for CSCA

1. LADY PENS FOR LADIES!!
(5 OUT OF 5 STARS)
Amazon.com Reviews as an Alternate Channel of Resistance
Against the Gender Bias Found in the ‘Bic for Her’ Line of Pens
Charley Reed
University of Nebraska at Omaha

2. Introduction
• European version of the Bic for Her line
of pens launched in early 2011
• In 2012, Amazon.uk reviewers began
to leave sarcastic reviews
• Reviews sparked news stories and
even a feature on ‘Ellen’

3. Literature Review
• Humor, particularly irony, is well established as a form of
rhetorical communication
(Bahktin, 1968; Otto, 2001)
• In order for humor to be effective, the author and audience
must have a shared frame of reference
(Deckers and Kizer, 1975; Fiske and Taylor, 2008; Samson and Hempelmann, 2011)
• Amazon.com has established a framework of reviews
featuring star ratings and helpful/unhelpful review statuses
(Mudambi and Schuff, 2008; Li and Hitt, 2010)
• The Western world features gendered social norms and
language that creates separate classes between genders
(Harold, 2004; Caswell and Laakso, 2012; Rodino-Colocina, 2012)

4. “My sense of womanhood was
deeply impacted by the lack of
gender defined stationary”
Happyshopper - (Aug. 15, 2012 / ***** out of *****)
429 of 438 people found the following review helpful

5. HYPERBOLE
“I use it when I'm swimming, riding a horse,
walking on the beach and doing yoga. It's
comfortable, leak-proof, non-slip and it
makes me feel so feminine and pretty!”
Tracy Hamilton - (Aug. 24, 2012 / ***** out of *****)
31,427 of 31,755 people found the following review helpful

6. HYPERBOLE
“The „BIC Cristal For Her Ball Pen‟
seemed to call out to her personally
its singular, pastel siren song!”
Minkiemink - (Aug. 28, 2012 / ***** out of *****)
1,921 of 2,094 people found the following review helpful

7. MYSOGYNY
“They also won't make periods at the
ends of sentences; it's a question mark
or exclamation point every time, also
dotted with hearts--SUPER annoying”
Madeleine B. - (Aug. 27, 2012 / ** out of *****)
1,921 of 2,094 people found the following review helpful

8. MYSOGYNY
“Sadly, my tiny womanly hands were
unable to open the package. Thanks a lot
Bic. :( I'm hoping one of my 257 cats will
chew open the package for me.”
Kim - (April 12, 2013 / * out of *****)
158 of 166 people found the following review helpful

9. MASCULINE EXCEPTIONALISM
“I knew something was wrong when I had
to physically restrain my hands, gnarled
and worn from a lifetime of rock-climbing
and shark wrestling, from crushing the
fragile implement like a Faberge egg.”
Mr. J Stevens - (Aug. 28, 2012 / * out of *****)
2,803 of 2,820 people found the following review helpful

10. MASCULINE EXCEPTIONALISM
“The „for her‟ label is not just a
gimmick exploiting archaic gender
constructs, it's a WARNING.”
Rachel - (Aug. 21, 2012 / * out of *****)
3,756 of 4,101 people found the following review helpful

11. Discussion & Future Research
• Reviews show that gender bias is still alive and
easily defined, but faces public resistance
• Similarities of the reviews reaffirm the argument
of Deckers & Kizer (1975) and Samson &
Hempelmann (2011) that shared frames
increase humor’s effectiveness
• Additional research can introduce more coders
to this text and/or examine other texts utilizing
the Amazon.com framework for social critique

12. “THANK YOU BIC!”
- Minkiemink