Our class on wednesday was certainly interesting. I dont't really have much more to blog about other than what i already have written, but my opinions stay essentially the same. However, looking at the article from a rhetorical view, she exaggerated a lot. Sometimes she got so incredibly carried away with her argument, that it was a little difficult for her to make a good argument. On the other hand, some of her arguments are spot-on, and the reason the women in the class got so involved in the argument is because we've experienced some of these things. Maybe we haven't had a violent act committed against us, but what about getting our butts grabbed? or getting rated from 1-10? Many of us relate to that.
On the other hand, there were several men in the class that got very defensive- and though sometimes it bothers me because this is a subject i feel very strongly about, i believe that they have a right to be defensive. Men are often lumped together as being all sexually demeaning, all "pigs", and that is simply not true. As i said in the last post, most of the men that i know are extremely respectful and certainly would would not be affected by any of the articles in a negative way. However, I believe that that it is simple fact that they often neglect- though of course most men are not sexual predators, violent, or demeaning, it is still statistical that more women get hurt in these ways then men, and therefore, the argument focuses more around women. Certainly a case can be made for men, but the fact still is, the problem is so much bigger for women because of sheer numbers.
As far as advertising goes; when Tony said that the point of advertising is to sell things, i certainly agree with him. However, I don't think that people, male or female, need to be demeaned for the sake of selling things. There are many other types of commercials that can work (like the "wtf?" ones.). Unfortunately, once censorship starts, there is no telling where it can stop, which is why this is such a complicated issue.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
exploitation in the media
I have thought a lot about this article. It is something that affects me personally, and I can see the truth in what she writes. Although sometimes I feel as if she is going a little bit overboard ("Is the woman in the ad laughing or screaming?" when she is clearly laughing) Some of the other ads are extremely disturbing, such as the little boy looking up the woman's skirt, or the perfume ad. I am routinely reminded of the expectation of men to have power over women; I hear the phrase "pussy-whipped" almost every day, even from men that I consider respectful. Some of the biggest problems that I rememvber were in middle school- I remember the boys in my class rating us from one to ten, there was one that even would go around grabbing girls' butts- he was eventually expelled from sycamore for something involving the sexual harrassment of one of my best friends.
Often times, ads that show the reverse- such as the women staring at the man, etc, are viewed as funny, or feminist because of the objectification of the man. However, as the article states, there is a line to where objectification stops being funny and starts being disturbing, and the line applies to both genders. Unfortunatley, the media seems to put the line in different places for each gender.
Many women might read these ads and immediately target men as the cause of the problem, and men will immediately assume that women will do this, but in truth it is the media that is at fault; and history. In history, men have been the ones in power, and though women are certainly gaining power, the media is resisting by objectifying women and sexualizing them. though it happens with men, it simply happens more often with women.
On the contrary, after reading articles such as this and seeing this type of advertisements, I am continually surprised by how respectful men can be. I am often expecting them to act a certain way and then they don't; and so this type of advertising obviously doesn't affect everyone the way it affects some. That being said, it certainly does affect some- women and men both.
Women are encouraged to be sexual- I see it every day, many girls who lack confidence in their personality or intelligence simply exploit their looks because they are afraid that the other parts of them have no worth. I continually see women accusing each other of being "whorish", or not sexual enough. I see men accusing women of these things- the problem, unfortunately, is much more complicated than "men are pigs" as some women (and men!) will jump to conclusions and say. Each of us is affected by the society we grow up in- sometimes more so than we might think, and sometimes less so. Self-esteem plays a very large role in this; women with more self-esteem are more confident and therefore less "sexual", most of the time. They will put value on their personalities, their intelligence, their gifts, as opposed to their looks. and men will see this and appreciate it. I know for a fact many men that already do. The media needs to begin to encourage women to find that part of them- and men as well- as opposed to putting such weight on physical appearance.
Often times, ads that show the reverse- such as the women staring at the man, etc, are viewed as funny, or feminist because of the objectification of the man. However, as the article states, there is a line to where objectification stops being funny and starts being disturbing, and the line applies to both genders. Unfortunatley, the media seems to put the line in different places for each gender.
Many women might read these ads and immediately target men as the cause of the problem, and men will immediately assume that women will do this, but in truth it is the media that is at fault; and history. In history, men have been the ones in power, and though women are certainly gaining power, the media is resisting by objectifying women and sexualizing them. though it happens with men, it simply happens more often with women.
On the contrary, after reading articles such as this and seeing this type of advertisements, I am continually surprised by how respectful men can be. I am often expecting them to act a certain way and then they don't; and so this type of advertising obviously doesn't affect everyone the way it affects some. That being said, it certainly does affect some- women and men both.
Women are encouraged to be sexual- I see it every day, many girls who lack confidence in their personality or intelligence simply exploit their looks because they are afraid that the other parts of them have no worth. I continually see women accusing each other of being "whorish", or not sexual enough. I see men accusing women of these things- the problem, unfortunately, is much more complicated than "men are pigs" as some women (and men!) will jump to conclusions and say. Each of us is affected by the society we grow up in- sometimes more so than we might think, and sometimes less so. Self-esteem plays a very large role in this; women with more self-esteem are more confident and therefore less "sexual", most of the time. They will put value on their personalities, their intelligence, their gifts, as opposed to their looks. and men will see this and appreciate it. I know for a fact many men that already do. The media needs to begin to encourage women to find that part of them- and men as well- as opposed to putting such weight on physical appearance.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Commercials
Deciding to watch the style channel, I knew that the commercials on this channel would be very distinctly geared toward the crowd that would watch the network. I knew that the commercials would be geared toward women, but what I didn't expect was the age group. I don't usually watch the style network, but I had always assumed it was something that more teenage girls would watch. On the contrary, the commercials are geared towards marraige-age woman. Several of which were for home improvement/ home-making products, such as disinfectant, or kitchen supplies.
One commercial in particular, which was for (if i remember correctly) a birth control pill, was obviously geared to women. However, the commercial had a physician reccomendation, in which an actual physician comes on the commercial to reccomend the pill, the commercial made a (i believe) conscious choice to make the phycisian a woman. Though a physician reccomendation is certainly a good thing to have in a commercial for a medical product, the fact that a female physician is helping to sell a birth control product gives it an even more powerful appeal to the audience because it establishes csoomething very obvious in common with the target audience- both women, and therefore both can speak the benefits of the product from actual experience as opposed to just medical knowlege.
One commercial in particular, which was for (if i remember correctly) a birth control pill, was obviously geared to women. However, the commercial had a physician reccomendation, in which an actual physician comes on the commercial to reccomend the pill, the commercial made a (i believe) conscious choice to make the phycisian a woman. Though a physician reccomendation is certainly a good thing to have in a commercial for a medical product, the fact that a female physician is helping to sell a birth control product gives it an even more powerful appeal to the audience because it establishes csoomething very obvious in common with the target audience- both women, and therefore both can speak the benefits of the product from actual experience as opposed to just medical knowlege.
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