American Way

I traveled to Boston this past weekend on an American Airlines flight, which provided the "American Way" magazine for each passenger. I left on October 31st, so the issue on the plane was for the end of October; but I came back on Nov. 3rd, so there was a new November issue on the way back.

The October issue had a girl featured on the cover who was from another country coming to start a life in America. She posed seductively on the cover, which is fitting for the title of the magazine, "American Way." It's funny that she was posed in the American way... a piece of eye candy, posed with her curves shown off and her clothing slightly showing skin, with the seductive smile on her face. Ironic, isn't it? People come to this country to live the American way, and that's exactly what this girl is doing! It's crazy how much our culture is craved by other cultures, yet they don't know that it's really not that great...

Gender in the Media

"Sex in the Media" refers not only to genders, but also sexual references. A prime example of advertising taking advantage of the attraction to sex in media is the Cadillac commercials. There are multiple commercials that Cadillac has put out recently, featuring both women and men. One in particular features a woman trying one of the cars, saying something along the lines of how it is not about the different features of the vehicle, but that the real question is, "When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?" This woman uses a very seductive, sexy voice, and is dressed rather seductively as well.
There is another commercial featuring a man, who says the exact same line, but he just doesn't pull it off nearly as well. The point is that women are used in advertising to sell by being seductive and suggestive. Our culture has taught us that things like this commercial are supposed to make us want the product... which is sad, but true! When a man sees that commercial, obviously he will be attracted to the women, and therefore attracted to the product (in theory.) When a woman sees the commercial, she is attracted to the product and the idea of looking as attractive as the young woman featured in it.
It was just interesting to me to see how advertising and media take advantage of the things people are attracted to. A man wants to see a woman that looks like the one in the commercial; a woman wants to look like the woman in the commercial... funny how advertising works, isn't it!

Cowgirl Up

I was in a wedding this weekend, and while I waited in the bride's room, I picked up a book sitting on the table just to browse. It was called "Cowboy Hats" and just had pictures of different men and women wearing cowboy hats... no pictures of their faces were taken though, just their hats--some from a bird's eye view, some just head on with their heads down to where you only see the top of the hat, or the back of their head.

However, as I went through the book, I got closer to the back where I noticed more women. In the front of the book, the men in cowboy hats were walking their horses, driving trucks, working in fields, etc. yet each woman was leaning up against a fence or truck, always posed--not working like the men. Then I found the following picture that has a quote under it saying something along the lines of "Cowboy hats can be used for things other than just covering your head..."

Follow up on Dove...

After writing in my last blog about the Dove campaign, I saw a commercial for it that had a little girl sitting on the couch watching a bunch of ads fly by of beautiful, thin, perfect women, and there was a line of text saying that girls are under a lot of pressure. Then it continued to show the conventions where they reach out to women and have them vow to be proud of who they are and what they have, and all that. I think it's great for Dove to be doing this, because women really do have a lot of pressure from all types of media, so it's about time someone did something like this.

3 Personal Observations...

1. Clothing ads usually involve either taking off the clothing or not wearing any at all... how is this good advertising? For example, I saw a Levi's commercial the other day promoting their jeans. In this commercial, a guy and a girl are making out and breaking into an apartment or house as they strip each other's clothes off. They have their pants unbuttoned the whole time and eventually take off their jeans completely. Then the tag line is, "Live life unbuttoned...Levi's." So what, are you expected to buy their jeans so you can wear them unbuttoned and take them off?? I don't understand this.

2. There is an article from Good Housekeeping magazine (I believe) from the 1950's that talks about a woman's role in the home. It has a list of items such as dressing up nicely so you look fresh for your husband; always have a hot meal ready for him when he gets home; etc.

I think the way women were treated back then was like a personal slave to men... yet how are women portrayed now? Sure, we've got our feminist activists who stand up for equality and all that, but instead of being slaves, we're just sex objects. Our freedom and "equality" has, in my opinion, just given us a worse image. Now we are just something for men to look at, lust for, and win over. And the worst part is that we let them get away with it. Sure, women want to be treated with respect and equality, but I don't feel respected when a creepy old man looks me up and down in a store or at a bar. Maybe we could blame the men for being so lustful, but we put it out there for them on a silver platter. You can't hold a cookie in front of a child and tell them "No" when they try to get it. That's what women have become, though. I know some women don't like being called a "Lady" because they think it's demeaning and makes them feel like the expected stay-at-home wife from the 1950's, but I would rather have the door held open for me than be expected to carry heavy boxes or work construction just so I feel "equal" to men. So women really contradict ourselves.

And the media only enforces it. the 1950's article told women how to act and that's how they acted. Now, the pornographic magazines and Cosmo and Glamour tell women how to act--as sex objects--and we do. There are more teen pregnancies and eating disorders now than ever before, and I think the media plays a HUGE role in these problems in our society. Yet women feel empowered because they are desired by men. I think it's an unfortunate ongoing cycle that may never end. Ok, enough on that one.

3. One ad campaign that I am very glad to be seeing is the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty and Self-Esteem Fund worldwide. This is a great effort to help women feel like they don't have to be tall, skinny, blonde, and tan to be considered "beautiful." I think women had a hard time feeling good about themselves when they didn't look like models, and I also think men had a hard time finding "normal" women beautiful when they didn't look like models. It is exciting to see campaigns such as this being launched in order to break the spell of false advertising in our society. (And by "false advertising" I mean making it look like you have to be a model to be pretty, as well as the airbrushing and touch-ups they do to pictures in ads.)

That's about it for now. :) Feel free to let me know what you think.... I just type what I'm thinking but I'm not afraid to be told I'm wrong.