Sexy silhouette ad suggests A-News on wrong side on war against women

To the Editor:

"Your wife is hot! (Insert sexy female silhouette here.) Let us cool her down!" What is being sold here?

Maybe I am reading too far into this advertisement within your pages; perhaps I just don't understand the mechanisms of advertising. From what I can gather, the thought process behind these ads goes something like this: 1. Design an eye-catching ad; maybe air conditioning isn't so exciting? Maybe the focus of the ad needs to be changed let's go with sexy women! 2. The reader will be drawn in by his or her curiosity. (It is his wife, after all!) 3. Through some mysterious process (this is where I get lost), the interest in sexy women will be converted into a genuine need for air conditioning. Cha-Ching! Another sale!

If you haven't caught onto my point here, I think it is glaringly obvious that women's bodies have nothing to do with air conditioning, nor do I believe that featuring an ad like this does anything for an air-conditioning business. But what does it do? Well I could tell you about the regular stream of police reports arriving in my email concerning attempts at rape and sexual assault on my campus, or share my perceptions as a young woman surrounded by messages that at their best, do nothing to prevent violence against women, and at their worst, promote objectification (yes, this is violence) of women, all for the sake of (apparently) selling air conditioning and rental houses.

This isn't the first time this has come up, either. So, Athens NEWS, which side will you take in the war against women? You'll print my letter objecting to these advertisements, but will you eradicate them from your pages? I urge you to create a publication that celebrates integrity, humanity, respect and equality. Otherwise, you may find that your pages are devoted to horrifying stories that seem all too ironic next to the advertisements you are running.

Eden Kinkaid
Athens