Comments

1
Hardly, I forwarded it to my trans female friend and she had a great laugh as she's a Marilyn Monroe fan (who isn't?).
2
Also, generally drag has never been anti-transsexual.
3
Hmm... I guess I didn't view it as trans at all. More like angry Willem Dafoe in a dress. It didn't seem to be mocking trans people to me. I could be biased because I've been a longtime Willem Dafoe fan, and I actually thought it was kinda funny.

But then I'm not trans, and I'll be the first to admit that I maybe missed the insult. I'm open to other interpretations.
4
maureen mcmormick is not danny trejo, either.
5
If you're offended by something that benign, fuck you.
6
A bitchy, hairy man in a dress is a bad thing, that needs correcting. But I'll leave it to my trans friends to decide. I do love the Brady Bunch version of this though.
8
Number of shits given = 0
9
That's just the schtick of Snickers ads, the "you're not you" thing. They picked two opposite characters, gruff guy and pretty girl, to demonstrate "two things that aren't the same". It's not anti trans. Not every guy in a frock is anti trans. Is all drag anti trans? Are Monty Python anti trans? Complainers are just looking for something to find offense at.
10
If a tree falls in the woods, is it anti-trans?
11
If a single Snickers bar can turn Willem Dafoe into Marilyn Monroe, I don't know why Caitlyn Jenner spent millions on reassignment.

I suspect this is a manufactured controversy designed to make the ad "go viral" long after it aired.
12
It was hot. I'm a straight guy who would totally dress up as Marilyn Monroe and eat a Snickers.
13
Who are these "some" who are saying anti-trans? People desperately in need of a life. Totally benign, definitely not "anti" anything (except maybe anti low blood sugar.)
14
I was going to vote sexist: "Woman expresses an opinion, is told to eat some candy."
15
Nonsense. How is this transphobic when Danny Trejo turning into Marsha Brady is not? (or my personal favorite where the crabby guys in the car turn into Aretha and Liza?) Agree with No. 5.
16
I was going to go so far as to say it is pro-trans: it's part of the mainstreaming of trans...and of course, if you wanna pass, you should eat a snickers. I suppose you might be aggrieved if holding onto grievances and not being mainstreamed is important to you, or you just don't like being a consumer target. Make no mistake though: a solid sign of being accepted in the broader culture is becoming part of the commercial consumer machine.
17
This particular ad campaign has done lots of gender-swaps in the past, probably because they are going for maximum contrast between the two 'you' options. (I liked the Betty White one myself.) I agree with originalcinner. Drag has a comedic history that stretches all the way back to Shakespeare and beyond, but drag =/= trans. I think it's pretty offensive when a character is portrayed as trans for a joke (Like when a guy takes a 'girl' home and then, surprise, SHE'S TRANS OMG SO FUNNY - Seriously, grow up. >:[ ) but that's not what's going on in this ad.
19
Was "Some Like it Hot" anti-trans? Trans women do not wear drag -- they are wearing the appropriate dress for their true gender expression. Trans women try very hard NOT to look like a grumpy guy in a dress. This ad was about a product advertising meme -- you are grumpy and not your best self without a Snickers. It was reminding us of a great classic moment in film. It was funny. There was no mean in it!
21
I weep for a country that thinks commercials and sports half time shows are venues for social commentary and change. Even the Romans understood the nature of their bread and circuses as they consumed them. But to call this tempest in a teapot a sound substance? The level of denial and internal disingenuousness that claim requires is beyond belief.

It is a football game, people. The commercials do not have any reflection on current society (especially these commercials, as their price demands they've been professionally enhanced to the point of surrealism). The half time show wasn't nearly the magnum opus it is being made out to be (Bruno Mars? Really? Coldplay? You brought out the old tired hacks who stole a Joe Satriani song? Okay, Macklemore and Beyoncé I'll give you, but that's only half of the headliners. The rest were just B grade filler at best.) Let's come back to reality here.
22
@10

Depends on whether it lands on a transgender individual, you dumbshit. Geez.
23
Josh Bis @14: Bingo.
24
As a moron, I'm offended by their calling what is a clear non-moron by such a term. Haven't my people suffered enough?
25
I've never been a big fan of the SpokesCorpse.
26
Suddenly, every time a man wears a dress, it's instantly about transgender people? Hardly.
27
Well played @11
28
People think THAT AD is a slur against trans people? Wow, it's an SJW stereotype come to life.
29
I didn't think it was anti-trans.

