Am I the only one who’s got a real issue with this slogan? I saw it on Facebook today and it really rubbed me the wrong way. International Justice Mission is doing a lot for sex trafficking prevention and I’m not dissing them – except I’m dissing them. Because the slogan REAL MEN DON’T BUY GIRLS is offensive and useless.
Can we forget about the male ego and masculine pride for half a fucking second? Do we care if these criminals feel like ‘real men’? Do they care? How about SELLING HUMAN BEINGS FOR SEX IS MORALLY AND ETHICALLY WRONG? How about THERE ARE STILL FUCKING SLAVES IN 21ST CENTURY AMERICA?
I mean, I get what they’re doing, making it catchy and everything. But this slogan puts ‘not buying girls’ in the same ‘manly man’ category as ‘drinking Guinness’ or ‘sleeping naked’ or ‘loving cars’. It is cheap, demeaning, and offensive – and look at that, the girl is the object again. Look at the subject in that sentence: men. Object: girls. Aren’t they the ones we’re supposed to be focusing on?
Also, you really think that getting Justin Timberlake or Ashton Kutcher to hold up your pieces of paper will do anything? Some guy currently involved in human trafficking is going to say ‘Gosh darn it, Justin Timberlake thinks I’m not a real man. Guess I’d better stop exploiting the body of a fellow human being for sexual pleasure or monetary gain . . . ’cause I really like it when he sings ‘Suit and Tie’ . . . which isn’t about the objectification of females and the glorification of sex at all.’ Forgive me for calling bullshit on that.
How about REAL MEN DON’T HOLD UP TRITE LITTLE SAYINGS FOR THEIR ONLINE GROUPIES AND INSTEAD ACTUALLY GET OUT THERE AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT? Just sayin’.
Now, I know what you’re gonna say: ‘It’s a publicity gig to raise awareness!’ Lemme tell you, the most awareness that campaign is going to raise is: ‘Aww, look, my favorite celebrity cares about the unfortunate! He looks hot in that picture, too.’ Maybe a self-conscious Share on Facebook every once in a while. And while these celebrities obviously care, they are also getting a lot of good publicity out of it as well.
You want to talk about ‘real’? Because in reality those girls are still getting fucked illegally and against their consent.
Also read: The Language of Dude Feminism
In My Humble Opinion 