So yesterday I got an e-mail from Joe The Art of Coffee, pledging to remove the offending bikini bod ads. And yet, when I walked by their Waverly Place shop this morning, the new ad reads:
Caffeine burns calories*Let Joe’s Help You Get A Bikini Bod
*kinda
PhDork’s response: “The acronym OFFS seems appropriate here.”* Agreed. I e-mailed Joe directly about seeing yet another sexist ad on their chalkboard and was told:
They took it in this morning. I think they didn’t get the message but now it’s gone.
Plus one last bit of lame downplaying:
Just for the record, it was created by 2 of our female baristi as a joke.*
Oh. Well then. I stand corrected. Obviously, it’s not sexist if women made it! Women don’t ever participate in body-shaming other women! Especially not in advertising! And anyway, it was just a joke! If only I would quit acting like sexism actually matters!
I’m almost afraid to walk by there tomorrow, y’all.
*That would be Oh For the Fuck of Shit.
**I think the plural of “barista” is “baristas.” Or, if you must be all Latinate: “baristae.”
I think it’s bariste. In Italian the plural of a female word usually ends in ‘e’ — like pizze (pizza), ragazze (ragazza), and so on.
Also, about the sign — oy.
Caffeine mostly makes me feel like a diseased insect, which is why I keep coming back to the glorious, shimmering depths of the coffee pot every morning.
It has never once taken me swimsuit shopping, taken me to the beach, rubbed sunblock on me, or inflated my swimmy-arms. I call shenanigans.
OFFS is the exact thing that came to mind when I read this. Wow. Between the sorry excuse for an apology that didn’t *really* apologize for anything, and now this response, I think that “Joe” managed to hit every single misogynist button.
1. Sorry you’re offended, not sorry we did something offensive
2. You’re blowing this out of proportion
3. It was JUST a joke
4. The females did it, so it can’t REALLY offend females
How many times have people used these EXACT words when reacting to ANY feminist criticism?! I feel like I’m beating my head against a wall.
Jesus, can they really not think of ANYTHING to say about their coffee that doesn’t involve bikinis?!
OFFS, indeed.
ah the old, “but it can’t be offensive it originated in the minds of the womenz!” argument.
Guys, are you sure there isn’t some other place you could get coffee? Like, in a coffee maker? Maybe I don’t get this because I don’t drink coffee and tea is just as good, if not better, when you brew it yourself…
@Baraqiel: Oh, believe me, I’m NEVER getting coffee there again after this mess. I’m more of a tea drinker anyway–I have a whole wall of teas in my office–but every now and then a latte is nice and coffee shops make them far better than I ever would.
@have.at.it.: You know, you’re right, it’s an Italian word. So yes, the feminine plural would be bariste.
*headdesk*
1) concerning the word Barista it is not gender specific.
2) creating a boycott of a place is easy from behind the walls of the internet. All of you that have commented have been just as negative toward the business as the sign the business created. Shame on you.
If you are this moved by their message, then take the initiative to TALK IN PERSON. I did, and they were very kind. The girls that actually created the sign are smart grad students that were actually attacking the same ridiculous overt weight loss advertising that you are against! The intent was SATIRICAL!
Sweet zombie Jeebus. Seriously, a series of FAIL in the most cliched, unoriginal way possible. Fuck ‘em.
@Genderneutral – “All of you that have commented have been just as negative toward the business as the sign the business created.” What? Are you saying that we’re as negative towards the business as the sign is towards the business? Or as the sign is towards women? Or society? I’m confused by this statement.
Also, this is the internet. We’re not all in New York. If I saw a cafe where I lived pull this kind of stunt, I would talk to them in person about it, no question. But most of us who are commenting aren’t anywhere near this place, so far as I can tell.
@Genderneutral: I don’t think satirical means what you (and the baristas) think it means.
And believe me, I’m not hiding behind the walls of the internet–I spoke with a representative of the company from my personal e-mail account, which gives my full name. And my friends and I who live in New York will be boycotting the store IN PERSON.
Genderneutral: I’m not ashamed of complaining about (or helping Beckysharper to complain about) stupid signs that, one way or another, reinforce the ridiculous fat-shaming that all of us have to deal with all the time. And like baraqiel, I have no idea what your point is. BeckySharper DID talk to the Joe’s people, and the stupid signs remained.
