As I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time on my couch this week, I’ve likely read every single article, link or blog post published within the past month.
Don’t get me started on all the movies I watched!
In my medicated searching, I stumbled across this post on GrindTV’s website. Take a sec to check it out.
With a title of “The Coolest Mountain Babe Video Ever,” I had high hopes. Would this be similar to Linsey Dyer’s all-female ski film, Pretty Faces, released later this month? I mean, sure, they used the word babe in the title. Not promising, but I can handle that. I have my feminist beliefs but I like to think I’m realistic. Besides, I call Will babe! Assuming this is a wicked outdoor film featuring some kickass women, I could easily overlook the word babe. And besides, maybe it would be a clever play on words, similar to Pretty Faces? {Dyer cleverly named the ski film Pretty Faces for two reasons: to showcase the fantastic female skiers, but also because they shred some gnarly mountain faces!}But then I watched the clip that GrindTV posted. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.
Apparently #MTNBabes is both a somewhat-popular hashtag on Instagram and a website , showcasing women shedding their clothes in various outdoor locations. The Bivy, a production company full of adrenaline junkies, took that as a cue and produced this film full of scantily clad women flaunting their goods.
Do you sense the disdain in my voice? I think The Bivy is a talented group of individuals and I like the other video clip included in the Grind’s post. But what I don’t like is the gratuitous ass grabbing and boob shots. Don’t tell me that you, “don’t want to lose that appeal of beautiful girls out in nature doing awesome things,” when you are only showcasing them jumping off a paddleboard in their bikinis and sexually dribbling water down their cleavage. Call me crazy, but that is not even remotely close to a celebration of outdoor women!
I guess where I get most riled is the juxtaposition between the blatant sexual vibe and the demand that it be classified as a glorification of women. Why can outdoor women only be celebrated half naked and shaking their breasts? Better still, how is that any type of celebration at all? Just because you call a spade a spade doesn’t make it so.
As I said on Twitter, I’m not someone who is typically offended by this stuff. I love ESPN’s Body Issue and think the photos they feature are classy, tasteful, and a pure celebration of some beautiful athletic bodies. To me, they deserve credit for keeping it on the level.
On the other hand, I think The Bivy missed the boat. In fact, I’m not entirely sure what they were trying to accomplish. They mentioned that “it’s hard to argue that sex sells,” but I guess I don’t get that either. If sex sells, who is buying this? Are there women out there who think this is a classy display of outdoor achievement? And for the men: I’d love to hear your thoughts. Is this more appealing than watching some bomb female skiers carve down a mountain face or rip up some waves on a surfboard?
Edited to add: I want to make it clear that while MtnBabes was the inspiration for this video by The Bivy, they had nothing to do with the creation of the film. I’m not thrilled with the idea of MtnBabes in general, but I definitely want people to realize that they are NOT this clip!
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