Nor did i think it was funny. The whole dude-in-a-dress thing just never lands any laughs for me. I suppose decades ago it was considered funny because OHMYGOD, a man in a dress!

Still not sure why that was funny, even back when the sight of a man in a dress still had shock value. Definitely even less funny now.
30
This post is anti trans cause it continues dan's pattern on focusing on outrageous trans "activism" that can be easily criticized. Who are these unnamed and unqouted trans people that dan is so worked up? Are they real or just a straw person he likes to use when it comes to trans issues.
31
Doesn't seem anti-trans to me. But I'm cis. I'd really like to hear from some of the trans-folk who're offended by this and why.
32
I'd like a ruling on using the image of a woman they violated enough, in a stupid ad. And Chris Martin. Did he suck or did he suck.
33
@32 he sucked so badly
34
@23: In the same way that the Betty White Snickers ad is ageist - right?
35
@32 and who the fuck makes beyonce be the "guest" act? She killed it, should've been the main act!
36
And what about those Red Starbucks cups? Could they be any more anti-Christmas?
37
I voted "No."

Seriously, haven't you seen any of the other Snickers ads? (eg, Betty White being played by Abe Vigoda? Marcia Brady by Danny Trejo?) In what way was this any sort of departure?
38
Hmm, Dan says "some people say..." linking to a tweet saying "some people say...".

I'm sure there is a handfull of people out there ready to be offended at anything but this seems manufactured nonsense.
39
Also, Willem Dafoe in a dress brings back fond memories of The Boondock Saints: https://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lsxyo…
40
Trans-phobic: The message is that transwomen aren't real women.
41
"Some are saying some are saying..."

YES! My aunt's next door neighbor's barber's pool boy's son's best friend knows a guy who met someone at a party who is very, very upset by this!
42
@31: In the event that there is someone offended by this (my money is on "there isn't"), the pearl-clutcher isn't a transperson at all, but rather some preteen "ally" who likes to get offended on behalf of other people. Maybe identifies as genderqueer, genderflux, genderfluid, or gendervoid. But certainly not genuinely trans.

Same type that would whine about "cultural appropriation" when a white person watches anime. Again, white as Wonderbread and would shout down any Japanese person who claimed not to be offended.
43
The only problem I really have with this commercial is they put a good-looking man in a hot dress and expected us to laugh at him. I mean seriously, did you see those legs? Rawr.

I guess I also found it kinda weird that he ate a snickers bar and changed from a strong, assertive personality to a passive, simpering flake. I think I'm gonna stay away from those things.
44
I don't see what It has to do with trans-people as the whole joke Snickers has been using for a few years now is that being hungry makes you someone else. If anything I question using a dead celebrity as a spokesperson.
45
@40 So-called Claire: I don't know that I follow. I'm trying though.

Can you explain?
46
I clicked the "anti-trans" option on my gut reaction. There's something off-putting about the ad and it has more to do with the ugly duckling aspect which is exacerbated with it not just being a disheveled/grizzled woman in a dress who turns into a siren (the ideal) but is actually a disheveled/grizzled man in a dress who turns into a (very feminine looking) siren (the ideal). That is, if you're trans then you better be super hot and pass to be worthy of attention. It just rubs me the wrong way. But then other commenters have said this is the common theme for the Snickers ads so what do I know? (Not much. Other than I hate ads.)
47
Don't see how this is anti-trans. Am I supposed to read the comments to find out why this is offensive? Ugh.
48
I haven't seen Ms M since the Brady Bunch cast did Weakest Link.
49
Yes. The other Snickers ads use the juxtaposition of the actor, in the situation of
another person that is polar opposite, to create humor. The difference between this ad
and, say, the Danny Trejo one, is the clothing. The other ads merely have the famous
person is a football huddle, or the brady bunch set, no costume change. This ad has
defoe there is intentionally a guy in a dress with the reveal that, "oh, that person you
thought was sexy...isn't!"That's a trope that needs to stop. If a group of guys is hollering
at a woman on the street, and she's revealed to be trans, that then leads to the feeling
like she was trying to trick those guys. That piled on with homophobia, escalates things
really quickly to violence. This kinda ad just keeps things moving along, reinforcing
the status quo, and that's shitty. We've had people attacked on our streets for challenging
gender norms.
The bottom line is, as a transwoman, I can tell you the pile of shitty images in media,
even on the EDGE of being transphobic, did not at all make me wanna come out.
The stuff that reinforces transwomen as predators, stems from all the way back with
Psycho, and is STILL prevalent in media. No help. Naw. None.
50
Well, taken literally, the ad says giving candy to Mr. Dafoe when he's cranky turns him into Ms. Monroe. Clearly that's about magic, not about being Trans.
51
@49: "This ad has defoe there is intentionally a guy in a dress with the reveal that, "oh, that person you thought was sexy...isn't!" That's a trope that needs to stop."

