Hypocrisy, jealousy, tell me what this is, as I can't tell.

My article about the poster that caused such controversy has some feminists up in arms today.

Here is the Moto Internationale Poster that has caused so many women motorcyclists who belong to the Facebook group, Women Riders Council of Canada to loose their minds and some to call BMW to complain and put the dealership Moto Internationale in the hot seat.

I have to say that I do not understand the women who think that a poster of a chick in a bikini, posing for a charity bike wash, clearly marketing to the male demographic is objectification of the female person and somehow a horrible thing for female riders to have to witness.

The majority of the population in the world is attracted to the opposite gender.  If an advertiser uses a pretty girl to attract the of the attention of the male population they are marketing to, then he's marketing to his target. It's not about offending you.

Here is the definition of advertising according to Merriam-Webster:

1: the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements

I don't think bashing that pretty little girl in the bikini bike wash poster, the dealer for trying to market to men or the brand for allowing their motorcycle to be near a female in a bikini is fair treatment to any of them.

The poster you are looking at may or may not be of an airbrushed female of the human species, or it might actually be an artists rendering of a female. Either way, if there was a woman who modelled for that poster, she probably got paid good money. She probably has another job, is a girlfriend or wife, a student or a lawyer - we have no idea from one photo, one poster.  Everything about the woman in the poster is an ASSUMPTION, other than she is slender and dark haired.

The advertising however is clearly targeted to the heterosexual male rider.

It's clearly not targeting the female rider.  

Is that what is wrong with the poster?  The female feels left out?

My article about Debunking the Sisterhood Myth in Motorcycling has caused so much hateful vitriol I don't even know where to start, here is one such comment, a sample if you will:

"The article was remanent of the 1960s, to be honest, in a culture where women were conditioned to compete against each other and their sense of self worth and value was placed on their looks. Accusing others of being jealous, stating that being cat-called by strangers on the street offers some sort of empowerment perpetuates the rape culture that exists today (and really, always has been). The men you are referring to believe it is their right to whistle at, cat-call with lewd statements, and dictate how we should receive their attention and is everything but empowering. When women truly support, include and empower each other, we will have a sisterhood. Lead by example and you will attract like-minded women. We should not be bashing each other, regardless of our opinions. We should be respectfully agreeing to disagree. The author of the article behaved no different than a mysoginist man who just talks over women - we disagree - big deal. There's no need to bash everyone who didn't agree with you."

Wow is all I can say. Frankly being compared to a misogynist has me shaking my head.  To have someone make claims that I "stating that being cat-called by strangers on the street offers some sort of empowerment perpetuates the rape culture that exists today"

If you are going to quote me, then do so properly, here is what I actually said:
If you have ever walked a little taller when a construction worker wolf whistled at you, if you ever sucked your gut in a bit, cause that someone special was looking your way, if you have ever changed clothes ten times before going out on a date, if you have ever put on that special pair of shoes because you were told they made your legs look sexy, then don't be a hypocrite."

To the gal who wrote that diatribe: You couldn't disagree with my opinion until I had written it so how could I be bashing everyone who didn't agree with me?  Moreover, you bashed me in your comments..."We should not be bashing each other, regardless of our opinions. We should be respectfully agreeing to disagree. The author of the article behaved no different than a mysoginist man who just talks over women".  

About the only sentence in the whole article these women seemed to grab on to was the one where I said that "If the 20 something in the bikini offends your old, jealous flabby arse, then don't look at the poster or the chick, don't attend the event, move on - get over yourself."....and OH MY GAWD I am a villain of epic proportions because I dared to call some of these gals out for being jealous and hypocritical.

I am like a misogynist I guess because I believe that:

1) We should all feel comfortable in our own skin - no matter our shape or size. (If you are concerned a young woman thinks her body is her only worth, become a big sister)

2) We should all be taught that our appearance is not equal to our self worth or our WHOLE worth.

3) We should all be teaching our female children what their whole self worth is comprised of.

4) We all should know the difference between advertising and targeted marketing (marketing to male, female, LGBTQ and Family demographics all require a different mindset), and that objectification is NOT the goal of advertising - Awareness is.

 Why do you have to choose to be offended, because you realize its a choice, right?  

If this man was on the poster offering to wash your bike, for those ladies who are into men, how would you ladies feel?  

Would men be inclined to attend?

Probably not unless they are in to men - gay/bisexual.

Should men be offended by a poster like this?

Do you think this male model is being objectified?

Would this be appropriate marketing in 2017?

I bet a good number of over weight, out of shape males with self esteem issues would have something to say about the topic, but because they are men with self esteem issues, they won't tell you how they feel, because they know they will never win, because they have been raise to believe that they are men, therefore wrong.  

The strong males of the species won't give a crap. 

