The sex store can throw out words like “strength”, “confidence” and “autonomy” all they want (sounds like someone has been using a thesaurus!) but it doesn’t make them true
After two more porn-themed ads upheld by Ad Standards, sex store defends its objectification of women for profit
Ad Standards has upheld complaints against two more porn-themed ads by Playboy-owned sex store Honey Birdette, with complaints now upheld against more than 80 separate ads.
A local community member made a complaint to Ad Standards over two different ads at Lakeside Joondalup, one featuring a woman in sheer lingerie pulling down her bra strap, and the other featuring a woman in sheer lingerie reclining while pushing her breasts together. Read the case report here.
Porn themed ads which present women as objects to an audience that includes children. We are battling a scourge of violence against women and sexual grooming of children. I object to this company contributing to a culture which normalises these harms in my community.
Drawing on a common abuse tactic known as gaslighting, the sex store defended broadcasting sexist and pornified representations of women to an audience that includes children.
Honey Birdette is a brand built on the foundation of empowering women. Our products, including the lingerie featured in these advertisements, are designed to celebrate and enhance a woman's confidence, sensuality, and autonomy. The images in question are a reflection of this ethos, presenting women as confident, empowered individuals in control of their own narratives … we firmly believe that our advertisements do not objectify women, but rather, showcase them in a manner that emphasizes strength, self-assurance, and independence.
Honey Birdette’s claims are at odds with decades of empirical research literature finding that sexual objectification of women does not “empower” women, it dehumanises them.
Gaslighting: Honey Birdette claims objectification promotes "autonomy"
Note Honey Birdette emphasis on the women’s supposed autonomy – a claim they repeat multiple times: “autonomy”, “independence”, “in control of their narratives”. That sounds good, right? But there are several problems with this claim.
First, the women depicted in these images are not calling the shots. They are models who have been styled, instructed how to pose, and paid. This is not an expression of women’s autonomy, these are deliberately constructed ads made by a pornography-brand-owned sex store with the objective of selling lingerie and sex toys. To claim these porn-themed images of women to sell overpriced lingerie is an expression of female power and autonomy is a classic patriarchal reversal, and nothing more than a lie from a porn brand whose profits rely on consumers believing it.
Second, even if these images were legitimate expressions of female sexuality, they do not represent a sexuality in which women are “empowered", just one where they are suitably sexually attractive to men. (We note the only women being "empowered" in Honey Birdette ads are slender, conventionally attractive and under the age of 25.) There is nothing new or revolutionary or empowering for women in being reduced to sexual objects available for men’s entertainment and use. The women are posed submissively, reclining, demonstrating their sexual availability by pulling bra straps down and pushing their breasts together.
The sex store can throw out words like “strength”, “confidence” and “autonomy” all they want (sounds like someone has been using a thesaurus!) but it doesn’t make them true.
Our imagery is intended to empower women by celebrating their bodies and their right to express their sexuality on their own terms, free from judgment and societal constraints.
Again, even if these advertisements were authentic depictions of female sexuality, and not just selling the same old male sexual fantasy in service of a porn brand's profits, there is no right to express one’s sexuality “free from judgments and societal constraints” in a family shopping centre in front of a non-consenting audience – one that includes children. When adults deliberately expose children to adult, sexualised and porn-themed content, it is called grooming.
It is important to clarify that Honey Birdette's target audience is adults, and our marketing efforts are directed toward this demographic.
Except that the sex store broadcasts its sexist, porn-inspired advertising in public shopping centres where a significant number of viewers are children and minors. And don’t forget – this is a company that has been found in breach of the Code of Ethics more than 80 times. Honey Birdette has demonstrated its disregard and contempt for children and their right to grow up free from exposure to harmful porn-themed content for more than a decade.
We believe that the solution lies in promoting a culture where women are free to express themselves without being subjected to outdated prejudices and restrictive norms.
What a shock – the Playboy-owned sex store is in favour of less scrutiny on their sexist and objectifying ads. We reiterate that these images are not women “expressing themselves”, but an unethical sex shop advertising its products. The beliefs that women are not objects and deserve to have their full humanity recognised, that women should not be subjected to unwanted porn-themed images in public spaces which constitute sexual harassment, and that children should be free from sexual grooming in family shopping centres are not “outdated prejudices and restrictive norms”, as much as the porn brand with profits at stake would like to distort reality.
It's also a pretty bold statement for a company that was exposed by its young female staff for a toxic workplace culture of bullying and sexual harassment, with WorkSafe finding a breach of health and safety laws and issuing over a dozen Improvement Notices.
Decades of research documents harms of sexually objectifying women
Exposure to sexually objectifying representations of women can trigger a shift in perception of women as a social category to women as objects. Sexually objectified women are often perceived as having less competence, intelligence, warmth and morality – some of the most basic aspects of personhood. As sexually objectified women are ascribed less humanity, they are seen as less deserving of empathy.
Media that objectifies women sends the message that women are sexual instruments that should behave in ways that facilitate male sexual gratification – promoting women’s role in providing male sexual pleasure and undermining their humanity.
The more men consume media that sexually objectifies women, the more they think of women as objects that exist for their sexual enjoyment. The belief that women are objects rather than fully human affects how women are viewed and treated. Read more.
Honey Birdette cannot objectify women and facilitate their dehumanisation and claim to be promoting women’s power and autonomy.
Ultimately, Ad Standards didn’t buy their response, upholding complaints against both ads. Now we need a system with teeth, one that does not enable unethical corporates to objectify women in their advertising and issues penalties for repeat offenders like Honey Birdette.
See also:
12 ways Honey Birdette disempowers women and girls
How sexualisation and objectification harms women and girls: What the research says
'Not Hugh Hefner’s Playboy’, claims CEO. We agree - it’s actually worse.
Add your comment