This is the final note in the song that is this media blog. I know, I know, y'all are probably crying because you're so upset. It's going to be okay- you will get through this. Trust me, I am even louder in person, so this isn't the last you'll be hearing from me.
After examining all the details and intricate workings of the media, I notice my consumption of it more now. Before this assignment, I was aware of the media and I vaguely knew how it affected me, but now I examine commercials automatically. Even my dad can examine certain parts of commercials because of what I have shared with him. Now I can look at an ad and nitpick it in my brain to identify the implicit messages. This fact proves that Mr. Starace has done something right again. He has spread his seeds of knowledge upon us little birds (it's getting late, it's finals week, give me a break with my descriptive language). Because I can now identify advertising techniques, I feel an "a-ha!" moment when I catch what an advertiser is trying to get me to do or feel. Even if I am feeling that emotion they want me to feel, identifying the cause of the emotion is a good step in the right direction of warding off the media's affects.
Having media literacy is very important because ignorance is not bliss and it's always better to know what's really going on behind the curtain.
Like in the Wizard of Oz, the man behind the curtain has been there, controlling and tricking people. Just like in the movie, people who discover this man behind the curtain are at first offended at their deceit, but then move past that to a better place where they can really think about why that man is there. Now, the Wizard behind the green curtain isn't quite the same as advertisers today, but the concept is similar.
Having this blog has given me a nice platform to speak my opinion and to really examine issues I don't usually look at. It's also given me an opportunity to view others' opinions on unique topics and specific media subjects that I hadn't even considered. Just glancing at one of our media blogs can give you a great glimpse into what each and every one of us believe and are like. No matter our personal intent with these media blogs, we have each attached part of ourselves to cyberspace through them.
So, as this comes to a conclusion, I would like to thank whoever is reading this. It was nice knowing you. And one more thing before you go:
In the documentary MissRepresentation, we learned that 53% of 13-year-olds are unhappy with their bodies. Isn't this a problem? Isn't this something we should give more attention to? This is a pressing issue that we need to address. If 13-year-olds are already feeling self-conscious, then what are they going to feel like when they're even more assaulted with beauty standards and comparisons in high school? If we, as a society, can try to alleve part of the pressure that young women feel are a constant shadow in their lives.
So, what exactly leads to this pressure? Part of the cause is the unrealistic photos of women in the media. Women on magazine covers and in ads are most likely photoshopped, which can go unnoticed unless further looked at.
These phototshopped images give young girls the idea that it is better to be skinnier, curvier, bustier, and younger. What's up with all this? The "perfect body" is not the majority of the population and frankly, it's disheartening that our society encourages it.
The woman in the picture above is beautiful just the way she is. She didn't need to be made skinnier, whiter, and younger-looking. We usually don't notice things like this because we don't think about all the people paid to make the cover model look more "ideal." We take for granted what these women look like, which just results in the readers comparing themselves to those unrealistic standards that the photoshop artists created.
We find photoshop amusing when there's a very obvious difference in the before and after or the person's body is so skinny that she looks like someone took a chunk out of her side.
Yes, this can be amusing at first glance, but what's not amusing is how it's making young people feel.
In Merchants of Cool, we learned about the 2 main stereotypes in media and marketing. The mook is one and the midriff is the other. I will be examining the latter stereotype.
The midriff is a woman who uses her sexuality as her power and she cares what people think. She is extremely concerned with appearances and values beauty/sexuality above all else. She is full of "all the old sexual clichés" and is prematurely mature.
So who are the midriffs in our media today? We know that Britney Spears used to be the embodiment of the midriff, but she's not quite as popular today as she was then. It seems that midriffs give off the appearance of completely caring about what others think because some of our more famous midriffs have spoken out about issues such as body image and they feel confident, even if they have received body backlash. Selena Gomez is one such celeb. The picture to the right seems to fit the mold for a midriff and shows that she can slide easily in and out of that role. She has received hate about her body at times, but she is stronger than that and doesn't care what they say. This attitude seems to be the opposite of a midriff, right? Yes, that is true, but on some of her more sexy photo shoots, she appears to be the midriff: sexy, wearing makeup, and wearing little to no clothing that shows off her toned body. I think that the appearance of being the midriff is actually more important than believing in the reinforcement of that stereotype that they're portraying.
It's important that we realize what the midriff is and where is appears in our society. It would also be beneficial to try to climb out of the limiting molds we have. There is not one type of guy and not just one type of woman.
Barbie is sometimes criticized for unrealistic beauty standards. Their dolls are not at all to scale of the human body- if the doll were human size, her intestines wouldn't all fit inside her. Some believe that this fact gives off the message to young girls that they should be unnaturally skinny. Although Barbie is such a huge brand, there are still these "non-believers." One of my good friends has a mom who is one such person. My friend never had Barbies as a child because her mom believed that it sent the wrong message to young girls. I can see how this is true, but Barbie isn't all bad.
I was an avid fan of Barbie as a child and would love my child to have Barbies, if I ever have one. Contrary to my friend's mom's opinion, I don't believe that Barbies give off completely unhealthy messages. When I played with Barbies as a child, I don't remember ever thinking to myself that I wanted to look like a stick-thin doll with permanently raised feet. Granted, now that I've taken a class that involves learning about implicit messages, I do acknowledge that the image of Barbie can leave a (sometimes unhealthy) imprint on children's minds. But I'm not here to bash Barbie and that's not what you should be here to read about. I am here to discuss their relatively new ad campaign, "You Can Be Anything."
