Last week, a video about body image appeared on my Twitter feed. “Fact: 97 percent of women have an ‘I hate my body moment’ every day” begins the clip. “That’s a lot of women looking in the mirror, wanting to change something.” The film goes on to call for women to love themselves, a message that I can get behind. Here is the issue: the video was an ad for Special K cereal.
In the past few years I’ve noticed a rise of “corporate feminism”—the use of feminist rhetoric in an attempt at marketing. Despite the potentially positive messages contained within this media, it should not be mistaken for legitimate feminist activism.
One of the most well known examples of corporate feminism is the Dove “Real Beauty TM” campaign. In one video, the ad tackles the way women view themselves. Sketched by an artist, women can see that they are more beautiful than they had previously thought. The video is moving, and as a woman who has struggled with my body image, it had an effect on me. So what exactly is the problem?
The short answer is that corporate feminism doesn’t care about you or me, it only cares about our money. This marketing may be powerful, but in the end it is still an ad, with the end goal not being self-acceptance, but purchases. Dove would be very displeased at the prospect of universal self-acceptance because satisfaction does not sell beauty products. For example, the company is owned by Unilever, which also sells “Fair and Lovely,” a skin-bleaching cream, which capitalizes on white supremacy in the beauty industry. Our ability to love our bodies without the assistance of cosmetics and soaps is Unilever’s worst-case scenario. If we were to whole-heartedly love our bodies, then why would we need shampoo to help manage our split ends?
At this point you may be thinking that it is not news that corporations aren’t perfect. Maybe if the ads are not entirely sincere, then at least they are promoting discussion. Perhaps some change can come out of questionable content if consumers take a moment to think about feminist issues when purchasing breakfast cereal, or a bar of soap. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The problem lies with corporate feminism’s lack of diversity—not just in its media, which mostly features white, able-bodied women—but in its choice of topics. Bonafide feminism is as diverse as its membership; it encompasses everything from conception, to race, to occupation. Corporate feminism instead focuses solely on ideas that can make money, mostly sanitized messages about body image. These are concepts which everyone can comfortably support, but do not address the root of the problem. While great change can come from diverse feminist dialogue, corporate feminism instead fosters a conversational monoculture, one which is not intended to produce anything other than sales.
Furthermore, corporate feminism often misses the point or leads us astray when it comes to meaningful social change. The Dove “Real Beauty TM” video focused on acceptance through appearance, not holistic self-love. The advertisement for Special K cereal had women throwing off the bonds of the patriarchy through physical fitness, which is not an option for many women with disabilities, nor should it be the sole path to self-acceptance. Both campaigns put the onus on women to change, not questioning the societal structures that make us feel the way we do about our bodies. Corporate feminism’s “solution”—through the magic of retail therapy—is also inaccessible to those who cannot buy their way in. It reduces a movement that is meant to be inclusive to one that is only available to those with disposable income.
At its core, corporate feminism is emotional manipulation wielded to divest you from your cash. Somewhere during the production of the ad for Special K, someone in marketing turned around and said, “The majority of women feel badly about themselves. How can we use this to sell cereal?” I don’t believe that self-acceptance is going to come tucked in with my breakfast food, and neither should you.
Photo Credit: Harry Carr
What inspired you to make the Exclusive Club Card?
I came here as an international student. I didn’t know anything about the city and for the first year, Hamilton was unknown territory for me. I hated every time that I would do something I would have to go to Toronto. But when I started working and living in the city I started falling in love with it. I started seeing James Street, Augusta Street, Ottawa Street, Concession Street, streets that have a lot of historical meaning. These are places that are under explored or under utilized by students... [we wanted] to get students out to the city and help local businesses.
What is it like being a recently graduated student entrepreneur?
It’s difficult because there’s a lot of uncertainty. At the same time though when you go to downtown Hamilton there is a really good vibe for entrepreneurs. We’re based off a place called Commotion on King, it’s a new coworking place and there are so many recent Mac graduates there doing the same thing, launching their own business. They’re excited about the city, they have a lot of great ideas, they believe in the potential of the city and being in that environment really motivates you to make something happen.
It’s really amazing because right now is a time where people still underrate the city and there’s a lot of potential in the entrepreneurs and the people taking risks right now. We really believe in the city and we want to take it to the next level. Hamilton will be booming within the next 10 years.
For sure. Just the past few years I’ve been here, the change has been incredible.
You can sense the change right? Even the attitude and the way people speak about Hamilton. The downtown core is revitalizing slowly. A couple years ago when you walk by at night, the businesses were closed. There were all those cash for money places. I was, like, what’s going on, right? But now there’s a new company called Ambitious Realty and they’re renovating businesses and opening up new places. Commotion on King is the perfect example. A building that was run-down has been renovated and now entrepreneurs are moving in and a new lounge is moving in downstairs. So it’s definitely a very cool time to be in Hamilton and be an entrepreneur.
Can you go into your background in business and what you studied in school?
I didn’t have a background in business. I did Political Science here at Mac. For me, that’s the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge is not having the background to fall onto, the fact that I didn’t take business classes, the fact that I didn’t really have much business experience before. But the people I’m working with and the network I’m trying to build with Exclusive Club Card as well really helps... People are willing to collaborate with us and a lot of the young entrepreneurs we’ve talked to really think our plans have potential. This is how we’ve kind of started off strong and can do the student card and everything else. We’re trying to grow our network within McMaster, within Hamilton, all over the place.
