Comments on: Oh Hey, Memphis Grizzlies, I Was Already Up Here on This Soapbox, It’s Not Out of my Way or Anything

By: Izumi

Izumi — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 06:55:25 +0000

Amazing, great post. I really respect what the presence you’ve been making in the blogospehere this week.

By: Tigercub

Tigercub — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 15:53:58 +0000

Our society needed a civil war to figure out that non-Caucasians are human. We needed 9-11 to figure out we shouldn’t keep offending other religions. What about us girls? Do we need to pick up some Bazookas to stop being just sets of boobs?

By: courtside

courtside — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 10:18:17 +0000

Not to be all LET ME TAKE OVER THE COMMENTS, but another reason why this post is important is because even if people don’t care now, perhaps the next time they see a similar dance team promotion, they’ll stop and think. Even if it’s just to say, “Oh, ticktock6 will have something to say about this” at least the idea that this is offensive to someone will enter their consciousness and eventually, the idea that this is just offensive period.

By: courtside

courtside — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 10:07:28 +0000

It drives me crazy that we’re conditioned NOT to care. The phrase that pisses me off the most (in general) is, “Why are you making such a big deal about this?” BECAUSE IT IS A BIG DEAL, you condescending f*ck! Please, ticktock, mW…. continue making such a big deal about these things.

Oh, and if I lived in Memphis, neither I nor anyone that came out of me would be attending a game while that “challenge” lasted.

By: ticktock6

ticktock6 — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:40:06 +0000

For the three people who commented solely to say you didn’t care about this, the reason I didn’t let your comments through moderation was not because “ooooh I’m censoring you!” but because they contributed nothing. If you don’t care, why not go comment on a post you care about? Don’t waste other people’s time. I am pretty sure I’ve delineated both in the post and the comments why I care and why people should care.

By: tinapickles

tinapickles — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 10:24:08 +0000

@mW: in a “modern” reading of King Kong, it could be perceived as racist–you do have a “native” being appropriated by the dominate “white male” who is punished for not falling into line (and for falling in love (and I would argue not even in a sexual way, but rather “in love” in the sense that she is the only one that shows Kong kindness) with a white woman, who is apparently the only one that can understand the “big dumb ape” (literally and figuratively). However, you could also read it the other way too–if looked at a certain way it shows the evils of colonization (physical and literal) of the other as the other is not able to assimilate and as such is destroyed by the dominate culture and in this sense, it could be seen as a cautionary tale decrying the evils and destructive nature of colonization (Kong is removed from everything he knows, forced to preform for white society, and then is betrayed when he does not live up to their expectations). Either way, its a movie representative to the period in which it was made (the 1933 version, not the 2005. It also occurs to me I said WWI, when I meant WWII).

@otto: change starts with one person. Change occurs when one person (or more who are like-minded) raise a stink over something that is perceived culturally acceptable and normative because the majority is indifferent in regards to what the see and consume. Just because the majority is “okay” with what they’re seeing and consuming, doesn’t mean its right or okay. And it certainly doesn’t mean that people like TickTock6 shouldn’t point out the erroneous nature of the complacency of the majority.

By: mW

mW — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 22:41:55 +0000

@ Otto not sure if you’re saying “you” don’t care or the “Grizzlies” don’t care. Hopefully, the latter. But either way, I think its more about how the Grizzlies try to portray sex, i.e., the objectification of women in ways they wouldn’t/couldn’t/won’t with men. It has to do with power relations, agency, and cultural hegemony. Maybe you’re right. Maybe the Grizzlies make money and don’t care. Maybe people like me are in the minority. But I still think its important that people like ticktock6 at least bring up these issues so that people can discuss these issues, rather than just make assumptions about how things should (i.e. “always have been) be.

By: ticktock6

ticktock6 — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:03:45 +0000

@ Otto

You walk a very dangerous line when you say things like that. The majority of people thought the civil rights movement was unnecessary. I have to vehemently disagree with you here. Our society, at the current moment, is very “down” on intellectualism and critical thinking. That doesn’t make unquestioningly accepting the things around you okay. Say YOU don’t care about a topic. Fine. But don’t say no one cares about it or no one SHOULD care about it, just because you don’t.

By: Otto

Otto — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:16:37 +0000

@tinapickles I believe that you misunderstood my comments by my incorrect use of prepositions. Not your fault, I was unclear. I’ll rephrase:

And, on the whole, the number of women that get actually upset by this sort of thing is surprisingly small. So doing this sort of thing doesn’t really hurt the Grizzlies (or insert whatever group is running the advertisement in question) enough to matter to their bottom line.

That was what I meant to say. That even if some percentage of viewers is upset by this sort of sexualization in advertising, most people simply don’t care and don’t get upset by it. It’s quite likely that a larger percentage are in favor of it than are against it. So it’s not about to change, realistically speaking.

By: jbailey

jbailey — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:39:37 +0000

As a female Grizzlie fan, I thought I would add a short comment. I have no idea what any of the dancers names are, they are never given out at games like the players names are and I never felt the need to investigate them. Also, the squad started out co-ed in the beginning and had some very intersting routines with the male dancers included, more interesting than now. I agree contest is sexist and unnecessary.