advertising analysis

I cut my cable service last year, after I came to the realization that I was watching less TV than it was worth the amount of money I was paying every month. Thus, I had to find an alternative way to watch TV commercials for this assignment. I found them on http://www.online-video.net. The first one I saw is a commercial for Mercedes-Benz. A young, pretty blond walks up to a counter and makes an order of “French fries, burger and a milkshake.” Behind the counter a slightly overweight, dark haired, not as attractive and likely in her thirties female, responds disdainfully, “This is a library.” The blond glances around herself and then turns back and now whispers her order of French fries, burger and milkshake to respect the fact that one has to lower their voice in a library. Then words “Beauty is nothing without brains” are displayed and a new model of a Mercedes-Benz is shown. This commercial is based on the stereotype that pretty women don’t have brains and if a woman does happen to be more intelligent as to be able to be a librarian, then she is of course asexual and unattractive.
Another commercial I watched was for Victoria Secret’s “What’s Sexy” ad. The models that are used for the ad are all very beautiful, young, very skinny and big breasted (which is a paradox in itself; usually stick thin women don’t naturally have large breasts, if not by undergoing surgery). These girls were simulating sex and furthermore I felt that the ad was hinting toward exhibitionism. The models were shown walking (what looked like exterior) with only undergarments under their coats. Is the message that Victoria Secret is trying to send is, that women have to expose their bodies to unsuspecting strangers to get some type of gratification (sexual, social)? I was confused. Of course, there was fast paced music, the models walking rhythmically to the sound, a lot of steam and calculated lighting, to make the whole clip seem so cool. An unwarned watcher would probably feel that to be sexy and cool you have to have that body and that bra. This commercial is typically using the female body as an object, a much sexualized object that has to be exposed on an unhealthy and pervert way. When bombarded with ads like these it is no wonder that a woman would feel insecure about her body, one cannot help but to compare oneself to these standards of beauty. No wonder the raising numbers of young girls suffering of eating disorders and low self esteem. We are fed the wrong kind of imagery and messages.

The third ad I saw is for “Double A,” a printing paper. The setting of the commercial is the photocopy room of some office. There is a professionally dressed and rather good looking guy finishing up some copying, he puts a stack of the advertised paper on a high shelf when a girl walks in. She’s wearing a mini skirt and is young and pretty. They exchange looks when the guy is walking out. Left by herself the girl realizes that there is no more paper in the printer’s tray and attempts to get a stack of “Double A” by kneeling on the photocopier, when accidentally she pushes the button and it starts copying images of her crouch that is located over the printer. That’s the moment when the guy walks back in, he had realized on his way out that he had forgotten something. He is looking on shocked while the printer is non-stop spitting more copies of the girl's crotch, while she is still staying in the compromising position, her back toward him while still kneeling on the machine. Then a male authoritative voice reminds the viewer, “Double a paper, double quality paper.” In this commercial the woman is depicted as not very bright, not familiar with technologies, promiscuous and with derogatory role in an office setting, while the guy is looking more professional and in control. He is shocked with the girl’s demeanor. This imagery reminded me how victims of rape are often blamed to have asked for it, by flaunting their bodies in sexy outfits. The guy was obviously pleased with the sight the girl giving him, but pretended to be shocked by her actions as if he were a saint and never seen such a thing.

All three of these commercials show the woman objectified, as not in control of her own body. Everything she does is to please and attract the look of a male, thus his approval. If people grow up believing that pleasing someone else is the ultimate approval in life. How can these stereotypes controlled by industries dominated by males be ever erased? Michelle

"Feminism Is for everybody"

Despite the general muttering of the class how the book is so very repetitive, I personally found it rather revolutionary. It is kind of like Marx’s The Communist Manifesto. Only that instead of “Workers of the world, Unite!” it is more like “Women of all races, classes, religions and sexuality unite into a one strong sisterhood!”
When I was reading this Hooks’ sentence:
We all knew firsthand that we had been socialized as females by patriarchal thinking to see ourselves as inferior to men, to see ourselves as always and only in competition with one another for patriarchal approval, to look upon each other with jealousy, fear, and hatred.
I became aware that this type of stingy sentiments and behaviors are the lot of the dominated. I was reminded how my grandmother and mother pitied the comportment of their compatriots, who were busy harming and jealousing their neighbors’ success. They would only compete against each other, instead of the foreigners that were in reality exploiting them. Only now I understand that these people were socialized in such way, so that their collective spirit was completely destroyed. This is a sad thing to become aware of, but there are multiple levels of insecurities and deep ingrained misguided beliefs that occurred through wrongful socialization, and which keep on getting more pilled up with each additional matrix of domination. We truly need to change the whole system our society is based on. Maybe the thing to start the change with is something we give immense importance to, money and capitalism. Without wanting to sound socialist or anything, I feel that in this society we don’t have time to be kind or caring, because we are busy making money to survive or just to collect as much as wee can. We just don’t have time to stop and look around; we are constantly in a race against one-an-other.
This book is good not only for the feminist cause, but also to eliminate colonialist spirit of exploitation, racism and social injustice, and it calls people to lead lives of more mutual care and understanding. I really liked it. Michelle

gender norm

Since I had some free time on my hands, this Labor Day morning, I called up a friend and asked her if she wanted to join me and my daughter to a trip to the Central Park Zoo. It appeared to me as a good opportunity to try out that gender norm activity assignment. I remembered that one of the female gender norms I was constantly nagged with while growing up, and which always seemed to be so unreachably eluding and painstakingly difficult to attain, the one that claims that women are supposed to be sweet, graceful and nurturing. I could challenge this stereotype with some added exaggeration and embellishments, and at the same time try to forget that I am often lacking these expected feminine traits, which is pretty much on a daily basis. So I put my most “manly” looking pair of pants and a rather large t-shirt. No makeup of course, and we were ready to set off to the park. The exterior had to match the inner convictions. To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings I decided to avoid keeping my intentions secret from my friend. I made her aware that I was going to behave in an authoritarian manner, and she only had to go along with it. I was going to be the undisputable boss this day. Since we are in New York I was sure that people were going to be unsurprised to this kind of extravagant displays of strange behaviors. So… despite the fact that no one seemed to be raising their eyebrows I was feeling as if I was doing something criminal, as if I was a fraud. I was pretty much sure too, that the old lady sitting across of us in the subway was thinking we were a lesbian couple which came by a child in some doubtful manner. I guess in general peoples’ reactions and responses to us were rather nonchalant and non-involving. It was rather the way I was judging myself that made me think that it was me, who despite my perceived openness of mind, was still looking through a lens of gender socialization. It was I who judged women, sometimes correctly, sometimes wrongly to be more feminine or more masculine, but kind of always within the norms of this society. If I had seen a couple of females, in a similar situation I was trying to replicate, and one of them was more feminine and the other had been displaying masculine characteristics I would have most probably speculated similarly like the lady in the subway that we must be a couple. Furthermore, without being able to restrain myself, I would have broken my head trying to figure out how this unconventional couple came to have a child. On whether it was adopted or conceived by either of one of the women. It was a lesson for me to be aware of stereotypes and preconceived ideas that might quietly sneak up into our minds by the unformulated radiations of social norms.
Dolgoon (Michelle)