If you were wondering whether to swipe off your make-up, dab off the traces of yesterday’s mascara and pout for the ‘No Makeup Selfie’ in aid of cancer research or awareness, don’t bother. Or rather – go ahead and donate to this worthy cause or the admirable Hospice Movement, but there’s no need to jump on the barefaced bandwagon. There’s another bandwagon that’s careening our way. And that’s the ‘Cock in a Sock’ craze.
The name is self-explanatory, of course. Let’s just say there are going to be many more odd socks in the laundry basket, as men stuff their trouser snakes into footwear and post the obligatory photo online, coupled with brave comments like “Balls to Cancer”. Because this is another viral meme ‘For a Good Cause’ – in this case, that of raising awareness of testicular cancer.
And since it’s all in aid of a good cause, the end justifies the means, and if anyone hasn’t stuffed his package into a sock, then he’s automatically branded as being a spoilsport, a bit of a buzz-killer and – worst of all – of being uncaring about the plight of people who have cancer.
In fact, the administrators of the Sock page posted a picture of a Mary Whitehouse look-alike meant to epitomise the people who were criticising the meme.
Eyebrows raised in horror and lips pursed in disapproval, she is featured uttering the words: “I’d rather see someone die than fund research or raise awareness for testicular cancer by donating a cock in a sock photo! I know it’s covered with a sock but I’m a stupid, old prude! Now back to those other horrific and sexually explicit images I don’t mind seeing on my newsfeed. Much more acceptable!”
This pretty much is the defence of people who bare their bits (or cover them in a sock) when criticised. How dare you criticise an initiative for such a worthy cause? Have you got any idea how much money was donated to cancer research following the makeup-less selfie craze? Even if it’s gimmicky, and helped only one single person suffering from cancer, then it would have been worth it. It’s all a bit of fun, after all. Don’t you know how difficult it is to attract people’s attention and raise funds, with so many competing causes out there? And the final argument clincher: “It’s all for a good cause”.
We’re soon going to have to resort to even more ridiculous couplings
Well, there’s no crushing reply to that. Admittedly, these viral memes are a clever way of exploiting people’s vanity and need for validation (practically every single comment underneath the no make-up selfies was on the lines of “You still look beautiful”, which begs the question as to why women wear make-up in the first place), but if they’re successful fundraisers who are we to argue?
Maybe dismissing the motives for people’s obsessive posting is over-analysing it a bit and rather mean-spirited. I’m a great believer in the ‘different strokes for different folks’ kind of philosophy.
If there’s something that can prod people into donating for good causes, then so be it. As long as it’s not insensitive, we can put up with pictures of gormless men waving their tackle about in a pop sock or doing the duck pout for the camera and fishing for compliments. The only issue I have with these kind of campaigns is that those who are crowding onto the viral bandwagon frequently criticise others who prefer to contribute in another manner.
Refusing to participate in the lemming-like rush to bare all online is equated with being unsympathetic to the cause being promoted, when it can simply mean that you prefer your donation or contribution to be expressed in a more discrete and dignified manner.
There’s one other thing about this apparently necessary linking of causes with parts of the body or body functions. We’re soon going to have to resort to even more ridiculous couplings. I half-expect a campaign of ‘Genitals against Genocide’ or maybe ‘Phalluses for Peace’ (Now that will make power-hungry despots sit up and take notice!). Women can join in with ‘Tits for Tigers’ or ‘Breasts not Bombs’.
Do those taglines sound silly, vapid and in bad taste when read in relation to the important causes they are promoting? Of course they are. But it seems we’ll have to get used to it.
cl.bon@nextgen.net.mt