Book store defends ‘Control-a-Woman’ toy

A Melbourne woman is outraged after discovering a Borders book store was selling a ‘Control-a-Woman’ remote.

The toy product, similar to a TV remote control, is being sold as a novelty gift for $14.99.

IWDA supporter Katie Robertson saw the remote in a Borders book store last week, after attending a lunch celebrating International Women’s Day.

“There are certain buttons on there. For example, the male may decide that he wants beer, sex or food. He may press a button in which he requires the woman to remove her clothes, cook, clean, leave, [or] say yes,” she told ABC Radio’s Jon Faine.

“There’s also a button in which you can increase her breast size.”

Ms Robertson says she has no doubt it was intended to be a joke, but that argument does not wash with her.

To read the complete article, please visit ABC News.

Jo Crawford from Policy and Research at IWDA comments:

At the root of epidemic levels of violence against women globally is the idea that women can or should be ‘controlled’ and behave in particular ways because men say so. If they don’t, ‘correction’ or force is OK – because she was nagging, because he really wanted sex and she had led him on. Sitting behind such thinking is a failure to recognise the rights of women as being equal to those of men.

I can’t help but hope that some of those who dismiss the seriousness of the issue do so out of ignorance. Ignorance of the fact that, in the words of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Violence against women remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations of our time. It affects women in every part of the world.’

Around the world, at least one in three women is beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime.

It is estimated that, worldwide, one in five women will become a victim of rape or attempted rape in her lifetime.

In Australia, In Australia, 38% of women over 15 will experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetimes.

Several global surveys suggest that half of all women who die from homicide are killed by their current or former husbands or partners. In Australia, Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States, 40%-70% of female murder victims were killed by their partners, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

And women are most at risk at home and from men they know, usually a family member or spouse. The people that this item is designed to appeal to.

So, let’s be really clearly about the reason for the extent of the concern here. It stems from the connection between the idea that women can and should be controlled and violence against women, and the enormous costs of such violence – to individuals, to the health system and to businesses from lost productivity. Yes, this item is reinforcing stereotypes, but that’s not the issue that is giving this so much air time. The problem is that that the stereotypes are of a certain kind. They not only put women in an unequal position relative to men, but women’s submission and serving of men’s needs – indeed their ability to be controlled – are the things that are seen as desirable.

If you would like to know more about the issues raised above, please visit UNite to End Violence Against Women.

Tags: Events/Campaigns/Press Releases, VAW

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 18th, 2010 under Recent.