FCK(exploitation of children in the name of feminism)

by Ashley Weeks Cart

Yesterday I watched the FCKH8 commercial that used young girls as the mouthpieces for the ads “feminist” message. It was positioned as hip and provocative, and it quickly went viral.

I, however, was left feeling wildly uncomfortable, and it wasn’t watching children my daughter’s age drop F bombs and speak with stereotypical, obnoxious Valley Girl accents as though the only way to break through popular culture is to mimic the trope of a “dumb” female, that caused that nauseous pit to linger.

Today, my friend Meg shared a link to this post that unpacked so much of that unease:

It would be really great if FCKH8 would realize that using little girls as shock-value props in their t-shirt commercial is not feminist in any sense of the word. No little kid should have to wonder aloud whether or not they’ll be raped one day, and especially not just so some grownup can make money.

Look, I’m all for putting feminist ideology out in to popular culture but not at the expense of children, namely the young girls that this company is alleging to protect.