Adriana E. sent in this video made by The Human Rights Action Center, featuring Tila Tequila, designed to inspire opposition to human rights abuses in Burma. Like other organizations, such as PETA (see here and here), this PSA uses sex appeal to inspire activist outrage.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK8inPfHg_0[/youtube]
Ironically, as Adriana notes, Tila Tequila is famous for being bisexual, but really only interacts suggestively in this video with the boys. I guess hypersexualizing a woman is all fine and good, but bisexuality would be a real turn off.
Do any of you think that this is effective in inspiring concern for Burma?
Comments 11
Barbar — November 4, 2008
Laughably ineffective of course.
A bit of a tangent, but this comment:
"I guess hypersexualizing a woman is all fine and good, but bisexuality would be a real turn off."
seems way off base to me. Her bisexuality fits in perfectly well with the hypersexualizing. Trust me, this video would not be any "better" if the girls were drooling over her as well.
Fifa — November 4, 2008
It seems to me that the girls *are* drooling over her as well in the video (- a striking change from the usual 'girl-sees-hotter-girl-and-so-must-automatically-want-to-make-her-life-miserable Hollywood formula', but revolting either way.) Now we're rewarding intellectualism/idealism with porn? Overthrow Mugabe and the pornstars will love you? My brain is bleeding.
Darin — November 4, 2008
This is such a strange ad. Trying to use sex appeal to raise awareness of rape.
And when the 2 girls talk together about thousands of people getting killed they are smiliing because she is going to strip.
Adriana — November 4, 2008
To clarify, a student showed this ad as part of a presentation on Tila Tequila and the media representation of bisexuality. I found this ad appalling for the reasons that everyone mentions. Fifa puts it well: we're rewarding idealism and world knowledge with porn?!?
Focusing on the bisexuality, I found it oddly skewed. Tila Tequila *touches* the men but only allows the women to *gaze*. So, yes, there is a shift in that Tila is the focus of the male *and* female gaze, but I wonder how different that is than Laura Mulvey's description of the way film spectatorship elicits a male gaze that women are asked/forced to inhabit?
The bisexuality of Tila Tequila « Café Americano — November 4, 2008
[...] a side note: I sent in a PSA for human rights in Burma (starring Tila Tequila) to Sociological Images, a blog whose insistent media watch I appreciate. [...]
Le — November 4, 2008
Yeah I thought girl-on-girl action is usually portrayed as sexually favorable. But either way of course this doesn't help the cause!!! As the first replier said, just plain laughable!
dominika — November 5, 2008
this is awful, and trivializing Burma
G. Smith — November 22, 2008
I'm not saying what was done here was right, but how do you get people's attention in a society that has for the past fifty years been focused on self? We live in a consumer society in which the needs and desires of the individual have superseded all else, which has lead to a hardening of the individual conscious as well as a desensitizing of violence committed toward humans. In this environment how do you capture the minds and wills of a collective, there is two ways - You some how shock the audience (perhaps airing the rape of a real child by a dozen men of t.v), further desensitizing society to violence, or you use sex and appeal to the consumer side of society, further exacerbating the self centered obsession. I understand the conflict represented here and quite frankly I think they chose the more tasteful approach. Children being hurt, while a fact in conflict zones, should never be exploited for any reason. Although that might be needed to get people to do something.
Using Sex To Sell The Most Unlikely Things » Sociological Images — August 22, 2009
[...] See also similar posts on PETA (see here and here) and human rights violations in Burma. [...]
BE SMOKEFREE AND GET HOT CHICKS » Sociological Images — November 26, 2009
[...] other examples of using sex, go here, here, and here. Or go to our “More” tab, where you’ll find a search box, and search [...]
YourName — May 12, 2012
Sorry for commenting so late, but bisexuality among women is considered to be sexy, as you Lisa have pointed. Maybe though the sexualization of Tila, they didn't want to make it to much, just because lesbianism isn't considered normal, but pornographical. Also as it is mentioned on some of the comments, the girls as allowed to gaze and they want to take part in Tila's striptease as much as the boys, so I definitely think that there is a suggestion of female bisexuality/lesbianism here.