Nope, that's merely a sub-type of the common bait-&-switch joke. E.g., I was expecting Indiana Jones to do an elaborate fight with the scimitar dude...bang! Building up one expectation and then surprising the audience is a common trope in comedy.

Are all "sexy...isn't!" jokes inappropriate, or just ones that cross gender lines? What if, instead of Dafoe, the music had cut out so we could hear MM ripping a loud fart, and that was what had been blowing her skirt up? Or what if there had been a parade of posing bodybuilders to the Village People's "Macho Man," culminating with a puny guy puffing up his ribcage? What about that anti-smoking PSA that featured slow and sultry...nose-picking (tagline: What's so sexy about a disgusting habit?). All "sexy...isn't!" jokes. All funny.

"If a group of guys is hollering at a woman on the street, and she's revealed to be trans, that then leads to the feeling like she was trying to trick those guys"

What leads to that feeling? The bait & switch joke? Nope. If anything, the ability to laugh off a sudden jolt to one's expectations could prevent rage. Many evopsychs have opined that humor serves to diffuse tension and potential conflict. Laughter is a way of indicating "false alarm, guys." That's why people giggle with relief after being startled by a prank.

The guy who reacts violently to the woman he was catcalling being "other than expected" is taking himself too seriously. If he could lighten up and laugh, he may get over his panic.
52
@49: P.S. For fucks' sakes, even if you didn't know that Norman Bates was based on Ed Gein (who was obviously not a transwoman), there's nothing to suggest that Norman is anything other than a disturbed man with a split personality and some serious mommy issues. That's not in the same realm as trans. Are you going to claim Pam Voorhees's character was a negative portrayal of transmen? It's pretty much the exact same dynamic, in reverse.
53
@49 Hmmm... Okay, you might have a point. But, without the costume, it wouldn't be the least bit clear what's going on. The Monroe-on-a-subway-grate scene is rather iconic. How do you put Dafoe in that scene otherwise?

And I'll say this. Dafoe does NOT look the least bit trans in that scene. Neither the director nor he is trying to sell that. He's just wearing the outfit as sparely and unhappily as possible. No makeup. No coiffure. No nail polish. No mannerisms, voice, vamping, nothing.

Sometimes a dress is just a dress. Even on a guy who plays psychotic movie villains.
54
let's see...a "woman" tries to assert herself while being placed in a sexualized role with strong overtones of nonconsensual voyeurism/humiliation is being ugly and manly. Oh noes! Something must be wrong!!! Let's give her some chocolate! And voila! Back to normal!! Sweet, pretty, and sexually compliant! If only Bill Cosby had known how easy it could have been! Nope, don't see any problem with this one.
55
This is a crossdressing joke not a trans joke. I'm tired of people acting like those two things are interchangeable.

