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Jill has been blogging for Feministe since 2005.
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38 Responses

  1. problemchylde
    problemchylde August 29, 2012 at 3:01 pm |

    I had way too much fun reading those comments. I LOVE IT!

  2. Mike
    Mike August 29, 2012 at 3:03 pm |

    Obvious fake comments? Its hard to get as excited as we are led those commenters are getting excite about a pen.

    1. Wiley
      Wiley August 29, 2012 at 3:15 pm |

      I don’t know about you but I frequently get excite about pens.

    2. FashionablyEvil
      FashionablyEvil August 29, 2012 at 3:23 pm |

      Spoken like a dude who just doesn’t appreciate HOW LONG we women have been waiting for pens just for us. This has been a major feminist issue since the Seneca Falls Convention and the drafting of the Declaration of Sentiments.

      Men! Totally clueless.

    3. Echo Zen
      Echo Zen August 29, 2012 at 3:31 pm |

      Oh, be nice to him. Every village needs its local naif.

  3. Donna L
    Donna L August 29, 2012 at 3:17 pm |

    I kind of liked the comment about wishing there were one with wings for heavy-writing days.

    1. EG
      EG August 29, 2012 at 7:22 pm |

      What about one with a hat for bad-handwriting days?

    2. Kristen J.
      Kristen J. August 29, 2012 at 7:41 pm |

      I liked the poem.

  4. FashionablyEvil
    FashionablyEvil August 29, 2012 at 3:21 pm |

    I also recommend the comments here. Clearly the Brits are on top of this phenomenon as well.

  5. matlun
    matlun August 29, 2012 at 3:28 pm |

    Hilarious!

    Does anyone know who started this?

    1. Fat Steve
      Fat Steve August 29, 2012 at 3:44 pm |

      There is this whole subculture of spoof reviewers. My friend Christina is one of them:

      https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/pdp/profile/A34P74M2CSC0O9?ie=UTF8&ref_=ya%5F%5F56

    2. Kristin A
      Kristin A August 29, 2012 at 9:18 pm |

      Brings to mind classics like “three wolf moon shirt” and “banana slicer”.

      1. Caperton
        Caperton August 30, 2012 at 3:01 pm | *

        Hey, okay, I got The Boy the Three Wolf Moon shirt for Christmas two years ago, and his life has become AWESOME. He got a raise, grew an inch and a half taller, discovered a talent for microelectronics, and found a great deal on kayak. So let’s not go thinking that every product that gets exceptional reviews is a joke, okay? Some of them are legitimately outstanding.

    3. Cactus Wren
      Cactus Wren August 30, 2012 at 12:01 am |

      Or this immortal review of the Diva MoonCup:
      http://www.amazon.com/review/R39TB4HUVK8Z6

  6. Henry
    Henry August 29, 2012 at 3:39 pm |

    Shit I have a purple bic pen at home…checks balls, oh thank god still there!

    You can vote the comments up to.

    Dear Bic,

    Black, blue and red ink are standard for work because (1) they photocopy decently, (2) historical reasons, (3) don’t make a reader’s eyes bleed and (4) indicate function (e.g. red for markups). Not because they are “man” colors. By defining typical art colors as female Bic is pushing school age females (this product is on market during back to school season so guess the target audience) to view these color choices as acceptable for work. This crap is why people feel compelled to write business articles about not doing work in weird colors that hurt everyone’s eyes.

    For use of such colors, incidentally by a male artist who obviously did not heed the warning on the package, please see here:

    http://datelinenews.org/ballpoint-pen-drawings-of-artist-samuel-silva-become-viral-photos/991227

    1. samanthab
      samanthab August 29, 2012 at 6:12 pm |

      I didn’t even notice the colors- I have a freaky migraine and really shouldn’t be on the puter- but, yeah, god freaking knows why marketers don’t get that 5 year old girls see pastels as integral to femininity and adult women, not so much. And while I generally approve of making products that cater not only to larger hands, I gotta say that I’m pretty okay with pen size as is. I don’t find myself thinking “holy crap, that pen’s hard to grip” the way I do, say, a shovel.

      FYI, Bic, fine pens are already available in smaller sizes. Ladies who can write shit can, for the most part, read shit, including product labels.

