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Phalicizing Power, Pussyfying Economy
Dec. 29th, 2009 12:15 pmThis Pharyngula post dredged up a lingering anger that I realize now I forgot to articulate. In it, PZ notes a Toys 'R' Us catalog with microscopes and telescopes. You know, science equipment for kids.
He's got an image of this ad you really must see to appreciate.
And this has to do with me . . . how? Last year, I was contemplating buying a new electric scooter, the Vectrix. (I reviewed my first test drive and compared it to other electric scoots I've known a few summers back.) The price had dropped significantly. I needed to make sure it would get me to work on the freeway, so I took it for another ride. Damn, that was nice.
Still, though lowered, the price was high. I decided I needed to do a gas-to-electric cost comparison. The Vectrix is a scooter-styled motorcycle, with plenty of oomph to keep my 200+ pounds cruising at freeway speeds. Therefore, I needed to find a comparable gas bike with the same styling and freeway ability and compare what I would have been paying for the Vectrix with what else was available. I could then note the difference in purchase prices and cost savings in fueling, and see if I would be spending (yet again!) more than I would have otherwise.
I ran into an interesting wall. I couldn't find a comparable freeway scooter at the local cycle shops.
For those who have never bought a motorcycle, ( click here to dive into the rantarrhea. )
So I never got my comparison shopping done. I also never got my bike, since I started looking for financing right about the time the banks stopped lending.
I also never got over this hyper-masculinization, this marketing testosterone fest, of simple transport vehicles, one that relegates the practical to the realm of the unappealing and therefore unavailable. Motorcycles, telescopes, microscopes -- nothing is safe from these despicable style nazis.
Both the telescope and the microscope come in special pink versions, just for the girl who is apparently more interested in getting an instrument that matches her nail polish than being functional, and note also . . . that in every case the pink model is less powerful than the black and gray model.
There is a message being sent here. Being feminine, being girly, means you belong in a separate category in the science world, and it's a category that needs less utility and more concern about appearances. (Emphasis mine.)
He's got an image of this ad you really must see to appreciate.
And this has to do with me . . . how? Last year, I was contemplating buying a new electric scooter, the Vectrix. (I reviewed my first test drive and compared it to other electric scoots I've known a few summers back.) The price had dropped significantly. I needed to make sure it would get me to work on the freeway, so I took it for another ride. Damn, that was nice.
Still, though lowered, the price was high. I decided I needed to do a gas-to-electric cost comparison. The Vectrix is a scooter-styled motorcycle, with plenty of oomph to keep my 200+ pounds cruising at freeway speeds. Therefore, I needed to find a comparable gas bike with the same styling and freeway ability and compare what I would have been paying for the Vectrix with what else was available. I could then note the difference in purchase prices and cost savings in fueling, and see if I would be spending (yet again!) more than I would have otherwise.
I ran into an interesting wall. I couldn't find a comparable freeway scooter at the local cycle shops.
For those who have never bought a motorcycle, ( click here to dive into the rantarrhea. )
So I never got my comparison shopping done. I also never got my bike, since I started looking for financing right about the time the banks stopped lending.
I also never got over this hyper-masculinization, this marketing testosterone fest, of simple transport vehicles, one that relegates the practical to the realm of the unappealing and therefore unavailable. Motorcycles, telescopes, microscopes -- nothing is safe from these despicable style nazis.