I have no idea how Norman Bates became a part of this conversation.
56
@51 Honestly, when a transperson tells you something is fucked up,
when the question is about something being transphobic, you should probably
heed it, like, a bit. There's enough cisgendered people telling me i'm wrong
in the world. Aside from that, I do comedy, I know these jokes, I have to hear them lots.
The reveal/turn is always the same, with the same lizard-brain reaction of challenged
manhood as a result. I clarified that the juxtaposition was different from every one of
the other ads. Betty White, Kenny G, Mr.T, Danny Trejo, all wore the clothing we
associate with them. The difference in this ad is calculated fer maximum "hilarity".
Still, getting back to this, I am a transgender woman. I really don't even have to
explain myself. I don't hop on the outrage bandwagon usually, I just was fucked off
that the poll was so far one way and clearly judged by a boatload of cisgendered
people. Much like where I use the bathroom is being judged by a boatload of
cisgendered people. It's almost, like, I maybe, kinda see this poll as being a clear
sign of what would happen if this bathroom business goes to ballot.
57
If anything it's anti-woman-ish. Put a reasonable woman in an uncomfortable situation in heels and on a grate with air blowing her skirt in her face and she's cranky (and dare I say ugly) like Willem Defoe. Pop chocolate in her mouth and she's all glamor sex-kitten and, most significantly, compliant. Ick.
58
@51 Oh, and fuck your shitty caitlyn jenner joke.
I'm sooper glad you're spending time guessing what
our genitals look like. You could run for Senate
with that kinda thinking.
59
I've just watched a show on TV, by an English man, Dr Michael Mosley, that goes thru what happens to the embryo during gestation.
His explanation of how trans* identity occurs has helped me finally understand what occurs.
I owe all trans* people an apology for my prior ignorance. I'm not going to try and remember his explanation, because I'm sure I'll present it wrong.
I'm not sure why such a clear expianation isn't offered more widely. Maybe then transphobia would be something of the past.
60
The documentary is called,
" Countdown to Life: The extraordinary making of you".
It's the second instalment , and explores the middle eight weeks of gestation.
From the TV guide;
" .. when both our sex and our gender are determined. That is, an early burst of testosterone forms the genitals. Some weeks later another surge of hormones does something to our brains that determines how we perceive
ourselves( gender)." The young person in the show, was a young girl who was born with male genitals yet identified and was living as a girl.
Finally, a biological explanation that makes sense, to me. About one in ten thousand people are born trans* gender.
61
@56: You're the only transwoman (that I'm aware of) in this comments thread, not the only one to whom I've ever spoken. If other transpeople say it isn't fucked up, or the majority are okay with it, do we err on the side of being offended? Or do I have latitude to form my own opinion?

If someone answers this poll saying this ad isn't transphobic, that person clearly acknowledges that transphobia is a thing. The type of bigot that's going to try to ban transpeople from using the correct bathroom doesn't acknowledge that trans is a thing, much less transphobia. So manipulative to try to graft this onto a separate issue, to accuse anyone who isn't on board with your opinion on this with being that type of bigot. Bailey down, retreat to motte.

@58: Your genitals hadn't crossed my mind. The joke was about money.

Sometimes, things hurt our feels because we're especially raw or sensitive, not because there's any kind of inherent insult or prejudice built into the thing itself. Not everything is about identity politics. Sometimes, it's just personal feelings.

Consider the post @30. Someone literally thought it was transphobic to imply that transpeople were this easily offended. Heck, I thought the same. I thought, "How insulting to transpeople to imply that they're so hypersensitive." Joke's on me, I guess.
62
@LavaGirl, I wish that stuff was included in biology classes. Along with other details about pregnancy/fetal development.
63
Yes Ginnie, this doco is fascinating. It covered so much of what happens.. Should be required viewing in all biology classes.
64
@58: I can't tell what, in the entire post you replied to, you somehow thought was a joke about Caitlyn Jenner. Go home, kid; your mother's calling you.

