Who would want to walk in Marie Claire editor Aspasia Karras’s shoes right now?
The #MCInHerShoes campaign saw famous South African men like Gareth Cliff, Siv Ngesi and DJ Euphonik don high heels to raise awareness about gender-based violence.
The idea certainly sparked debate, but not in the direction Marie Claire intended, forcing the magazine to issue an apology.
Many were apalled by the men chosen to front the campaign, with feminists citing Cliff and Ngesi’s history of misogyny, not to mention Euphonik’s alleged history with domestic violence. Others also took issue with the idea of parading men around in high heels, claiming that the stunt stereotyped women.
In August last year, comedian Ngesi tweeted a rugby one-liner that was interpreted as a rape joke. “At this rate the All Blacks better at least wear condoms when they penetrate us!,” he quipped.
Cliff, meanwhile, raised the ire of gender activists during an interview in 2011, when he said that most 22-year-olds “do nothing but lie on their backs with their legs open”.
Despite Euphonik being quoted in Marie Claire as saying, “Violence against women is probably the greatest injustice in the world,” critics of the #InHerShoes campaign preferred to draw attention to the charge of domestic violence laid against him by former girlfriend Bonang Matheba. The charges were later dropped. Euphonik did his image no favours however in a Twitter squabble over the campaign with Matheba this week, tweeting: “maybe next month they’ll discuss the crying wolfs”.
Defending the spirit behind the campaign, Karras’ wrote that she was “devastated that there has been such a backlash to our #MCInHerShoes campaign on social media”.
She claims that “our intention with the #MCInHerShoes campaign was a straightforward one: to create a striking and challenging campaign that would attract attention and debate about gender-based violence in a society that is suffering from cause fatigue, especially when it comes to the seemingly insurmountable problem of rape and violence against women”.
Karras also defended the choice of celebrities for the article, saying: “I stand by the men who participated with an open heart in the campaign. They engaged sincerely with what we were asking from them, and while I accept that simply donning a pair of heels does not put you in our shoes, the act was symbolic and the feelings and ideas it generated were powerful for these men.
“Many of you have asked why I chose ‘abusers’ and ‘misogynists’ for our campaign.
“I need to explain myself. I chose DJ Euphonik precisely because he had this shadow hanging over his head; he and I discussed it at length and I believed it would make a powerful statement about how wrong gender-based violence is. I feel, in retrospect, we should have made the reason we included him clear from the start. I can see how it is very upsetting for many people but please know that I did it in good faith.”
The magazine has since issued an apology for their "ill-conceived" campaign.
The statement, posted on the team's Twitter account, read:
"To those who have engaged with the #MCInHerShoes campaign, your critical responses have shown us in no uncertain terms that the campaign was ill-conceived.
We have upset so many of you and for this we apologise. Our intention was to spark conversation around gender-based violence in South Africa in a meaningful way – but it is clear that we have not.
We made an error of judgment in our choice of personality for this campaign. Being a magazine with a legacy of supporting women’s issues, we should not have approached someone with a history of alleged abuse.
We realise our mistake. We will do better."
Some Twitter users had very little sympathy for the way Marie Claire’s campaign had turned out.
“Here is an apology from Marie Claire, it's safe to say that the #InHerShoes campaign was an epic fail,” tweeted Zanele Madiba.
Even ZANews chipped in, poking fun at Gareth Cliff.
“ZANEWS: Having a rough day? Don't worry. At least you're not Gareth Cliff.”
Entertainment Reporter