Do YOUR Ears Hang Low?

So, I saw this commercial a few weeks ago and while I question Wal Mart’s motive behind it (cough cough SALES) I really loved the lyrics to the song! Another student posted a while back the lyrics to a song that she had heard in a clothing store in regards to being overweight. Those lyrics I found to be borderline offensive. I loved these lyrics because it said nothing about height, weight, eye color, hair color, or age. The concerns sang about reflect things and women can experience at any age and some of them are even things that a woman would carry with her for a lifetime… like a crooked smile.

Here is a copy of the commercial and the lyrics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Vqr3LLT40

Do your eyes sit wide
Does your nose turn to the side
Do your elbows kind of crinkle
Do your knees sort of wrinkle
Does your chest tend to freckle
Do you have a crooked smile
Do your eyes sit wide
Do your ears sort of wiggle
Does your hair make you giggle
Does your neck grow long
Do your hips sing a song
Do your ears hang low

I think another important key to this commercial is that all of the woman singing are absolutely everyday women and they are all beautiful and unique in their own ways. I don’t think this commercial would have had a quarter of it’s impact had it portrayed super thin abnormally gorgeous women all decked out with professional hair and makeup!

I think this song is important because in a way, it unites women. It brings together the idea that we all have things about ourselves that we would change if we could but knowing that we don’t have to change them to be beautiful is the key.

1 comment December 10, 2009

Does Sex Sell The Way Advertisers Think It Does?

I saw this commercial about a month ago and knew I wanted to write a blog post on it but at the time I could not find the commercial anywhere online. Like I had hoped… It was only a matter of time and after a quick Google search this morning, I found it!

 Now, I know this commercial is supposed to be somewhat of a joke, considering the guy who randomly pops up throughout the commercial but no one can tell me that they did not use the sexual images they did for a reason!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuEdFsq1y5w

 This commercial is for a Taco and yet, what is the first thing we see? A gorgeous woman’s upper leg and her black paten leather boots. Followed by another girl crossing her legs, with the camera angle in such a way our focus goes instantly to her legs. The next image is of another gorgeous woman, in tight black leather pants and the camera zooms in so all we can see is her butt. I know this is just another example of a marketing team working the angle that “sex sells”… what I want to ask the question, in this instance, does it really?

Is someone really going to get in their car and drive to Taco Bell because they same a beautiful woman’s butt on the TV? I doubt it. All it did was get people to turn their heads and pay attention when the commercial came on but did nothing to actually get people into their locations. Think about it. I am not a Taco Bell customer and haven’t been for years, so this commercial definitely did not affect me in the way they would have hoped. My husband, who is a sucker for the use of pretty women in advertisements, saw this commercial and I know he hasn’t been to a Taco Bell to buy this product even though he relatively enjoys their food. Now, I have a friend though who goes those religiously. If he goes there all the time anyway, what is going to get him to try this new item on their menu? This commercial or some sort of advertisement at their ordering window? I would have to say… the ordering window. I would have to say that I think someone who is an avid Taco Bell eater would have tried this new item if it had been a commercial with their Chihuahua spokes character… they didn’t need to sexualize these women the way they did.

So, my point is this: This risqué commercial got me to turn my head but did not get me… or my husband… to a taco bell to make a purchase and I think a lot of people would agree with me.  So, did sex really sell for this item? I don’t think that it did. What do you think?

4 comments November 19, 2009

Is The News “Media”?

I was so upset about this conversation that took place yesterday that as it is was happening, I knew I would be blogging it this week. The Scene: the waiting room at the dance studio where I teach, about 15 minutes before my next class starts I am sitting in the waiting room with one student… a fourteen year old girl. A few weeks back she had started telling me about some drama going on with her friends and I told her how much I missed the high school drama and to tell me all about it when it happened! (Now, what she didn’t know was what I was really missing was the pettiness of it all. I miss that the problems I faced in middle school had no real affect on my life or my well being. Today’s “drama” I face is about divorce, child bearing issues and workplace stress. Not nearly as “fun”!)

