On the most testosterone laced day of the year — while men cheered, sucked down beers, and loosened their pants — feminists went on Twitter to comment on the cultural phenomena occurring all around them. As one twitterer noted, “Fact: About 40 million women – of 100 million viewers – watch the #SuperBowl.”
Under the hashtag #femsuperbowl, empowered women found solace in open commentary about what they saw as the most offensive components of Super Bowl Sunday.
The top grievances of the night were less about the game and the propriety of allowing accused rapist Ben Roethlisberger on the field and more about the sexism of the commercials. The top offenders: GoDaddy.com, which featured close ups of a woman’s body parts; Pepsi Max, which suggested men will only stop thinking about sex when given a Pepsi Max; and Cars.com in which talking cars joked about a presumably female car with her top off.
Of course the offensive nature of the ads did not detract from those who saw the entire thing as one giant anti-women display.
“Friend asked is #Superbowl sexist or commercials around it? Ans: All of it! The simple fact that only mens team play is sexist#femsuperbowl,” tweeted Morgane_R.
It was for just Morgane_R’s reasoning that Tifcard was thrilled to be without television Sunday night.
“So glad TV isn’t working! It’s 1 thing 2 be subjucated 2 ‘ism’s’ thruout the day but min after min #superbowl & commercials?#femsuperbowl,” Tifcard tweeted.
Though much of the attention was on the commercials, Ben Roethlisberger did not get off scot-free. There were a few women who singled him out for special criticism.
“There’s no hit or sack that compares to the violence that Ben Worthlessberger does to women. #femsuperbowl,” wrote LFB27.
See some of the comments here:
