Inflatable sex dolls to fight Mexican machismo
Mar 9, 2006
today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=2006-03-09T010253Z_01_N08206443_RTRIDST_0_OUKOE-UK-MEXICO-WOMEN.XML&archived=False
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico is deploying an army of inflatable sex dolls dressed as office executives in a head-turning publicity campaign against workplace harassment of women in the famously macho country.

Timed to coincide with International Women's Day on Wednesday, the advertisements show sex dolls with staring eyes and gaping red mouths dressed in suits and sitting at computers.

"No woman should be treated like an object. Sexual harassment is degrading and it's a crime," says a voice-over at the end of a television ad, which shows a man walking past one of the dolls and casually stroking her shoulder.

Machismo runs deep in Mexico, where it is common for men to have mistresses. Some even set them up in a second home.

Women generally earn less than male colleagues and have fewer opportunities for promotion. Inappropriate behaviour towards women in work situations is also not unusual.

Mexico's national institute for women said the ads -- which will run on television, radio, print media and billboards from mid-March -- were aimed at stirring up controversy and symbolised the use of women as sexual objects.

Mexican law is often not on the side of women.

The age of consent varies from state to state, but can be as young as 12. And with abortion frowned upon by the Catholic majority, numerous rape victims are pressured by courts and medical workers into having children they do not want.

Surveys show countless women are beaten at home.

The anti-harassment campaign comes on the heels of a campaign to combat violence against women, which showed prominent women photographed with bruised and cut faces.

Mexican President Vicente Fox has headed a series of campaigns against sexism and other discrimination in his five years in office.

However, he caused a stir earlier this year when he made a joking reference to women as "washing machines with two legs."

Quoted: However, he caused a stir earlier this year when he made a joking reference to women as "washing machines with two legs."

"The other day I met a guy who thought that 'loading the dishwasher' meant gettin' his wife drunk"-Jeff Foxworthy

Man if anyone falls for a doll sitting at a desk............

Having travelled many times and places throughout Mexico I can safely say that I am pleased to see anyting that might help the women there, in my experiance (this is an opinion) they are generally treated like second class pieces of shit.

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