only 3,999,990 to go

[kindkit]

For your viewing pleasure, "Sinéad's Hand," a wonderful equality marriage ad from Ireland.

Click to view

It's far more engaging and effective than anything I've seen from the various equality marriage campaigns in the U.S.

*****

Comments

[vilakins]

I like the punch line, but I still find it insulting that men still do ask a woman's father for permission. It happened with the couple whose wedding I went to earlier this year--in fact the guy even asked if the father if he could ask his daughter out. WTF? I was furious. And she didn't even mind.

[kindkit]

Huh. I'd never heard of people actually doing that nowadays. I wonder how common it is. I agree that it's insulting and generally ridiculous.

[vilakins]

I was shocked when the bride's father said that in his speech--and he wasn't joking. It was a point in favour of his son-in-law. My sister thinks the bride made him do it, but that doesn't make it any better; it make her complicit in the whole patriarchal thing.

[verasteine]

This is really sweet. I'm not sure it quite gets the point across, but it's really lovely. Thanks for sharing.

[kindkit]

I guess what I like about it is the attention it pays to a big underlying issue in the campaign for marriage equality--the unfairness having one's most private decisions, such as marriage, subject to possible denial by complete strangers.

I'm sure it's not the campaign's only ad, and no doubt other ads address other issues. This one just really struck me as meaningful in the aftermath of the Proposition 8 debacle.

[verasteine]

the unfairness having one's most private decisions, such as marriage, subject to possible denial by complete strangers.

This put me in mind of our parliamentary debates on the subject, where the labour party had as one of its counter arguments that it would damage trade relations. ::facepalm:: I found that so very offensive.

It is meaningful, as you say, and I think a very gentle way of raising the issue in a country that, if I recall correctly, is severely religious. I do really like the soft touch, the humanity of it.

[kindkit]

The dodgy Irish was my favorite bit--especially since, having learned Irish myself from non-native (and often non-fluent) speakers, I find dodgy, Anglicized Irish easier to follow.

[kiwisue]

I wondered at first who the ad was aimed at. I know nothing at all about contemporary Ireland - all my thoughts are around my life history in New Zealand and Australia - so my thoughts were about "asking for 'her' hand", and who might be receptive to that message, and I think the answer might be my generation and those older. My parents, for example. I don't want to be explicit about their values or anything, which aren't beyond question, but they've been generally very positive about people they know/have met who are in long term gay relationships. So maybe that's the part of the wall they're trying to break down.

[kindkit]

I agree, the ad is pretty clearly aimed at a straight audience that maybe hasn't thought much about these issues. It takes a premise that's scary but jokey because virtually no one does it anymore--asking permission to marry someone--and using that as a way into the predicament of lesbian and gay couples, who are prevented from marrying because a bunch of strangers have said "no, you can't."

[bodlon]

Whoa. Gaelic. Also, cute that the guy going around asking was rubbish at it.

Seconding the, "Er, patriarchy fail" vibe, but loving the way they've subverted an old cultural artifact to bring a point across.

[kindkit]

I don't think there's actual patriarchy fail happening--my sense of the ad is that, as I said above to kiwisue, it's taking something old-fashioned and restrictive that no one does it anymore, something so culturally obsolete it's become a joke, and using that as a way to show straight people (clearly the target audience) what it means for gay and lesbian couples to be unable to marry if they want to. And I like the implicit critique of the idea that anyone's basic human rights should be dependent on other people's approval.

Also: your icon is deeply disturbing and yet deeply awesome.

[bodlon]

It's from a larger piece, which as far as I can tell is meant to be Lincoln's apotheosis, being welcomed by the Divine Washington. Plus, it looked shippy. Who doesn't love random, weird-ass shippiness?

And yeah, I'm sort of on both sides of the whole thing. It's effective, but it hauls some ugliness out of the closet I think most people rightly find absurd. So.

Still. The point? Really quite good. No adult should have to have a referendum on their relationship.