Across New York City, advertisements for weight-loss supplements, breast augmentations and butt enhancements are being defaced with stickers that read, “this oppresses women.”
The sticker campaign effort was created by two organizations: National Women's Liberation and Redstockings.
National's Women's Liberation describes itself as being "a feminist group for women who want to fight back against male supremacy and win more freedom for women," while Redstockings refers to itself as a "activist 'think tank', established by movement veterans, for defending and advancing the women's liberation agenda."
The Facebook page for National Women's Liberation features posts praising business cards that suggest castrating men who "harass" women and photos of children holding up signs in support of a political agenda.
According to event information on the National Women’s Liberation website,
"The sticker was an outgrowth of our joint 10 week class, ‘Building Women's Liberation Now: Gems from the 1960s and Beyond for Radical Feminist Theory & Action Today.’ Through consciousness-raising, women testified about being fed up with men who feel entitled to harass us on the street, tell us to smile, and/or comment on our appearance. From there we dug deeper, investigating the connection between street harassment and what corporate forces gain through the sexualization and exploitation of women in advertising plastered all over our public spaces. This summer we plan to raise consciousness publicly."
In an article praising the campaign as being “pretty damn awesome,” the Huffington Post spoke to a representative from National Women's Liberation.
Erin Mahoney told the Huffington Post, "Women are sick of being bombarded with advertisements that depict women only as sexual objects."
She continued,
"That use our bodies to sell products. That embolden men to disrespect us. That tell us we are not worthy unless we conform to unrealistic, sexist, racist, and unhealthy beauty standards. Women are fighting back and using [the 'This Oppresses Women'] vintage sticker to do it. It's exciting."
One of the targets in the sticker spree is Protein World, a which recently came under fire its advertisements on the London Underground. Despite backlash from feminists, Protein World had a boost in profits while running the advertisements.
This is not the first time National Women's Liberation and Redstockings have come together with the "this oppresses women" sticker campaign. A video on the National Women's Liberation Youtube page shows the organizations joining together to protest American Apparel: