Susan Boyle, Video Marketing, and the Fabulous World Of Double Standards
April 17th, 2009 | General, Video
While the rest of the world is talking about Susan Boyle, I thought this would make a great opportunity to write about something that’s been bothering me for awhile. Three things, actually:
• Women,
• video marketing,
• and double standards.
The similarities dawned on me while I was reading Tanya Gold’s article in The Guardian. Gold, after comparing Boyle to a piece of pork on a doily (!), had this to say:
“Why are we so shocked when “ugly” women can do things, rather than sitting at home weeping and wishing they were somebody else? Men are allowed to be ugly and talented. Alan Sugar looks like a burst bag of flour. Gordon Ramsay has a dried-up riverbed for a face. Justin Lee Collins looks like Cousin It from The Addams Family. Graham Norton is a baboon in mascara.
I could go on. But a woman has to have the bright, empty beauty of a toy – or get off the screen. We don’t want to look at you. Except on the news, where you can weep because some awful personal tragedy has befallen you.”
It’s exactly this reason why I wonder if video marketing really works for the majority of women. I’ve seen plenty of internet marketing gurus who tout how easy it is to market yourself using videos. Then to prove it, they film themselves unshaven, in sweats, IN BED (Jason Moffatt, I’m talking about you here), and they rave about the authenticity and transparency of it all. And it works!
I’m sorry, but in my world? It’s not that easy! And you can watch everyone’s first reactions to Susan Boyle to understand why.
If I don’t brush my hair, put on some makeup and make myself look as pretty as possible, then it’s hurting my image. Maybe not to everyone. Maybe not even to the majority of my audience. But it’s not doing me any favors, because I live in a world where a woman—especially a young woman—”has to have the bright, empty beauty of a toy—or get off the screen.”
I’m not complaining. I’m not expecting it to be any different than it is. I just think it’s about time someone acknowledged this double standard.
And if you needed any further proof, compare Susan Boyle with Paul Potts, the equally unlikely opera singer. Again, Tanya Gold sums this up well:
“You will say that Paul Potts, the fat opera singer with the equally squashed face who won Britain’s Got Talent in 2007, had just as hard a time at his first audition. He did not.
‘I wasn’t expecting that,’ said Simon to Paul.
‘Neither was I,’ said Amanda.
‘You have an incredible voice,’ said Piers.
And that was it. No laughter, or invitations to paranoia, or mocking wolf-whistles, or smirking, or derision.”
Agree? Disagree? Love them both? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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