A local news station in Donna Texas reports on a piñata store that is selling piñatas of topless women, some with stripper poles between their legs. The report says that the piñatas are popular for bachelor parties.
You can’t see the actual piñatas very well in the video since they have the fuzzy grey strip covering their breasts, but they look pretty characteristically pornographic, big breasts and long blonde hair.
I think I’m more disturbed by the act of breaking open the piñata woman, and the violence that that invokes, than I am disturbed by the nudity. Piñatas are traditionally filled with candy, tied to a tree or hanging from the ceiling, and broken open by people swinging sticks at them, blindfolded.
I had piñatas at my parties as a kid, but they were never of women–usually animal shapes. I definitely understand the cultural significance of piñatas in the Latino community, but this takes symbolic violence against women a bit too far.
The news story doesn’t mention the violent aspect of the piñatas, just the passers-by and their children being exposed to these naked women hanging in the shops.
These “stripper” piñatas are a far cry from the traditional ones, shaped like a seven-pointed star.
16 Comments
I can’t help but laugh at the fact that they are censored in the picture, and the controversy is over the paper-mache boobies. Quick, cover their virgin eyes!
Traditional piñatas encourage children to kill animals, ergo stripper piñatas will encourage bachelors to kill strippers…
Creepy….you won’t see these pinatas at my familys’ parties…ever.
It never ceases to amaze me that people are concerned with nudity at all, let alone MORE concerned with nudity than violence. However, that seems to be a common problem in our society. You’ll notice that the tv series “24″, in which we see people being shot, stabbed, and even tortured by the hero, and lot of blood and gore, is rated PG-13, while a perfectly peaceful porno is rated R, or NC-17. I suppose the same mentality lead the media to focus on the nudity, rather than on the fact this adds to the already VERY prevalent problem of violence against sex workers. I mean really, we would rather see a sex worker beaten than see her do her JOB?
Our fear of the human body, and human sexuality is bad enough without distracting us from a very real, physically harmful problem.
Does busting open donkey pinatas condone violence against donkeys? Won’t someone please think of the donkeys?
What is “characteristically pornographic” about big breasts and blonde hair? I think perhaps the NUDITY is the pornographic aspect.
Also, since as a child you had animal shaped pinatas, is that support for symbolic violence against animals?
Oh lord, don’t even get me started about the American rating system…
I’m like others, in that I feel animal shaped pinatas are symbolic of violence against animals. But at the same time, a lot of pinatas are shaped like animals, or even specific animals, to fit in with a larger theme for a child’s party. I can’t tell people not to make forms modeled after living creatures any more than I can tell people not to purchase them or beat the candy out of them.
That said, I don’t feel these pinatas are specifically condoning violence against women. They are part of a theme, which is bachelor party hypersexualization. I’m disturbed that they are all white blond women, but then it’s easier for the makers to make one type, and make that one type fit the “ideal” of sexy, which in our culture is a white woman with blond hair. I personally don’t object to showing of naked bodies, and think it’s wierd that our society is far more accepting of extreme violence than even partial nudity, let alone any sex. Given that our society is generally violent and oppressive against women, these pinatas fall in the categories of ignorance and poor taste.
To me, using donkeys as the symbolic recipients of our aggression is just as heinous and reprehensible. Let’s strive for freedom from violence of all kinds. That way, we can at least be consistent.
Wow. . . That’s not creepy at all. I mean, the pinatas I broke open when I was a kid were homemade and shaped like balloons [We blew up balloons and paper-mached over it]. If this doesn’t promote violence against women, I don’t think anything does.
All the animal pinatas I’ve ever seen were really just the basic shapes of animals. They rarely have faces and they’re always in bright, unrealistic colors. To me, hitting one of those suggests violence against animals about as much as stepping on an animal cracker does.
These stripper pinatas on the other hand, are much more realistic looking, even if they are cartoony. The idea of anything in the shape of an unclothed human form, dangling from a tree or hook and being hit with sticks is a pretty disturbing image to me.
As someone who played “pin the penis” at my bacholorette party, I feel compelled to not say so much about nudity and or voilence of or against paper persons.
What is “characteristically pornographic” about big breasts and blonde hair?
Thank you! As a natural D cup with 3 feet of blonde hair, I get so sick of seeing this described as the stereotypical “porn look”.
what was the line from the southpark movie bigger/longer/uncut.
“horrific acts of deplorable violence are ok; as long as you dont say any naughty words.”
You mean like violent videogames are responsible for the millions of killing sprees every year ? Oh puuuhlleease.
One time I wrote a story parodying the Halloween franchise where a pinata starts killing people, but this is a whole new horror!
And I agreen with 5thcellar… I have blonde hair and a triple D-chest.