Also, you could stand to benefit from a remedial course in What An Enter Key Is And How Ya Use It. Do you think you're writing poetry or something?
65
@56 absolutely not. Anybody can claim a connection and claim something is fucked up - you can get anyone to say anything. That's not a reasonable standard. I mean, there are men out there who will say any crazy thing that women should not do because it's offensive (like, say, not respond immediately to an internet dating message) - in fact, a LOT of men do that... but that doesn't make it somehow a reasonable, rational response, or something the rest of us should listen to.
66
@62 in many parts of the world - including right here in our own Seattle Public Schools, dating back at least 20 years, it is in fact included in Sex-Ed curriculum.
67
@64: kid was replying to my post, and noticed my Caitlyn Jenner joke up @11. Nothing anti-trans about the joke, but I'm sure she can find some way to be offended nonetheless.
68
@59, thanks for saying that Lava. I too went through a period where I was a little grossed out by transexuality. I was young; I kept it to myself (thank GOD!)...and I got over it after exploring the science. It has been nice to see the evolution of several people here that mirrors my own.
69
Actually @54 got more at the "problem." And way back at @14. But, you know, I laughed too. So, there is that.
70
"a kid," please stick around. Some of want to learn.
71
(even though it's not your job to educate us)
72
Nobody has explained how trans* identity occurs to me so clearly before. Even her on SL, where I've been caught up in lots of battles.. Or on trans* sites, where I've gone to try to understand more.
Thanks Sandiai, as I watched the show last night I just felt like such a douche and had to come on SL straight after and in the words of the dad on
Dirty Dancing;
When I'm wrong, I say I'm wrong.
73
Still. I don't get how this ad is transphobic. I find it offensive because they trivialize Marilyn, that beautiful and wounded woman One more fucking time.
I was alive when she was, and she was treated like a thing then and here they are, continuing the same.
Point to one male actor who ever had the same power as that woman. No, neither can I. She was truly one of a kind, and her image should never ever be defamed for some dumb piece of chocolate.
74
Trans gal here. I haven't seen the ad, so I won't comment on whether or not it specifically is transphobic. But I will say that "man in a dress" is typically played for laughs, and that contributes to a culture that tends to ridicule male-assigned people when they try to break out of that gender box in which they were placed. So from that perspective, I'd say the ad probably isn't doing us trans folk any favors, and that's really what a kid @56 is getting at.

@61:
Sometimes, things hurt our feels because we're especially raw or sensitive, not because there's any kind of inherent insult or prejudice built into the thing itself. Not everything is about identity politics. Sometimes, it's just personal feelings.
And often, we're especially raw or sensitive from being ground down by year after year of seeing ourselves ridiculed in media and oppressed by bigoted laws. And you can easily make it worse if you don't at least acknowledge the context of our sensitivity, and simply conclude that we're just unreasonable. This very thread seems to have moved you from "How insulting to transpeople to imply that they're so hypersensitive" to "I'm sure she can find some way to be offended nonetheless", which seems like a step backward to me.
If other transpeople say it isn't fucked up, or the majority are okay with it, do we err on the side of being offended? Or do I have latitude to form my own opinion?
I would encourage you to continue to listen when people say that something is transphobic. Trans people don't have to form a consensus on these things for our opinions to be legitimate; what may offend one may not offend another. But that doesn't mean either person is wrong, or that the thing is or isn't problematic. You're welcome to form your own opinion if you must, but please consider that trans people are the subject matter experts in transphobia, and also consider that you don't necessarily have to come to a conclusion on whether or not something is transphobic. I do the same thing with the Black Lives Matter movement; as a white person, I'm not really qualified to judge institutional racism better than the black community, so I tend to just listen and incorporate their perspectives into my own when they make sense.
75
@72: LavaGirl, thank you for sharing what you've learned! I'm really glad you found an explanation that clicks with you. I hope that trans people continue to be better understood by everyone else, because (just as with the gay community) so much of the bigotry comes from people in power having the wrong idea about us.
76
I hoped you'd read my posts Seilo.
77
@67: She really strikes me, based on this admittedly brief contact, as not so much "a kid" as "THAT kid".
You know, THAT kid. There's one in every undergraduate class.
78
@77 (venomlash)
By resorting to ad hominem insults of a poster you disagree with, rather than making reasoned arguments about the issue at hand, you are degrading the discussion for the rest of us and being an asshole.
79
@74 Very well said and very on point.
The ad is a bit problematic because it reinforces the trope that a man wearing a dress is funny, which does a disservice to non-gender conforming male bodied folks more broadly. (Although arguably Defoe looked kinda hot... Is that just me?)

