Frustration

I'm having a problem uploading photos - it's been going on for a few days now and I gather I'm not the only one judging by the number of frustrated posts on various forums.  Rather than wait until the problem has been resolved (or throw my laptop at the wall) I thought I would do a quick post today and then, hopefully, post photos of latest work as soon as I can upload again...

The internet, as we all know, is a forum for people to share their opinions which, not infrequently, are bigoted and small minded.  On the other hand, sometimes we get an opportunity to witness people at their absolute courageous or heart warming best. Occasionally something comes along that does both.

What possessed Bic, the French manufacturer of pens, to market a 'Bic for Her' is beyond me.  The product description from Amazon reads like a page from the anti-feminist manifesto:

Product Features

• Elegant design - just for her!
• Thin barrel to fit a women's hand

I mean, seriously! They even have a YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c23dUWATaY . I'm not convinced that this video isn't actually a parody.  For a mum of a teenage girl it's bad enough that I have to fight the tidal wave of misogynistic crap in magazines and on TV. But now pens ...!!

That's the bad, now for the good.  Bic's misguided marketing campaign has prompted a completely brilliant retaliatory back-lash as evidenced by the hilariously sarcastic and tongue in cheek product user 'reviews' for the pens on both the UK and US Amazon sites.  So, if you feel like you need some cheering up - hop on over to Amazon and search 'Bic for her'. It started with one extremely funny review but now there are now hundreds of them.   I love the fact that people are protesting against Bic's idiocy using humor and I don't think it lessens the impact of the protest one bit. The only downside is that all this publicity will probably end up being good for Bic...

Here are  couple of my fave 'reviews'.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Perfect Girly Pens August 28, 2012

OMG!!!!!! I luv these pens!!!!! They R so gurly and sweet! But they would be better if they made everything look like a rainbow or a pony. PONIES!!!! Or maybe a vacuum. If they could make like a pony or rainbow pen, I would buy all of them. Or a fairy. I like fairies.
I would give these pens more stars if they made sparkles. Cause sparkles R the BEST!!!!!! But they only make lines. : (

or:

4.0 out of 5 stars My life has been changed! 20 Aug 2012

I never did very well at school. I wanted to learn and it felt like all the words I needed were right there in my head, but I just couldn't get them onto the paper in front of me. If I really pushed myself, I could sometimes manage to draw pretty flowers in the margins but this didn't please Sir and I was soon in all the bottom sets. What really confused me is that I had no problems in cookery or textiles. At the time I didn't understand why I could grip and use a wooden spoon or sewing needle but couldn't properly hold my black-coloured pen for more than 45 seconds without dropping it on the floor and weeping.

Things were a bit better when I left school to go and work sweeping up hair at the local salon - yet again, the broom seemed to just fit into my grip as if it was meant to be there - and I saved up to buy a pink laptop. I still had trouble writing for a long time because, although the case was pink, the keys weren't designed for female eyes which, as we all know, struggle to discern between shades of black and grey. I could write for about 4 minutes at a time, though, and that's how I found out about these wonderful pens for girls like me.

As soon as they arrived, I was soothed by the pink packaging - I'd been feeling stressed after driving back from work because my hands just won't stay on the black, leather-effect steering wheel in my cute mini. Anyway, I quickly found a piece of notepaper with pictures of kittens round the edges and had a go at writing my name. It was amazing! The pen just stayed in place between my fingers, just like it always had for the boys in my class at school. Well, in no time I'd filled a whole notepad and had to go and get another one!

Now I've gone back to night school and hope to realise my ambition of enrolling on a childcare course next year. I'm also halfway through writing an erotic novel set in Victorian times - but with vampires!

My only criticism of these wonderful pens is that I get a bit bored with all 12 looking the same. I get around this my customising each pack. At the moment, the pen I have in use is covered in stripes of glitter and I glued a pink pompom and one of those diamanté charms you get on mobile phones (I couldn't fit any more on my phone) onto the top. I think BIC should start adding pens like this to their range because some women find it difficult to hold tubes of superglue properly - I asked the 6 year old boy who lives next door to help me.

and:

5.0 out of 5 stars Revolutionary article - must buy! 20 Aug 2012

This pen is great. I bought it for all my female friends and relatives. It enabled them, finally, to write things (although they may not yet know to do so on paper; but you can only expect so much, really). I thought they were just a bit slow.

My mother, a hard-working woman who raised twelve kids single-handedly whilst doing all the ironing (as nature intended), was furtively abashed by her illiteracy. Long would she gaze upon her husband and sons' scrawlings and would dedicate five minutes a day (which she really should have spent making sandwiches) to pray that one day she would be granted the ability to create such scribbles of her own. She's still a little slow on the uptake, but this product has definitely helped start the ball rolling. We tried to give her men's pens but she used to rip the cartridges out and drink the ink. Typical woman.

Anyway, it's good that BIC are finally doing something to aid the plight of women. Hopefully a range of 'for her' paperclips is on the horizon - my wife has an awful time keeping her recipes together.

...til nex time'