Another look at jugs

Dear Editors:
Angry, intolerant, pro-censorship socialist-feminists have already commandeered American education; they’ve hijacked news and entertainment media; they exert undue influence in legislation and law enforcement; indeed, they’re slowly transforming the country into an oppressive, politically correct, feminist police state.

Having conquered the aforesaid institutions, they now seek to dictate thought, infringe on Americans’ First Amendment rights, invade American businesses and censor those who don’t support their vision of an emasculated, androgynous political utopia.

In her “Soapbox” letter last week, Durangoan Beth Christie inveighs against politically incorrect signs and advertising campaigns, singling out Durango’s Jugs and Hardtails and Farmington’s Three Rivers Brewery for a particularly virulent dose of feminist vitriol.

The plain truth, of course, is that “jugs” refer to fuel cans, fuel tanks and a plethora of other motorcycle parts, and “hardtails” are a type of motorcycle frame. A hypersensitive feminist can easily find something offensive in these words, but a hypersensitive feminist can easily find something offensive and politically incorrect in any text, message or sign. And when they discover the inevitable slight, they invariably demand that it be censored or rallied against.

Three Rivers Brewery is a bar, and bars are businesses that cater to patrons who are older than 21. Bar ads have traditionally used references to sexuality and good, clean, adult fun in order to sell beer and encourage patronage. It’s not “sexist,” as Christie asserts; it’s good business and adroit advertising, and in my experience as many women as men patronize Three Rivers, and I’ve never heard it termed “sexist.” Indeed, the word “sexist” itself is merely a political catchphrase that feminists are taught to utilize every time they encounter something that seems “politically incorrect” by their and their mentors’ intolerant standards. Indeed, overuse of words like “sexist” and “misogynist” have rendered them ineffectual and negated their efficacy and original meanings.

Angry feminists should cease their hypersensitivity and begin to regard ads and texts as rhetorical vehicles and works of art, not as excuses to promote censorship.

If present trends continue, any text, word, phrase or semiotic that doesn’t endorse the feminist political agenda will be suppressed by the omnipresent feminist old-girl network; the First Amendment will become an obsolete curiosity; and anything that smacks of maleness will be vituperated against or made verboten.

At the conclusion of her vituperation, Christie admonishes readers to contact Three Rivers Brewery and complain to the owner. A more appropriate response to Three Rivers’ ads and the Jugs and Hardtails’ sign might be to stay out of bars and Harley Davidson shops if women’s bodies, allusions to female sexuality and males’ natural adoration of women’s bodies offend you.

And taking one’s children to a business with the word “Brewery” in its name is never a good idea.

– Dave Stephenson, Durango
“Let the games begin.”