I am a woman.
I have a heart, a brain, thoughts, ideas, a personality and quirks - just like any other person on this earth.
I have hips, boobs, curves and a vagina. I get my period once a month, and I can pop kids out my biscuit (thanks for the reference, Honey Boo Boo).
But really, my reproductive organs are the only things that make me any different than a man. So why is society continuously reverting back to the days where women were subservient and considered to be lesser humans than men?
BIC recently released an advertising campaign, marketing a new series of pens as "BIC for Her" -- pens advertised as "A ball pen essentially for women!" according to BIC's website. Normal pens are just too much for females to handle.
These pens come in pastel colors -- pinks, purples, aqua and corals -- just to catch the female eye because our eyes cannot handle manly blacks and blues.
I was curious if these pens work different from normal "manly" pens, so I asked around our female-dominant (13 women to 11 men) newsroom to see if anyone had used the writing instruments. I know we women are inferior and are only here as eye-candy, so I trusted the opinion of a male colleague.
"They're magnificent," said Sports Editor Joseph Konze. "I have them in a couple of different colors. They're very thin and delicate on the hand. I'm a writer who has a lot of cramps in my hand when he writes, and this pen is like writing with air. BIC really nailed this on the head with these pens."
The pen is slimmer -- made "thinner for a better handling for women," according to BIC's website. Surely my wrist cannot hold a "unisex" pen for more than a minute; it's far too heavy and writing becomes tiresome.
Honestly, these pens don't bother me because they're pink or purple or thinner. It's the fact they're marketed just for women, as if I need special treatment or to be treated in a more delicate fashion just because I have a vagina. I haven't seen BIC make a line of pens for men, so why make the distinction?
BIC seems to be taking a beating from Internet commenters - and rightfully so. At last count, Amazon U.S. and U.K. had over 500 reviews each, most of which were fairly sarcastic and snarky. They call out BIC for being sexist and backwards. An excerpt:
"So glad that there is finally a writing implement that I can use! Before all of the pens were not specifically marked as suitable for my soft disposition and I am so glad that I can now write in my diary between my housework and cooking," one reviewer wrote.
BIC has not released any sort of statement since the reviews blew up Amazon - a horrible move. Women and men will continue to troll the company because of its poor marketing tactics.
Why would a pen need a feminine distinction? There's more to women than the ability to make a sandwich and the ability to give birth.
BIC is only propagating sexism and male dominance, even though it may not have been the intention. By trying too hard to appeal to women, BIC pushed female customers away.
I can write just fine with my manly pen. But who knows? I might've been in the kitchen too long.
Email: rebecca.bratek@ubspectrum.com
