In response to sexist advertising by our previous domain registrar, we have changed from domain registrars. While this means little to most readers as the site continues to function in the same way that it always has, it is important because for the past two years our previous registrar, Godaddy.com (selected because it was the cheapest company around), has aired ads during the Super Bowl using a woman that they refer to as the “Go Daddy girl” who, in their two commercials, wears tight jeans and a spaghetti-strap top. Aside from the promotion of unrealistic body types, both commercials feature scenes in which a strap on the woman’s top breaks and her breasts nearly fall out while she talks to the male business executives. The commercial clearly defines women in terms of prevailing attitudes of what men want to see and men, who are business executives and politicians in the commercials, clearly hold all of the power in the commercials and women are assigned a subordinate role in which they exist only to entertain men. Sexism has historically used to promote products in Super Bowl ads, and indeed even in promoting the Super Bowl, an event that promotes an aggressive and damaging form of masculinity (it might also be appropriate to point out Fox’s promotion of “the Lingerie Bowl”). In response to the ads, numerous viewers have objected to the Go Daddy’s advertisements, yet Go Daddy’s CEO Bob Parsons has defended the advertisements and refused to critically examine their content.
Beyond that, Bob Parsons is a former Marine who supports Republican political candidates and has defended torture at the United States’ prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as a means of protecting the United States “at all costs.” Parsons made light of interrogation techniques including “sleep deprivation, exposure to heat and cold, mental games, constant questioning, etc” which he described as “mild” compared to techniques used elsewhere. While Parsons has said that he does not consider interrogation techniques by the United States to be “torture,” as has been seen in media coverage of the issue, those coming from the military and government establishment, as well as those living in the United States more generally, often have definitions of torture that bear little resemblance to those laid out by human rights group and non-governmental bodies such as the United Nations.
Of course, this serves as a reminder of the need to examine companies before purchasing their products (if you must purchase them in the first place).
