Dirty Dishes	Dirty Dishes Archive

Growing up in the American South, Dawn was treated -- on Daddy's lap -- to the entire cycle of Joel Chandler Harris's Uncle Remus renditions of the Br'er Rabbit (that is, "Brother Rabbit") stories, themselves re-tellings of Cherokee folk stories infused with African-American (that is, slave) sensibilities.

As a likeable trickster, Br'er Rabbit is a master at manipulating his adversaries (the likes of Br'er Fox and Br'er Bear); lacking the strength to coerce, Br'er Rabbit relies on guile. Perhaps most famously, in the tar baby story he pleads with his captor Br'er Fox, "Whatever you do to me, please, please don't throw me in that briar patch." Of course, Br'er Fox does just that, thereby fooled into returning Br'er Rabbit to his natural habitat -- and freedom.

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awn is reminded of this Br'er Rabbit technique whenever watching television ads for erection enhancing drugs such as Viagra, Levitra, or Cialas. Viewers are warned to notify their doctor immediately if they have an erection "lasting over four hours." Now, for men suffering from "ED" (that is, "erectile dysfunction," the new euphemistic moniker for impotence), the idea of a four-hour erection is likely to seem as unwanted as a briar batch would be to a wily rabbit. Thus, it seems reasonable to speculate that pharmaceutical manufacturers are including the overly-prolonged-boner "warning" not only to insulate themselves from possible liability, but also to lure all those Br'er Foxes out there to do exactly what the prescription peddlers want: buy their drug.

And Sist'h Rabbits are also in evidence amongst television hucksters. The inter-uterine contraceptive device Mirena notes in its "warning" of side effects that "missing periods or irregular bleeding is common in the first few months, followed by shorter lighter periods." Dawn can imagine that many women who have no need for Mirena's contraceptive properties, but who would not be upset with "shorter lighter periods," may seek out the product to take advantage of its "side effects."

Indeed, the grandest example of a product being marketed not primarily for its stated effect but rather its loudly-proclaimed "side effect" was the birth control pill itself, sort of a reverse Mirena. When The Pill was introduced in the U.S. in the 1950s, contraception -- even for married folk -- was not legal in some states; thus, the hormonal concoction was prescribed as a remedy for "menstrual irregularity" with contraception noted as a side effect. The incidence of "menstrual irregularities" skyrocketed (a new epidemic!) as millions sought blessed relief from the sex-equals-pregnancy equation.

Dawn is struck that all three of these examples of peddled-for-what-they-"warn"-about drugs has a sexual component. One can only suppose that Puritanism breeds a hypocrisy ripe for admen's exploitation.