When I first saw this commercial, I thought it was cute, yet also very empowering. This commercial is all about what a young girl can become; if she can dream it, she can do it. I feel that this commercial really exposes the hopefulness that little kids have. It reminds adults who see this of their childhood dreams, of that time in their lives when they believed they could be anything.
The ad starts out with the question, "What happens when girls are free to imagine they can be anything?" In a society with sexist images bombarding us at all angles, this question really opens up that conversation. You know, that conversation about women doing any job, and the many opinions that come along with this topic. I feel that it's very important and significant that Barbie is addressing this issue with positivity. The little girls featured in this ad are seen performing their dream jobs, while adults seem mildly amused at the seriousness with which these girls are doing their "jobs." An interesting thing to point out is that all of the jobs that the girls are performing are not typically associated with only one gender, except maybe the men's soccer team coach. The other jobs featured are a professor, a veterinarian, a business-person, and a museum tour guide. Barbie didn't include stereotypically female jobs, such as a nurse or a secretary. But they also didn't go too far into stereotypically male jobs, such as a firefighter or a policeman. Now, I'm not saying that women can't be nurses because it's too "girly" and I'm definitely not saying that women can't be firefighters, so no one needs to get their panties in a bunch. My point is that the jobs they chose to show are pretty neutral, in terms of gender. I admire and appreciate this aspect of the ad.
The ad ends with the line, "When a girl plays with Barbie, she imagines everything she can become." This line is a nice finishing touch to the ad; it really sums up their message that girls should have the opportunity and support to dream of whatever they want to be. Dreams should not be limited because of gender. Barbie has the right idea with the hashtag, #YouCanBeAnything.
Carl's Jr. is known for their slightly controversial ads depicting stereotypically sexy women eating their burgers. Here is one such ad:
This ad follows a buxom, blonde woman as she walks through a farmer's market, naked. It ends with her wearing a bikini that's too small for her and flimsy shorts, while eating the "all-natural burger." As she is walking through the market and the people, men are seen stopping what they're doing and gawking at her. There are also two parts of the ad where her body just happens to be covered by food. First, a tomato with an indent in the middle is placed in a position where her butt is covered. It is then lightly pinched by a hand from off screen and she turns around as if someone actually touched her. The second instance is when she is walking towards the camera and two melons are placed on a scale in front of her body.
This ad is very sexualized. Is there a point to this constant sexualizing of food or people? To the media, there is a point. They use these women to sell not only their product, but sex as well. In this case, Carl's Jr. is using a beautiful woman as a representation of their food; consumable and supposedly all-natural. As a humanist, I have a strong opposition to this ad. Women are not like a burger; they are not a consumable object put on earth for men to enjoy.
Off the top of my head, I can't list an ad that is this degradingly sexual about men. Why are only women treated this way? Now I'm not saying that men should be treated like this; I'm just saying that there is still a huge gap between men and women. As steps are being taken in the direction of a more equal society (in terms of gender), media outlets such as Carl's Jr. are taking steps backward. This issue should not be one step forward and two steps back; that is not good enough, considering what the media and our society could be capable of. If the media is so influential in a negative way, then I'm sure that they could make some positive change.
I personally prefer fries with my burger, not unnecessary sexualization of women.
I will be looking at the following Victoria's Secret ad:
Supposedly, this campaign slogan used to read "The Perfect Body." They changed it to the above because of how angry people got. Although this is more a more inclusive slogan, I still find this to be a controversial ad.
Yes, there's 10 different women on this ad and they're all wearing a Body bra. How is the ad about bras for "every body" supposed to represent that if they all have a similar body type? All of these women are fit, slender models. Where is the representation of curvy women or women who have had kids or women who don't work out everyday?
These women are beautiful, fit, and have enviable figures. Just because they have societally beautiful bodies, that doesn't mean they represent every body type. It's true that most women who see this ad will be jealous of their bodies. Also, these women are most likely retouched and they definitely have to work to keep their bodies like that.
I, for one, don't look like this and probably never will. I feel like my body type, as well as many others are not represented in this ad. This ad appears to be inclusive of all body types, but is in fact, shutting out all body types but one specific one.
One of Chanel's perfumes, Coco Mademoiselle, has a couple ads starring Kiera Knightley. Here's a link to the ad that I'll be examining: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZAZD3ylG6Y.
The ad follows the man as he searches for Kiera Knightley's character. It all starts out in a black and white room, with fancy people wearing all-black. She ends up disappearing and the next time we see her is when she's cruising down a river on a small boat and under a bridge where the man is standing. The ad ends with them making eye contact, followed by a view of the actual product.
One thing I noticed in the ad was that the man is the only one who seems to notice her. If everyone appeared to notice her, I would say that it appeals to the need for autonomy. Because he is the only one who sees her, this seems to appeal to the need for attention. There is a bit of a need for escape because of the apparent adventure in chasing after Kiera Knightley's character.
The fact that Kiera Knightley is the main focus is a use of testimonial because, although the ad is more of a story, she is still a very recognizable actress. Just her presence in the ad makes the ad memorable because of how famous she is. She doesn't even speak in the ad, but that doesn't make a difference. It actually adds to the mysterious aspect of the ad.
The music in the ad has a mysterious and almost magical quality to it. It establishes a mood that makes viewers want to follow the story. The lighting in the first part of the ad is artificial and very fluorescent. The end of the ad uses real lighting, with a sun setting in the background.
