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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | August 2005 
Mexican Women's Group Opposes Use of Model to Discourage Men from Eating Turtle Eggs as Aphrodisiacs
 Lisa J. Adams - Associated Press
| | "My man doesn't need turtle eggs... because he knows they don't make him more potent." |
Mexico City – A campaign aimed at halting the illegal consumption of endangered turtles' eggs has run into trouble before it is officially hatched, with a women's rights group asking government officials to block public announcements featuring a scantily clad model.
"My man does not need turtle eggs because he knows that they don't make him more potent," Argentine model Dorismar purrs from a poster, clad in a skimpy bathing suit. The message is aimed at Mexican men who for years have eaten the eggs believing they are aphrodisiacs.
Sea turtles, once hunted in Mexico for their meat and eggs, were declared a protected species in 1990, and killing them or taking their eggs is now a crime.
The Mexican government pledged to provide greater protection for sea turtles after about 80 were found slaughtered earlier this month on La Escobilla beach in southern Oaxaca state.
The ads, which urge Mexicans to obey laws prohibiting the slaughter, sale and consumption of endangered sea turtles and their eggs, were created by Wildcoast, a private, nonprofit, conservation group based in California.
The group launched its campaign in April, when it began distributing at public events a variety of informational materials, including postcards with Dorismar's image.
In September, Wildcoast plans to hang Dorismar posters in several Mexican states where turtles nest or where the endangered creatures are eaten, including the Pacific coast state of Guerrero, and the capital, Mexico City, said Aida Navarro, Wildcoast's wildlife conservation program manager.
But when news of the posters appeared Thursday in the national newspaper Reforma, it caught the eye – and sparked the anger – of Mexico's National Women's Institute.
The institute considers the campaign offensive, and a step back in the country's efforts to overcome its culturally ingrained machismo.
"The institute is against this campaign because it promotes women as sexual objects. We are not against the campaigns that protect turtles and their eggs, just the way in which they use the woman, as a stereotype or sexual object," said a statement released Friday in response to a query from The Associated Press.
It added that the ads represent "a setback in the fight for the rights of women and the public policies the government is promoting in terms of gender issues."
The president of the institute, Patricia Espinosa, contacted Guerrero's environmental secretary on Thursday to complain.
On Friday, Reforma ran a story saying that the secretary, Daniel Monroy, suggested the group not go forward with the campaign, to avoid offending people.
But in a telephone interview Friday, Monroy said he had no opinion on the ad campaign and that it was not his responsibility to grant or deny permission for it. He cited a state law that allows civic groups to place public ads aimed at protecting natural resources, including endangered animal species.
Wildcoast has no plans to back down, although it has decided to refrain from putting the names and telephone numbers of government agencies on the posters.
"We have been working on this campaign for a year now, and we don't think there is any reason to stop it because we have had the support from many groups and people and the general public," Navarro said in a telephone interview.
"We are not trying to offend anybody. This is about saving the turtles, and we believe that this message definitely helps to reach the audience we are targeting."
Navarro defended Dorismar, saying she was more than "just a pretty woman."
"She's the spokesperson for this campaign," she said. "This campaign is not treating her as an object."
For more information go to: www.tortugamarina.com |
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