Sideshow Toys has been keeping criticism of their controversial Mary Jane laundry statue forum under tight moderation, which meant many comments disliking the statue were magically swept away, as Feministe.us points out.
Sideshow, the company that makes this 50s-fantasy knickknack, has been deleting comments complaining about the misogyny and sexism of the image from its forum, while leaving up compliments.
When I started to ask people I know about the Sideshow posts. I’ve heard a few stories of them deleting any post they deem offensive. There is even a little warning in partway through the MJ thread from the Administrators:
A note to all posters: Comments do not appear live to the public until they have een moderated. After you submit your comment, the page will reload and your comment will appeat to you only accompanied by the words ‘Your comment is awaiting moderation.’ Comments tha do not meet our posting guidelines (seen here) will not be approved and this will not appear publicly. Thanks.
Our own Lisa Fortuner, decided to leave Sideshow a comment on the Mary Jane Statue, only to find her comment inadmissible. She attempted to make this post:
Are you serious about this? The Imagery of Mary Jane Watson-Parker barefoot, washing her husband’s uniform and dispaying both her breasts (with pearls to complete the 50s domestic image) and her behind (in a thing to add 90s-style oversexualization to the mix) with a “come hither” look is insulting in the extreme to female fans.
So anyone want to take a guess which posting guideline she broke? Because I’m not really sure.
Things has changed since the thread first started. Sideshow Toys seems to be letting negative comments through with the more recent posts, since there’s been an uproar. Things like this little gem seemed to make the cut.
This is horrible! She looks like a damn whore. She needs a better belt, her ASS is hanging out.
Where’s MJ the professional?
This is practiaclly pornographic.
Oh Lisa, maybe you should have used the word “whore” to get your post past the moderation.
May 18th, 2007 at 9:35 am
When I tried to comment there (rather early on) I only got a “comment is awaiting moderation. It might take a moment for your comment to show up”, which of course it never did. I didn’t use profanities, either.
Oh, looking through the thread, I posted exactly at the point the admin message shows up … heh.
I really like those guidelines. “We will delete comments/reviews that we find detract from the enjoyment of reading articles on our website.” Sure.
May 18th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
I’ve noticed that the, “she’s hot. I’d do her.” and “Who’s looking at her belt?” comments are still up.
May 19th, 2007 at 2:35 am
I knew I was missing something. I’ll remember not to edit out the profanity next time I comment on something like this.