tacky, cheesy presents that serve no real purpose other than to receive a chuckle from the recipient as they unwrap it. I of course am talking about gag gifts. Snuggies. Chia pets. Although wrapping one of these items and placing it under the tree may seem harmless, you’re really encouraging future creation of these unnecessary abominations. As a result of fuel being added to the As Seen on TV fire, a new all-time low as been reached. Just in time for the holiday season, Snuggies for dogs are now available. It seems everyone has a solidified opinion on clothing for animals: either you’re dressing up your pet every chance you get or you loathe the very idea of it. Yet it has been decided there is an untapped market of owners out there that wish for their dogs to keep warm while keeping their hands, or paws, free. To give you a visual, the box proudly displays dogs in situations where wearing a Snuggie would be ideal and even logical. One picture has a pair of dogs engaged in a fierce game of backgammon while another has a dog with a television remote in paw. You'll notice that while they’re kept nice and warm under a fleece blanket, their paws are free to accomplish day to day tasks dogs normally do, such as browsing the Food network. I couldn’t find any information on the number of dog Snuggies sold so far, but personal curiosity drove me to ask several store employees on how popular the item had been. Though it wasn’t a smash hit, apparently sales had been decent. I wish I could say this news was surprising, but unfortunately it wasn’t. To me, Snuggies for dogs represent everything © wrong with our society. | Not only is the concept of Snuggies ridiculous (it’s a backwards house coat, but without pockets), but the idea that your best friend needs a backwards housecoat as well just makes my brain ache. I’m not sure who I hold responsible for the dog Snuggie: the people who invented it in the first place or the people who have been grabbing it off the shelves, choosing to spend money not on something useful but on an item that will be worth a couple laughs before the recipient begins to wonder what the hell they’re supposed to “ORDER NOW; do with it. I guess you could say the Snuggie for dogs is a gift that keeps on giving, in the sense that this will be something that will probably be regifted countless times over the years until it finds its way into the hands of someone who appreciates it for what it really is and simply throws it away. By the way, I bought a dog Snuggie for my roommate for Christmas. We don’t even have a dog. Snuggies for Dogs are on sale now for $14.95 wherever dumb stuff is sold. Shopping for serial murder? Not accepting the glamorization of violence against women By Sharon Miki o I’m doing a bit of last-minute S shopping in the mall when I come across a most disturbing scene: female thighs, knees, calves and feet dismembered and hanging limply from the sides of packing boxes. Based on the hints of frothy taffeta and crystal-flecked pumps peeking from the cardboard tombs, the now-mutilated women were dressed for some kind of holiday office party gone horribly awry. I look around for others to share in my shock, but the passersby keep plodding along, barely taking notice. Pointing the scene out to my companion, the response is alarmingly blasé, “Geez, relax. It’s just a store display. It’s kind of nice, like women are pretty gifts to be shipped to you and opened.” The thing is, I am not a present waiting to be swathed in bubble wrap, shoved into a box of Styrofoam packing chips and sent to someone to be sliced open. As such, I find it unsettling that a brand would choose 14 to display their garments in this way. While I’m sure the marketing and merchandising staff at this particular store were going for something “cute” and “different,” the lifeless, dissected and distinctly female body parts shoved in nondescript disposal bins could quite clearly double as an advertisement for serial murder. The fact that people are willing to accept this type of marketing without a second glance is symptomatic of the underlying acceptance and glamorization of violence against women that is prevalent in our society. For example, Two and a Half Men continues to be one of the most popular shows on television, despite its star Charlie Sheen being a long-alleged abuser of women. In 1990, Sheen “accidentally” shot his girlfriend in the arm while his marriage to Denise Richards ended amidst allegations of threats of violence. Last Christmas, Sheen was arrested on charges of domestic violence against his third wife Brooke Mueller. However, despite this long list of reported violence against multiple women, Sheen continues to be rewarded with a successful television career based on the support of millions of average people who tune in every week. According to the We Can campaign to end violence against women, 51 percent of Canadian women have experienced physical or sexual violence since the age of 16. Women are being stalked, raped, beaten, abused and murdered on a regular basis in this country, yet few of us seem to be bothered by the cute display of sparkly commercial mutilation popping up in our storefronts. When we accept or, even worse, praise this type of casual message that it is ok to see women, even plastic mannequin women, depicted in this way, we are allowing ourselves to become desensitized to something that should disturb us. Sure, advertisers and merchandisers are faced with the constant challenge of being innovative in order to grab our consumptive gaze, but they do not need to resort to these misogynistic techniques. Let the plastic women stand up and pose. Write a catchy slogan. Whatever. All that I know is that my wallet and I will not enter a store with dead women, synthetic or otherwise, on display in the window.