Sex Sells! Oohhh yes it does and to women

I love sexy provocative ads just as much as the next fashion loving girl but when you think about the messages behind the beauty it can ruin the high of the dream it creates. Right now I'm trying to look through a few new fashion mags, past the new fall trend and simply with an objective eye at the ads. In particular the ads that demonstrate one of twenty categories such as


"example of breast/cleavage revealing-any skin exposed between breasts from posture, neckline dip, unbuttoned clothing." (Sherry Messer)

"example of low-status position- model kneeling with both knees touching floor, crawling, slithering, on all fours, sitting on something other than furniture/surface to be sat on- may be floor, rocks, toys, cars, laps- not chair, sofa, bench, bleacher, stool, bed." (Sherry Messer)


Those are just two of the categories I am looking for and I'm having fun. The worst by far is an ad for Bebe this fall. It is a beautiful woman wearing just a blazer, no panties and holding her crotch. I showed it to my mom and she was surprised, my little sister too. The funniest part is that it appeared in Elle mag this month but when looking for it on Bebe's website it is censored! I love Bebe though, and I like the blazer and the clothing in the fall line. I understand that Bebe is not the classiest line, I knew a stripper turned porn star that named her small dog Bebe so- the ad is no surprise.

Journal Assignment # 3

This morning in my Diversity and The Media class we watched the documentary Tough Guise narrated by Jackson Katz and I enjoyed it. I like to learn about different thought provoking topics. I do not like being a contributor to some of the wrongs in this world and one of the best ways I can see to prevent being a part of the problem is to be informed on different issues such as this one.


I think that because I am a woman I have done some personal reading about sexism, the sexism toward women, similar to what Chapter 17 talks about, and used to get really angry about objectification of women. One of my favorite books is titled The Pornography of Meat by Carol J. Adams. Not only am I a woman but I am also a vegetarian so this book really interested me and I have thought about rereading it due to its relevancy to this class. A simple quote from the book is,

"Before someone can be consumed or used, she has to be seen as consumable, as usable, as a something instead of a someone."

This video made me think about how not only women but about how men are also harmed by the images the media communicates a particular sex should conform to. Before seeing this video I did not have much sympathy for men. I guess I was playing into that expectation of men needing to be strong and powerful, and from that expectation I did not have much if any sympathy for the typical white heterosexual male. I even had a bit of anger toward males due to the very common objectification of women.


A few years ago, around the time when there was first a lot of criticism in the media about men in major league taking steroids I got to thinking some pretty radical thoughts. I was insulted by the popular thought that the taking of steroids was wrong because baseball was a sacred male sport. There was that idea that taking an unnatural substance was sacrilege since the male body and sports were some how holy. It made me think of the images of women in the media. If male sports celebrities were the male version of perfection then were the Pamela Andersons and thin blond artificial Playboy models then the perfect mate and partner to these men? Why was it OK, and even expected, for these women to alter their bodies with breast implants, Botox, lip injections, chemicals and extensions for their hair and of course layers of makeup? For these women to keep up and be successful in their chosen industry, to keep up with the times they had to artificially enhance their physical bodies, why then was it not expected for the men to do the same? I do not approve of steroid use but wondered what the real difference was. I felt that there was a different standard for men. Men’s bodies are special and perfect but women’s are objects to be altered like dolls?


After watching this video I did begin to understand that men too are hurt by the nearly impossible to attain images in the media. Women starve themselves and men are expected to me he-man monsters. What I wonder about is why men act out and harm others? I am not sure how to solve this problem. I do like to learn about issues and politics but I can never really come up with the solutions to right all of the wrongs in the world. So I guess like I said earlier I will just continue to read and educate my self. I will try to be more sympathetic to men and not be blind when I notice a media type in film, news or any type of media.