Life

This Japanese Ad Is So Sexist But That Pan Tho

by Kat George

It's really hard to be a woman and feel torn about things that are pretty clearly sexist. For instance, this Japanese ad which features "100 Japanese maids" in hyper-sexualized fantasy maid outfits cooking a single pancake for a man, apparently their master/boss/patriarchal leader. It's awfully reductive, pursuant to the perception of women as sex objects for men, whose sole purpose is to be domesticated and live in servitude to aforementioned men. But the non-stick pan in the ad is just...So, so, gloriously non-sticky. How do I get one of those in my life immediately?

More importantly, how do I reconcile this production line of women in ridiculous sexy costumes preparing a sole pancake for a man who at the end smiles and says "good job" with my desire to have this frying pan in my life and do my own good job? HOW? HOW CAN I BE A PROPER FEMINIST AND STILL WANT A NON-STICK FRY PAN SOLD TO ME BY SEXY JAPANESE SERVANT LADIES. HALP! At the end of the ad, the last maid puts the pancake on the boss-man's head. I don't know what this means. He seems happy about it. But maybe that's some kind of joke about how ridiculous patriarchy is. Like maybe this guy likes pancakes on his head, therefore we shouldn't take the female as subservient motif seriously here because obviously the man is a weirdo, and the women are actually the ones in control. I don't know. I'm grasping as straws here. I'm desperate. I just want that damn pan.