Contributed by Jess Wakeman.
Readers of Step Inside Design's December/January issue bared their claws when the magazine chose to illustrate their "women of design" issue with....kittens.
Wrote one angry reader:
"Congratulations on degrading your well-written, well-researched articles with a cover that portrays these hard-working, intelligent, and creative women as a bunch of adorable, cuddly and nonthreatening housepets."
Wrote a male reader:
"I'll bet a bag of cat litter that if it had been about leading men of design, you would've shown their faces or samples of their work."
Mag representatives wrote in their February/March issue that they were trying to "change connotations by re-appropriating them," pointing out that's why Spike Lee can make a film about minstrel shows and Mel Brooks can make a film about 'Springtime for Hitler.' But I still say...hiss!
Via Romenesko.
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Are you all sure they were going for the "cute, cuddly" angle and not the... er... I won't say the word here, but it should be obvious with a little thought?
I only ask because “kitten” was definitely not the first word to pop into my head when I saw "Women" surrounded by cat pictures. Maybe this is just an indictment of the way my mind works, but are we really supposed to believe that no one in the Step cover approval process made this connection as well?
very wierd. Maybe if they were men they would have had puppy pictures? who knows. but regardless of intent somehow it does seem in bad taste.
I don't think puppies work. If you are going to have cats for women, it seems only fair to have roosters for men.