To all the requisite lovelies on here throwing out the "feminists have no sense of humor" party line--well I have a damn good sense of humor myself. I love parody and satire, I love everything from South Park to Monty Python to George Carlin, may he rest in peace.

This ad campaign? This is a piece of shit. I read somewhere that these are stock photos of "real" women who probably have no idea that they're being used this way. Not only are they normal looking women being described as "ugly", but they are picked apart using the the most offensive and hateful terms possible, almost like they're less than human. "a freckled bag of cellulite"?? "Bonus: a hairy mole"??? Why not just go all the way and call them hairy bags of pus and shit and gore? I swear it wasn't that far off.

I'm pretty nonchalant about my own appearance, myself, but this was enough to make me want to slit my wrists. It took maybe 30 seconds of glancing at the ad copy to make me feel bad about myself. I certainly did not feel like laughing.

Yes, I laugh at South Park. Every episode I've ever seen has been a dead-on brilliantly subversive satire on everything that's fucked up about our society-the hypocricy, greed, stupidity, sheep mentality. It's not trying to sell you fruity little cocktails, it's trying to make a point. And I find it absolutely hilarious. I can't watch it for 30 seconds without laughing.

This ad campaign--well on one level it's so wacked out it reads like a parody of the rampant misogyny in alcohol advertising. Except it actually is an actual ad campaign. It's apparently trying to sell women Bacardi coolers or whatever. Who exactly is it trying to reach? Women who consider themselves the "ugly friend" and are all like "well at least I'm not quite as hideous as the women in these ads.." Which they're not of course, they're just presented that way, and so people are going to start believing that they are...just like some people seem to believe that extraordinarily thin women are the norm--so much so that they freaked out over the Dove women and labeled them "fat" when they absolutely were not. Advertising affects people more than they realize.

Or are the ads trying to appeal to women that are like "oh thank god I'm not the ugly friend, b/c so and so is less attractive than me."? Thus appealing to its target audience's vanity and general hideous qualities to make a buck rather than skewer those qualities as a show like South Park would to make a point and maybe even a difference. Are the ads trying to be subversive and mock humanity's vanity? I'm not sure, but they certainly are exploiting it to make a buck.

And again, South Park tends to lampoon celebrities who are used to being in the public eye. I'm not really comfortable with the women in these ads coming from stock photos. Yeah, maybe they knew what was going on and signed off on it, although I'm not really sure if that's how it works. One way or the other, they're forever going to be known as "hey, it's the cross-eyed cellulite laden chick from the campaign about ugly women."

I honestly don't know if all of them are, but I'm pretty sure that the redhead is:

[www.istockphoto.com]

[www.istockphoto.com]

OK, those links aren't going to work, but on Jezebel they had links to a stock photo website that led to different pics of the redheaded woman. Again, I'm not sure about the other women.

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-3321069-yellow-party-portrait.php

Sorry for all the posts....

Wonderful essay, Laura. I appreciate the thoughtful consideration of the socio-economic and gender role implications of a genre that is often dismissed by critics.

I also really like what you had to say about the differences between the YA escapist fiction like Twilight and the more adult oriented fiction by Harris and the like.

Dude! I totally had forgotten about "Sunglasses After Dark." I read that book years ago, when I was still a teenager, and from what I remember it was awesome. Very dark and gritty, not romantic at all--just the way I like it. But yeah, thanks for reminding me of that, I'll have to see if I can find it and the sequels again.

Also, to all the commenters who have mentioned Charles de Lint as an originator and masterful writer of urban fantasy, I completely agree. His stuff is lovely-very focused on myth and folklore as elements of healing.

This was over ibuprofen, are you fucking kidding me? How in God's name could that be considered contraband?

Of course, one way or the other, it seems like a horrific abuse of power.

Seriously? Hoffman blew up over that review? I skimmed through it, and I actually thought it was rather flattering. Yes, it wasn't solely a glowing review and there was negative criticism, but the reviewer also pointed out several positive aspects of the novel. I can't imagine getting that upset over such a tiny bit of criticism. I mean I've had creative writing courses and I know that criticism can sting, but you'd think a veteran professional writer would just shrug it off.

This just astounds me, and frankly disappoints me. I admire and look up to writers, and I hate to think that some of them act like such spoiled teenagers.