An Open Letter to Brinks Home Security

[Anonymous <xor@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Brinks Home Security,

Everytime I watch TV, I see several of your ads in regular rotation. Usually, your ads feature a single or married white female who is at home alone, with her husband, or with her children. All of the sudden, panic strikes! A burglar smashes the window, and the woman screams in terror!

What I find troubling here is that any male would-be-victims (if any are shown at all), aren't distressed, and sometimes, these male victims just aren't shown at all. What message does this convey? To me, it says that women are afraid of burglars and SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE AFRAID because it will financially benefit Brinks when women are kept in perpetual fear. To me, it says that Brinks believes that women are the only ones who are victimized by violence, and that men are either above it, or they are completely capable of single-handedly defending themselves and their families. Lastly, Brinks is perpetuating the myth that women need male protection, and that "getting a man" (boyfriend, husband, and then Brinks) is the only way women can stay safe! Isn't this a bit of a sexist double standard that Brinks is capitalizing on?

My response to the spatial patriarchy women experience is this: Women are victimized, hurt, and murdered MOST OFTEN by their live-in husbands and boyfriends. They are also hurt often on dates with men they already know. Being hurt, victimized, and murdered by A STRANGER actually happens much less often that these acquaintance/husband/boyfriend attacks happen. Why doesn't Brinks show this reality in their commercials? Because it wouldn't financially benefit the "home security system" industry!

Brinks feels the need to perpetuate the myth of "perpetual female victimhood/male protection" because Brinks won't profit if they say the truth, which would be something like this: "You are a female. You have a husband, a live-in boyfriend, or you date men who you sometimes invite into your home. You might as well not even bother getting a home security system since you are sleeping with the most risky person every night." Nobody would sign up for their service, I guess, if they said it that way.

In conclusion, Brinks Home Security TV commercials are unrealistic, sexist, and misleading. I'm sick of these ads!

- A Dissatisfied Lady who Carries Pepperspray Instead



Source: http://kristy-chan.livejournal.com/783079.html