Are we really male dominated or is the female ego just as strong?
March 13, 2007 
Well heres the classic…
While both articles made a compelling argument this week, I’m not sure if we can blame advertising for the end of the world as we know it. After all we are part of advertising because we buy into it. It reaches us at such an underlying level of insecurity that we dont even notice how it effects our lives. My personal view is that children should not be exposed to televison untill later on in their lives. Babysitting kids with a televison insures that they grow up with this junk in their heads. I’m not saying there isnt useful and educational programs but what happens in between them is of just as much a concern. Kids should grow up without knowing about style, make up and which shoes go with what. It simply isnt important to kids untill someone tells them it should be. Racism is a prime example, kids don’t care what color other kids are, they just want to play and have fun….untill a biggot father or some other authority figure tells them how they see the world and forces those opinions on the child. Advertising has the same role…..
Remember the black is beautiful campaign?
All that campaign accomplished was making black women seem more like objects, just exotic objects that were previously off the market to white male consumers. Even now ethnic women and men only appear in commercials where they are streotyped repeatedly for some exagerated custom in their society… If we reversed the tables what would we be known for….?
I agree that advertisements perpetuate low self esteem and bad body images in women as well as men. But the key word is perpetuate…shouldn’t we be socializing our children to be confident in who they are not assigning prescribed gender ideals to youngsters. They need to have time to grow up and fit their own niches without anyone putting restrictions on them. There are times I wish I could be a girly girl, Ill admit, but when I wake up in a bivy sack at 11 000ft with dirt under my nails having not showered for 12 days to watch the sun rise over the mountains….I know Im not missing a thing… no pair of jeans could beat that feeling, and hell if a guy isnt going to love you because your not complacent, dependent and you actually eat, well I wouldn’t call that love anyways… he can stay home with his trans fat popcorn and equally lame girlfriend…. Id rather be running around enjoying life and learning about my environment than wasting my time being bombarded with images that tell me im not a good person because I didnt put on mascara this morning, that I will live my life alone because I didnt runout and buy the new spring line from Calvin Klein…they are only right if you let them be..
Even my father buys into this more than I do, hes always talking about how I present myself and whether its residual teenage rebellion or that I really just cant assimilate I dont know but I dont care. Just like this blog I’d rather write something with content than paste utube videos and pretty pictures for points..I see my body the same way..Id rather be a person with substance than be in the spotlight because I have great legs and a nice ass. The biggest trick advertisers are using aginst us is confusing health and beauty. Its important to be healthy and to be aware of your health, but we all have different body types, shapes and sizes. Know your body and whats healthy for you.
So to all you ladies…if you want equality you have to create it and push for it on your own, it doesnt exist as an innate and fundamental part of our culture. So be strong and be who you are, dont waste your life on cheap cosmetics and cleaning supplies….. Ask yourself what you want to remember on your death bed, who do you want to look back and see?
I really enjoy your empowerment for women: power is taken, never given. And in a sense I agree with you that we make our own choices about what to take in and we do create our own realities. However, I am not sure if you mean this in an individualistic manner or an empowering manner.
Yes, on one hand we should not let ourselves be duped into believing we are passive recipients of culture who are powerless to choose our own meanings. But on the other hand that could come off as liberaltarian, and ignores that our culture does have social meanings that exist regardless of our individual agency. For instance, I don’t often wear mascara b/c I consciously choose not to buy into what it promotes. I make my own meanings for myself, but I don’t deny that the collective understanding of mascara still exists and I am still policed by my peers or even myself for it.
I don’t think we can take it as far as saying that if we reject what is repeativily told to us will change things on an individual level. I think we still need to accept that the normative standards do exist and do affect us on a mass scale.
Oh and I love (note the sarcasm) how the swiffer commericals reduce women’s relationships to their next ideal priority: cleaning. I agree that tv shouldn’t be shown to children. Great post, gave me lots to chew on
I think you have a nice chichen and egg argument going there. I also don’t think that advertising is going to lead to mass destruction, but it certainly isn’t helping in a downward cycle of self-centeredness. I just don’t know what catalyst is going to change us so that we stop listening to these messages. If there is a buck to be made, insecurities wil continue to be exploited.
Well look how excited the woman in the ad is to be cleaning with her new swifer, she must be on crack. I really hate those swifers ads, especially how its the women cleaning and a male voice saying ‘look how much easier and convenient it is,’ or you have the woman cleaning and the man sitting down while she swifers around him. Well if its so easy why don’t you get off your ass and do it yourself. I also agree with not allowing children to be babysat with a television, I think the mind of a child is like a sponge and it pretty much absorbs everything unless theres something there to wring out all the crap. Very awesome Blog!