It’s nice that the grad student girls were maybe attempting to be satirical but 1) I don’t really believe it and find it far more likely that they were trying to appeal to women who worry about losing weight before swimsuit season and 2) if they were truly attempting satire, they failed miserably — effective satire usually takes a reasonable premise to a ridiculous conclusion or vice versa (see the classic example, Swift’s Modest Proposal). Their sign wasn’t funny or satirical. Now, if they had said something like “Drink Joe’s coffee and lose 20 pounds overnight! You’ll develop holes in your intestines but no one will notice the colostomy bag because they’ll all be looking at your flat stomach!”, that may have been satirical, if possibly bad for business.
@h.a.i: exactly. Or, as in The Onion’s classic piece, “I Lost 32 Pounds in 15 Days and Died!”
It might be that for the bariste, the sign reminded them of their feminist discussions of body image, but as a public sign that private meaning was certainly swamped by its functioning to generally reinforce the whole ‘get in shape or else!’ thing.
They’re just getting so close to running a pro-anorexia coffee shop…
@Genderneutral: smart grad students you say? well then, carry on!
@have.at.it.: You should write a guest post on satire–I swear, I am so sick of people deliberately saying something sexist/racist/offensive and then being all “oh, it was SATIRE!” It’s always telling that they only play the satire card when people respond negatively.
BeckySharper, as a disabled person, I find your use of “lame” quite offensive.
Please apply definitions 2-4:
From Merriam Webster :
lame
Pronunciation:
\ˈlām\
1 a: having a body part and especially a limb so disabled as to impair freedom of movement b: marked by stiffness and soreness
2: lacking needful or desirable substance : weak, ineffectual
3 slang : not being in the know : square
4 a: inferior b: contemptible, nasty
@Chally: But I certainly don’t mean to give offense. I didn’t realize that word was offensive even when used in that particular context.
OFFS is oh for the fuck of shit?
I always thought it was Oh For Fuck’s Sake.
@BeckySharper Yep, using lame to mean inferior, weak, contemptible etc is offensive to people with disabilities. I’m a bit confused because there’s a reference to ableist language in the comment policy and this is the classic example of ableist language.
becksharper… SATIRE: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and topical issues.
it is disappointing that this established definition will provide more context and color to your comprehension of what SATIRE is as a noun.
get off of your soap box… as a gay man should i be offended that it is assumed that i cannot wear a bikini… because this there exists an attitude that excuudes gays from wearing “female” gender clothing. (you may read this and think “lame” but it is a point just as deserving in validity) i personally know proprietors of shoe stores that only carry larges sizes of pumps because trans and gay purchase them. CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES… fight for the REAL causes and not chastise some chalkboard in the west village that actually shares many agreeable positions with a CONTRASTING sense of humor!
I am glad i don’t have to be your friend!
bluebears: don’t judge… bake fudge
Genderneutral, would you mind sending us a list of approved topics by which we can be offended? I don’t want to write about anything in the future that you might find insufficiently outrageous.
We know the definition of satire. There is nothing to suggest this was intended to expose and criticize people’s stupidity and vices.
Dear genderneutral: Becky is, I’m sure, thrilled she doesn’t have to be your friend either.
[...] of misogynist ish whose authors have dressed it up as “satire.” Be it the ill-advised “bikini bod” ads from Joe in New York or the hideous bit of hateration published by the Irish Times back in [...]
@Chally: Honestly, I had absolutely no idea that it was ableist language. My apologies.
@Genderneutral: Wait, are you being satirical? Or just ridiculous? I can’t tell. But I’ll swap bikinis with you if it’ll make you feel better.
[...] from the Harpies and you commenters gives me the energy bay like a hounddog when confronted with sexism, intimidation and grossness. In the past I might have grumbled or sniped a little, but now [...]
Becky, I used to live just down the street from the Joe’s on Waverly. I’m frankly shocked that they would be spouting that BS, considering that they were so nice when I used to live there. Sniff. Now I’m homesick again.
Good on ya, for doing this! As an Italian grammar geek, ‘ista’ endings are neutral, so they all end in ‘i’, so barista -> baristi. They got one (and only one) thing right!
Oh God, I think I’m wrong about that. So they’re all wrong! And I’ll revert to nodding in agreement.