Let's ban sexist subway ads

Can we really defend public advertisements that shame women's bodies?

A controversial Protein World subway advertisement
(Image credit: Johnny Armstead/Demotix/Corbis)

As if riding New York's subways weren't unpleasant enough. There are the gender-agnostic annoyances like overcrowding, that stench of someone's half-finished McDonald's stowed under a seat, and the increasingly long waits in unbearably hot stations. And then there are those more women-specific ones like the catcalls, groping, unsolicited photographs (sometimes under our skirts!), and worse. Sometimes all a straphanger can do is look up and wait for it all to be over.

Except, wait, it is bad up there, too. This summer we've been subjected to subway cars wallpapered with advertisements that are plain offensive. There's an ad for a plastic surgery group that features a woman holding a pair of tangerines in front of her chest with a sad face, next to a picture of her holding grapefruits up to her chest with a happy face. (Not the first fail from this particular company.) Then there's Protein World's picture of a well-proportioned woman in a bikini next to the caption: "Are You Beach Body Ready?"

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Elissa Strauss

Elissa Strauss writes about the intersection of gender and culture for TheWeek.com. She also writes regularly for Elle.com and the Jewish Daily Forward, where she is a weekly columnist.