Seven Oaks Magazine.

As the May 17th provincial election approaches, two campaigns have been launched with the purpose of getting out the youth vote: “Get Your Vote On” and Canadian Federation of Students' new baby, “Rock the Vote BC”. Both these campaigns purport to use popular culture to lure youth into the practice of voting, using language and slogans such as “cool kids vote”, or encouraging one to be a vote “rocker.”

Central to the campaign, though, seems to be a roster of fashion suggestions and “VOTE” merchandising, while important questions – like for whom one ought to vote, or for what – seem to be left unanswered, as both campaigns strive to remain free of any possible accusation of partisanship.

In the interests of full disclosure: The quest for employment is one that often brings new knowledge and experiences, and my first encounter with the seemingly superficial campaigns came about through an unsuccessful application and interview for a position. Sour grapes? I hope not. Upon closer inspection, I’m sure you’ll agree that there are ample grounds for constructive criticism.

Both voter participation efforts, for instance, urge us to vote in the abstract, going to absurd lengths to make this civic activity “cool.” And so the Get Your Vote On website includes a downright bizarre gallery of twenty and thirty-somethings modeling “VOTE” belts and t-shirts.

These campaigns show the danger of using the language of popular and consumer culture to bring out the youth vote. As a young voter – though not, anymore at least, a rocker -- and a feminist I have found the underlying sexism within these campaigns uncritically mirrors that which is on the surface of our popular culture world dominated by Maxim and MTV. This is disappointing to say the least, and especially unsettling as this election pits Carole James, who is vying to become B.C.’s first elected female premier, against Gordon Campbell, who has done so much to attack women’s centres and female dominated workforces like those in health care and education.

Basically, it seems these organizations believe that in order to get youth involved in politics, politics must be sexy. And this seems to take the form of using women’s bodies in particular to promote the vote.

For instance, the folks at the CFS’ “Rock the Vote” believed they would encourage more women to vote if they made their website a pretty pink colour and held a fashion show to register new voters. As a recent article in Terminal City showed, hot girls and rock music was the basis of the Fashion Rocks event, with a photograph of a model wearing an outfit that would make a SI swimsuit model blush.

These antics show that these campaigns, run by progressive organizations such as the CFS, are willing to use women’s bodies to get the vote out, while the “Get Your Vote On” folks are equally guilty of sexualizing women’s bodies in order to appear hip or cool, selling pink underwear with the slogan “check my box.” Tired “Bush” puns, it seems, are calling replacement wordplays into existence.

I suppose I can’t place all the blame on the organizers of these campaigns; not even the NDP seems to be running a political campaign against Campbell, hoping instead to bank on the unpopularity of their right wing opponent. And we all know how well that worked for John Kerry. Unfortunately, “I am not him” politics and lame sexual innuendos will not be enough to build a real alternative in this province.