On the other hand, sometimes a man in a dress IS funny. Drag has a long history of being simultaneously an expression of identity and comedy. It's paradoxical that way - as is life sometimes.

@54 and @57 are also spot on - this ad's sexism is fairly disturbing to me.

In summary, I'd say the ad is problematic primarily because it strongly reinforces the idea that women should be compliant sex objects and more mildly implies that men look funny in dresses.

In the grand scheme of things, though, its relatively small potatoes, and probably not worth getting too worked up about. I can find much more explicitly sexist and transphobic rhetoric in the average Republican speech, so perhaps we should focus on fighting back against those douche-nozzles. Eye on the prize and all.
80
@XaioGui17 (and several other posters) I think you're being rude and condescending to @akid, and I expect better from savage love readers.

This forum was intended to civilly discuss whether or not this ad is problematic, and as soon as someone who *is* trans pipes in and disagrees with you, you attacked them in a very hostile, defensive, and condescending way. You are not required to agree with them, but they are more of a subject expert on what experiencing transphobia and being trans is like than you are. Basic decency requires you to at least acknowledge the reality that the ad was hurtful to them, and hear what they have to say, rather than telling them what their opinion should be.

I agree that political correctness has gotten out of hand in some cases and that a few people have taken
81
... Things too far. But akid is not harassing you or doxing you. She's just expressing her opinion.
82
After watching the ad and reading all the comments, I do think that ad is transphobic, but in an indirect way. My feeling is that this ad is primarily sexist, as many others have already stated. However, the humor attempted is modeled after the belief that "male" is the primary (dominant, correct) gender, and that all other gender expressions are inferior. I already know that people some people are going to say that this is a stretch, but when we are asked to laugh at a man in a dress, whether he is in drag or not, we are reacting to the incongruity of feminizing somebody who already has the presumably ideal gender. Think about the way many insults work: we tell somebody to fuck themselves, because getting fucked (penetrated) is feminine and therefore inferior to being the one who does the fucking. We call somebody a pussy or a bitch because femininity is weak. I think everyone who saw the ad is well aware that the idea presented is that this grizzly looking man is not that soft, sexy woman, and that the humor was meant to come from cognitive dissonance. But the idea was supposed to be that he is not sexy, and shouldn't be in that dress. Aside from what others have already stated regarding the notion that a woman having a bad day needs to be fixed, whereas a man behaving the same way would not have fit many of the other ads in this series (Godzilla, I'm looking at you!), the bottom line is that the ad uses gender play as "funny," and the idea of feminization as a joke. While I am not offended by the ad enough to feel shocked or indignant, I think it's in poor taste. If they had subbed a slender woman failing to perform as a football player, and then swapped her out for some NFL star after a Snickers, we would recognize how outrageous that is. David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Kurt Cobain, and countless other iconic cis-men have looked hot -- and cis -- in dresses. I don't think anyone making this ad meant for us to read "trans" in the subtext. Nobody was thinking that deeply at all, and I don't believe that there is a wave of offended masses reacting. This ad is just thoughtless.
83
Meh. The whole joke hinges on a stereotypical male archetype pivoting into one of the most recognized female archetypes. Not really picking up on any transphobic subtexts, however. It's not playing on some sort of "Tee hee, it's not really a woman!" jokes. I guess, if anything, it could possibly be taken as mildly offensive because it presupposes a dichotomy between male and female (leaving no space for genders found inbetween or outside of that dichotomy), but let's pick our battles now, shall we? Let's make sure trans kids are able to use the right restroom and get access to medical services without the Senate bullying them before we start complaining about candy bars.
84
Trans people, not everything refers to you at all.

The person in the ad is a woman the whole time. She is merely acting like a kvetching whiner, and casting the kvetching whiner as the visual opposite is a) to get the point across visually, b) for comic effect and c) star recognition. Willem Defoe is famous precisely for his ability to rant. (I thought the line about heels on a traffic grate was hilarious.) None of this is to imply this person isn't really a woman.

What the hell are they supposed to do? Cast the person as themselves, just in a bad mood? That would completely deflate the joke. Person acts shitty. Person eats candy bar. Person brightens up. It would look like something out of theater improv class.

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