Steve Bloom’s latest article at CelebStoner.com addresses the proliferation of T & A (that’s “tits and ass” for those living in a monastery) in most marijuana trade magazines and websites. Does it serve the movement (um…how could it?) or does it reduce it to a frat-level boys club, where women are reduced to mere poster fodder?
According to Bloom:
I’m not a prude, I just don’t think it’s appropriate to fill up a pot magazine with images strictly for male readers, essentially turning off the female base. The few woman on the staff [of High Times] would occasionally suggest that a sexy guy should be on the cover. Never happened. I’d regularly hear from women in the movement who’d distanced themselves from the magazine because of the racy content.
Another issue has long been the use of scantily-clad women in advertisements. That certainly has not changed. Take look at most marijuana mags and websites and you’ll inevitably be confronted by objectionable ads, like the legalbuds.com banners or the BC Bud Depot two-page spreads. These are tacky trade-magazine ads that diminish the overall quality of any publication that accepts them. But they also pay the bills,
Now that I’m a website publisher, I encounter the same issues High Times faces, just on a smaller scale. We’ve built CelebStoner as a counter to High Times and Skunk – a sexist-free environment where readers don’t have to be worried about being offended by salacious ads and editorial content. We’ve rejected numerous ad banners that were deemed offensive. High Times doesn’t turn any advertiser away.
Elsewhere on the web, you’ll find plenty of “buds & babes” sites, such as 420girls.com, Girls4ganja.com, ganjaporn.com, girlsgoneweed.com and so on. Women smoking pot with little or no clothes on? Clearly, these are men’s sites. Just like with porn, if women allow themselves to be photographed nude for the purpose of male and (and certainly in some case) female arousal, that’s their choice. Let’s assume no one is being forced to do anything. The same with bud babes. Still, these sites demean women who otherwise would not be featured if they didn’t play the part of sexy sirens.
Been to a cannabis trade show lately? The floors are crawling with barely-clothed women pitching products. People shrug and say that’s what happens at trade shows, but why does that have to be the case at our shows? Are we not different and better? At KushCon II in December, the NORML Woman’s Alliance (NWA) made a stink about the woman in question and a dress code was hastily ordered (and of course not followed).
These issues sparked the forming of the NWA last year. Women in the movement are tired of being harassed, bullied, taken for granted and advantage of, not considered for leadership positions, and objectified. The NWA got together for a tasteful photo shoot to show how they want to be seen – as elegant, powerful woman, not cheesecake girls flaunting their assets.