The gay/bixexual men are drooling.

As I say in my previous article:

Self worth/esteem is a HUMAN issue.

QUIT MAKING IT GENDER DRIVEN.

Three Years Old

I find the Niqab, the Hijab, and the Burka to be disturbing items of clothing for what they represent, but I don't go around slamming women who dress that way. The same with those cultures and faiths, like the Hutterites, the Mennonites and the Amish, where the women dress like they are stuck in the 19th century, they seem happy.  I don't agree with these cultures & ideologies, they aren't for me, but if they are happy, I say live and let live.

I am VERY disappointed that these women who took me to task for voicing my viewpoint and calling out the jealousy that I believe is at the root of their vehemence - not one of them, would address the little girl dressed up for a beauty pageant at 3 years old, looking like she's ready for a date...that's TEACHING OBJECTIFICATION - that's teaching your daughter her body/appearance is her primary worth.  The article from the Daily Mail in the UK shows a few more photos and shares the fact that this mother spent a fortune every month to keep her daughter competition ready at 3 years old.

I was told by a women from the Women Riders Council of Canada a part of the MCC and funded by the MMIC to find my own tribe, that there are many kinds of sisterhood.

Let's have an honest and fair debate here:

What are your thoughts on these calendars and the reasons behind them - the Ladies Calendar:

the Men's Calendar:

Tell me what's wrong with these calendars?  

They both are for charity. 

They both "sell" sexuality/appeal.

They both clearly show hard working firefighters who know their self worth...

If you can find something offensive, objectifying or demeaning here, then tell me what it is?

Have a fantastic day, and if you are blessed enough to be riding today, please ride like everyone around you is blind and cannot see you.

Belt Drive Betty,

Editor & Rider

Women in Motorcycling, debunking the Sisterhood Myth

Over the last several days I have been seeing a whole bunch of brand and motorcycle industry bashing by female riders over women in bikini's on posters for charity bikini bike washes.
What really got my goat is how many of those complaining appear to sport cleavage shots on their Facebook pages. I cannot believe the dishonesty and hypocrisy of these females.

They are jealous but  instead of recognizing it for what it is, they are jumping on the "Female Objectification" bandwagon without any real understanding of the term,  other than it's a popular catch phrase these days.

If you are a human being who understands biology and procreation, then you understand sexual urge. You also understand the pheromones that the whole mating ritual gives off and you probably can remember the excitement of being 16, 20, 24 and having that guy/gal you liked pay attention to you.

It's why the gal's who so bitterly decrying the pretty air brushed 20 something body in the poster, all sport some sort of dress up pose, they are looking for appreciation of their physical appearance.

Sexuality is part of the human being.

A young woman posing for a poster in a bikini, or being willing to wear a bikini for a charity bike wash is no cause for the foot stamping, brand, male and female bashing BS I have been reading from these women.

This is NOT HUMAN TRAFFICKING - These women aren't being FORCED to pose, they are proud of their bodies, their sexuality and isn't learning to be comfortable in your own skin part of this whole I am "Woman hear me Roar" that we are always hearing about?

Or does being comfortable in your own body only apply to the obese or extremely skinny?

If you have ever walked a little taller when a construction worker wolf whistled at you, if you ever sucked your gut in a bit, cause that someone special was looking your way, if you have ever changed clothes ten times before going out on a date, if you have ever put on that special pair of shoes because you were told they made your legs look sexy, then don't be a hypocrite.

WE LOVE ALL COMPLIMENTS.  

We love being told we look pretty or beautiful, or that we did a bang up job on a report, or on a welding project...

Just because you are jealous that you don't have that 20 something body anymore does not give you the right to go around bashing others who are/were:
1) needing some strong female companionship to show them their WHOLE worth,
2) really comfortable in their own skin and don't give a crap what you think or
3) offered some good money to pose and don't care if you like the fact that they traded money for the use of their body in a poster.

A bikini car/bike wash poster for charity does not entice me to want to attend, but there are those who enjoy it. Who are you, me or anyone else to dictate to someone what they should or should not enjoy or participate in?

There is an old school motto that the riding community has forgotten even though you see it on tee shirts, primaries and key fobs everywhere, "Live and Let Live".  In essence it means that if it has no bearing on your day to day life, then let it go,  as long as they aren't trying to force something on you that you are not comfortable with, let it go.

SOOOOO...

If the 20 something in the bikini offends your old, jealous flabby arse, then don't look at the poster or the chick, don't attend the event, move on - get over yourself.

If you are so jealous and concerned that your old man might find a younger body more attractive than yours, then you are with the wrong old man (or significant other).

To blame an industry for objectifying the female body makes about as much sense as claiming that cutlery makes people fat.