    2. Kierra
      Kierra August 30, 2012 at 8:08 am |

      As far as I can tell, the Cristal (what’s up with that spelling?) For Her are black ink. Though it is true that pastel colored inks are quite common in school supplies marketed to girls.

  7. Marksman2010
    Marksman2010 August 29, 2012 at 4:35 pm |

    I’m an office-supplies nerd.

    There must be others out there like me…

    1. FashionablyEvil
      FashionablyEvil August 29, 2012 at 5:04 pm |

      Oh, I am too. I have a great fondness for browsing at office supply stores. I have also been known to select a pen based on my mood (in the “Ugh, I don’t want to write with a ballpoint pen!” sort of way).

      1. DouglasG
        DouglasG August 29, 2012 at 6:32 pm |

        So am I. I recently took over half an hour figuring out that an oddball set of dry-erase markers really WERE different shades and not just slightly-off labels. Now I have as many colours as I’m likely to need.

        1. Angel H.
          Angel H. August 30, 2012 at 9:56 am |

          Me too! I do a little happy dance when we get a new shipment of supplies at the office!

    2. Lauren
      Lauren September 4, 2012 at 1:28 pm |

      I’ve got a BFF that would be happy spending several hours browsing Staples for the best pens and notebooks. She’s also really fold of things that organize paper.

      WHAT IS THIS ABOUT.

      1. Lauren
        Lauren September 4, 2012 at 1:29 pm |

        And by “fold” I mean “fond.” Grumble grumble.

      2. Caperton
        Caperton September 4, 2012 at 1:48 pm | *

        Seriously? You don’t get this?

        I bet you don’t read Container Store catalogs in the bathtub, either.

  8. Tamara
    Tamara August 29, 2012 at 4:36 pm |

    People (she says wiping her eyes) please, I waste enough time already, I did not need to learn about this!

    I must check if those pens sell in New Zealand. My legal career depends on it.

  9. Kristen J.
    Kristen J. August 29, 2012 at 6:19 pm |

    Faith in humanity restored.

  10. Xexyz
    Xexyz August 29, 2012 at 8:16 pm |

    This reminds me of when I was in 7th grade and my math teacher called my mother at work, pulled her out of an important meeting, with the Grave News that I was:

    1. Completing math assignments in ink.
    2. Not only using ink, but completing them in strange colors such as green and purple.
    3. Not only completing them in green and purple, but sometimes even switching colors from problem to problem!

    He was Very Concerned that this was not how a normal boy did math assignments, and felt she had to know right away. In some order she laughed at him and then admonished him for wasting her time with such nonsense, which apparently distressed him because he wasn’t prepared for a woman to respond to him in such a manner and hung up muttering something about how unladylike she was. I’m pretty sure at the parent-teacher conference that year they didn’t speak to each other.

  11. Kirsten
    Kirsten August 29, 2012 at 8:26 pm |

    Oh my god, this is hilarious and fantastic beyond words. Thank you for sharing! :)

  12. Comradde PhysioProffe
    Comradde PhysioProffe August 29, 2012 at 9:21 pm |

    The best was the dumbass who realized that all the reviews were fake and making fun of the stupid product, but got all pissy and was all like, “It’s just a stupid pen. In other countries people have REAL PROBLEMS.”

    1. pheenobarbidoll
      pheenobarbidoll August 30, 2012 at 2:47 pm |

      Those other countries don’t have the right pens, obviously.

  13. FYouMudFlaps
    FYouMudFlaps August 30, 2012 at 2:22 am |

    Heh, jolly good time that was. Look for my review, ApesFromSpace.

    1. Angel H.
      Angel H. August 30, 2012 at 9:58 am |

      Loved it!

  14. starsail
    starsail August 31, 2012 at 4:58 am |

    I can’t find a switch to turn it on, and it didn’t come with batteries. This is not the “for her” product I was expecting. At all.

    Win.

  15. im
    im September 3, 2012 at 12:50 am |

    Wow that’s fail. Pink pens? Why not, if you are making pens in all other colors. Super-specific ‘for her’ pens? BWHAHAHAHAHAHheaddesk! This is funnier than the time that Cheveron’s website got filled with troll advertisment submissions.

  16. Mike
    Mike September 3, 2012 at 3:25 pm |

    Quite funny overall

Comments are closed.