You finished school and then went on to do this venture. What do you think about people who drop out of school to pursue a business venture?
I am of the opinion that school is essential because those four years of school really made me learn a lot and formed me as a person. I definitely agree that you can drop out of school and launch your own business, but for your personal development, your development as a person, school is more than just going to class and writing exams and that’s it. School is also about growing as a person. For me I came here at 18 years old not knowing anybody. I didn’t know one person in Canada. I came from El Salvador in Central America and I moved here by myself. So the network of students around McMaster, associations like the Latin American Student Association, the McMaster Political Science Society, just the network of communities that McMaster has is really embracing. That for me is essential. I don’t think I could be doing what I’m doing without my four years at McMaster.
And the networking I assume helps with reaching out to other people once you’ve graduated and started this venture.
Yeah, exactly. The more people you know the more people are willing to help you out and, you know, right now there are so many associations. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of Hamilton Hive, this organization with the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce which we recently became part of. They’re really pushing people to go out and take risks and do what they believe is going to be successful, especially in Hamilton. So there’s really a good support network from the University and from networks and organizations in the city. So even though it definitely is difficult, you do feel like there are people who are there to push you forward and telling you that you can do this.
What advice do you have for a student entrepreneur who is in school right now?
If they have an idea and they believe strongly in it, I think they should definitely pursue it. For me, for example, when me and my partner, John Gabriel, started getting the vision of Exclusive Club Card I really saw the potential and I really believed in what this card can provide to both businesses and students. I think it’s a good idea and I think if it’s done well it could be really successful. So applying that to people who have their own ideas, if they really believe in them, that’s what will drive you to work hard, to network, to put in the time when it seems like it’s uncertain. Because you never know. When you start your own business uncertainty is going to be everywhere. So I think that if you believe and you’re passionate in your ideas, cliché as that may sound, when you wake up in the morning and there are ten things to do, that’s what differentiates whether you’re passionate or not. When you’re passionate about it, those ten things are not chores. The passion is what determines your level of excitement. And that makes a huge difference.
Do you have any additional things you want to talk about the Exclusive Club Card that you haven’t had a change to say thus far?
Our goal right now is to get students to know about our card because it’s really difficult for them to use it without them knowing what it is. This free card we’re giving them is so they can explore these places and see that Hamilton has more to offer than what they’ve heard or what they’ve seen before. I want them to think that it’s worth their time to go out into the city and check out these local businesses that are exclusive to Hamilton, can’t find them anywhere else, and slowly but surely if they do that, the student community will start embracing Hamilton, thinking that it’s their city. That’s ultimately our goal. We want everyone in the community to come together, and our card will hopefully help with that.
For more information visit www.exclusiveclubcard.com
Early this summer, McMaster announced that based on what students voted on, the Student Life Enhancement Fund would be footing the bill for a series of MUSC renovations. This includes changes to Compass, a permanent sound system, and the expansion of Starbucks to include additional seating and a more café-like atmosphere.
Overall, it’s been great having Starbucks on campus. There’s another coffee option for early mornings and late nights, I can keep up with ever-changing pastry trends, and every upper-middle class person on campus can now feel comfortable in a city that greets them with a familiar logo every morning.
With the recent additions of international franchises to the university campus, it’s clear that the current wave of gentrification coming over Hamilton is not ebbing away from campus and its surrounding area. Starbucks is just one of the big name franchises to come to campus over the past few years. Booster Juice and Williams have both also solidified their names at the university, and it’s safe to assume that with the open arms given to a Starbucks expansion, other franchises will be opening up shop on and around campus soon.
While it is exciting to welcome these often already-loved businesses to campus, this does have consequences for students. They may not be present now, but they are on their way.
Hamilton is the “up-and-coming” city of Ontario. As more large-scale companies start to invest in it, the city’s value has gone up, and consequently, so has its prices. It’s easy to think that as a student who isn’t invested in the city or a true “Hamiltonian,” these changes won’t affect us, but all of these new developments in the city are often close to and on campus.
As larger, wealthier businesses and people begin to enter the city, poorer sectors of the community will be pushed aside to make room for the city’s new money. The “poor” can refer to those paying low rents, making minimum wage, attempting to pay off large debts, so in short, students.
As the Student Centre and other spaces on campus become camp grounds for new wealthy investors, it is only a matter of time before rent costs start going up and MUSC is an affordable space for fewer vendors. More inexpensive venues like Taro and Union Market will eventually need to up their costs in order to keep up with growing rents.
And this change to costs is not something exclusive to campus. Investors have already started to revel in the idea of off-campus facilities located in student neighbourhoods. As more thriving businesses come into the Westdale and Ainsliewood areas, so will more thriving citizens, and that could potentially lead to a raise in stable student rents, and a need to mail even more tears to OSAP begging for increased funds.
While I am potentially guaranteed to be one of the first people pulling up a chair at Starbucks’ new café space, inhaling the company’s latest caffeine-cocaine hybrid, it is important to remember that as we advocate for these big names on campus, we are also promoting an all too fast turnaround from a humble, struggling city to a fully franchised capital. This transition can be fine and help the city’s economy get the boost it needs (this past year Hamilton was one of the only cities in the GTHA to see a drop in industrial vacancy rates), but if it happens too fast, we as student consumers will be pushed aside for new ventures before we even have the chance to pull up a chair.
Photo Credit: Square