Objectification of the female form starts with WOMEN - not the industry of motorcycling and not even with men, it starts with women.  

Women are the biggest objectifiers of the female form.

MOTHERS teaching daughters
how to be princesses, sexy
little girls at 3 and 4 and 5 years old.

We criticize and pick each other apart pointing out every flaw the other has.

Don't believe me?

Just go listen to a gaggle of catty, bitchy females when some pretty little thing walks by...the jealousy and criticism is palpable, and the subliminal message the girl gets, is loud and clear:
You are disgusting, you are dirt, you don't belong or fit in because you are different and yet...
so many claim to be a part of a sisterhood.

I read, see and witness it time and time again.

If you really want women to quit posing in bikinis, washing bikes wearing bikinis or riding bikes with bikinis on, then maybe you should focus your self righteous anger at the beauty pageant industry, or lovingly start teaching girls how to become strong women and become a big sister.

I don't know about you, but I am far more offended by the photo of the little girl above than I am of the girl's in the bikini's on the poster. That little girl has no say in how she dresses up.  How she looks, but the adult in the poster does.

If you really think that you will ever stop women from taking off their clothes to gain the appreciation that some male (and some females) will give their beautiful young bodies, think again.

If you really think you will ever convince men to quit lusting after the female form, then you are delusional.

But folks, I want you to understand that this isn't a gender specific issue.

Self worth/esteem is a HUMAN issue.

QUIT MAKING IT GENDER DRIVEN.

Is human trafficking a devastating issue? YES. 
Are there men who use their gender to attempt to bully or otherwise coerce women into doing things they don't want to to keep a job, get a bank loan etc.? OH Yeah.

Are there women who enable, condone, participate, initiate or otherwise support any of the above? YES. Are there or have there ever been women who run prostitution rings, sexually abuse other women etc? YES.

If you really think that the male of our species is so disgusting and privileged then perhaps you should actually look at what we are doing to them in the name of "gender equality."

I dare every human being I know to read the book "Knights without Armor" by Aaron R. Kipnis, Ph.D. It just might enlighten you to find out that a lot of men are confused, hurt and disillusioned as to what their role in society is these days.

As far as RESPECT, we don't need someone to give it to us or to approve it for us. This isn't the turn of the century and 99% of women in western cultures now a days have full control over their lives. Those who don't have either have:

1)  just never seized it, 

2) are just learning how or 

3) are dealing with self esteem issues and not getting the support they need.  

Education is what it takes to change these things. 

Righteous indignation and bashing will never get you anywhere except hated.

Today, women in western civilization have more rights, power and freedom than ever before and yet many of our female politicians have turned out to be as corrupt, untrustworthy and power hungry or more than their male counterparts.  

Quit with the industry and man bashing.
Quit denigrating the female with the beautiful body because you are jealous.
Quit pretending we are all sisters when we clearly are not.
Quit with the moral outrage that is masked as gender equality and equal rights, and identify your insecurity for what it really is; jealousy -  and then let it go.

At the end of the day, you are going to buy the motorcycle that fits your ass comfortably, the riding gear that keeps you safe and makes you look good and go home with the man you came with if he's any kind of a man and you are any kind of a woman; if you are true partners, nothing will shake either of you. (This goes for all partnerships.)

The chick in the bikini is no threat to you unless you let her be or you are with the wrong partner.
Put your petty jealousy away, because its probably the least becoming thing a woman can wear.

I modelled for a living in my younger days. It was hard, gruelling and emotional work.
The people looking at your body, judging your fitness to grace the runway, catalogue cover or a billboard looked at only one thing, is yours the right body line combined with the right attitude to sell these clothes.  Who you were as a person never once entered into the equation unless you were easy to work with or a diva and being a diva was rarely a good thing.

You were there to sell clothes. PERIOD - Attractiveness sells, sex sells - that's all they cared about.
And there were MANY, MANY women on those panels, in fact most often it was other women picking apart my form.

My bloom has faded, I am no longer that pretty young rose, but my husband still thinks I am pretty (he doesn't wear his glasses as much as he should thank God!)

It still feels good to have someone think that I am pretty, I don't get offended by it at all.
That does not also mean that I am not smart, or talented in one way or another.

We were put on this earth to procreate, to be attracted to each other sexually and that is not a BAD THING...and remember, there are women who are good sisters, who support each other, who lift each other up, and then there are those who are worse than snakes, to your face they will be sweetness and light, but the minute you walk away....the daggers come out.

Be careful of the Sisterhood myth - the Sisterhood does exist,

 just not in the soul of every woman out there.

Have a great day and remember if you want to save money, have a safe and enjoyable riding season, join www.riderfriendly.com and on your profile page, you'll find your membership card...

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Bet Drive Betty
Editor & Rider
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