Making Women Visible And Powerful In The Media Women's Media Center

Using Sex to Sell Health Care Reform to Voters?

Last night WMC Prez Jehmu Greene appeared on the O’Reilly Factor to comment on Rock the Vote’s new sexualized health care video. Ironically the Fox News segment online is prefaced by a sexual PajamaGram ad that features women stripping off their tops, bottoms and bras, and posing provocatively for their partners. A woman’s husky voice offers: “This Christmas there’s only one gift guaranteed to get women to take their clothes off… Give her what she really wants.” Helpfully the delivery includes a free “do not disturb sign.” Incredibly, Laura Ingraham then launches into her critique with “a viewer warning”…

About the RtV video, WMC President Jehmu Greene commented: “Rock the Vote is the premiere organization worker to connect young people into politics…. And they’re trying to be provocative. Historically that is what the organization does with their campaign. I do think it is unfortunate that they kind of dumbed down this important issue of health-care reform to frat boy culture, overtly sexual, using cleavage to communicate this message when there are so many other ways to be compelling and provocative on this issue, especially when it comes to young women and how health-care reform, in a sense, is almost throwing them under the bus.”

Watch the video here:

Women aren’t going to want to have sex at all after Congress has gutted their reproductive rights from health care reform. Young people who care about health care reform and want to educate themselves about the devastating impact it could have on women can visit NotUndertheBus.com to amplify their support for pro-choice, comprehensive and affordable health care!

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One Comment

  1. Posted December 23, 2009 at 2:09 pm | Permalink

    The video is a bit over the top, but it is trying to get attention of the audience and that is fair given the relatively low engagement of youth in politics. However, in my mind, we should not be opposing the bill on the basis that it does set up a first step so that future amendments can create a more modern and comprehensive health program. If the bill is lost, the discussion won’t be revisited for another generation and the status quo is nothing to be defending by opposing the bill.

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