So as we sit there she says to me, “Miss. Johnna! I have new high school drama for you!” “Ok” I told her… and she proceeded to tell me about a young girl in her grade (a freshman) who made a video of herself, pleasuring herself, and sent it out to a few people. Now, we all know what that means… the cell phone world is infinitive and before the day’s end it was in the principles hands and the girl was suspended from the district. I was APPALLED. When I was fourteen, the girls who let boys touch their breasts at our age were considered SCANDOLIOUS! I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. At this point, I tried to keep my cool and I calmly asked her, “Um, where do you think she would have gotten an idea like that??” And what does she reply with? “Well, remember a while back that girl was on the news for doing it? She probably heard it there.” (Here is the link to article regarding the situation she was referring to: http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Webster-Teen-Charged-With-Distributing-Sexually/6jQvIjwq0UCVz7I3a7l0Lg.cspx)

And that got me thinking…

I am not saying that this young girl did in fact get her promiscuous idea from a news article and actually, the odds are probably slim. But what managed to get my wheels turning is that this young girl made the association between something she had seen on the news to something happening in her school.

Is the news a form a media that adolescent females will copy… just like their favorite sitcom or reality show stars? Are the news stories presented on television giving kids ideas?

It reminds me of a quote from one of my all-time favorite movies… Clueless starring Alicia Silverstone as “Cher Horowitz”. In her debate class in high school Cher is asked to give a debate on violence in the media and she responds with the ever profound, “Until mankind is peaceful enough not to have violence on the news, there’s no point in taking it out of shows that need it for entertainment value!”

Lastly, while trying to find images for this blog post I came across this comic on the topic of texting. It make me chuckle for so many reasons it could really be a post of it’s own. But it won’t be. So, I just thought I’d share.

So, what does everyone else think? Is the news considered media?

9 comments November 5, 2009

Bling H2O… Water For Pretty People

It is quite often that we see advertisements for products that will make us pretty. (If we buy a bra from Victoria’s Secret we will be sexy!) But this product is the other way around… you have to be pretty in order to enjoy it! This website and product was brought to my attention by a coworker and I was instantly drawn to the ridiculous statement this website is making.

http://www.blingh2o.com/

Starting with just the image on the homepage, it is completely unrealistic! No one really looks like that! Her legs, and butt and even her back are “perfect”. I am certain that this woman was spray-tanned and then airbrushed! What is this image saying about this product? To me it says that it is for pretty people. (And rich. Some of these bottles are more then $50!) Even the tabs across the top read, “Pretty Face” and “Pretty Taste”. Clearly, this water is not for the average person.

The other piece that intrigues me is their catchphrase, “More Than A Pretty Taste” which is a spinoff of the saying “Not Just A Pretty Face” and yet… that is all this model is to them. A pretty figure. Without any clothes we cannot see her sense of style therefore we cannot even begin to know her as a real person. What does this say about society?

I think this advertisement makes it clear that to them, the most valuable thing a woman has to offer them in order to help sell their product is her body. To me, that is the complete opposite of what we should be teaching girls today. It is important for them to believe that their bodies are not their most valuable tool, their minds and their intelligence are.

7 comments October 29, 2009

Two And A Half Men, One Thousand Gorgeous Women, and One Overweight Female… You Know, For Laughs.

Let me just put a disclaimer on this blog. I am actually a fan of this show. I find the humor extremely entertaining (although not appropriate for the 7pm time slot that the reruns are aired) and I find the actors to be well suited for their roles. (Although, I am still getting used to the idea of “Charlie” getting married as it is throwing off my whole perception of the show. I am working to accept the new dynamics!)

So, for the sake of the point of this post, I will be talking about the show pre-Charlie deciding to get married.

I have always been intrigued by the writers/producers role of the character “Berta”. In the average man’s mind, Charlie has it made. He has a continuous line of absolutely gorgeous women (some even smart!) to be romantic and intimate with and a woman to do his cooking and cleaning… without any attachment! Berta is Charlie’s middle-age housekeeper. She is overweight, frumpy, never really wears any makeup and always has something smart to say. But here are my questions: Why did the role need to be played by someone overweight? So that there would be no way a connection would ever be made? Because the character of Charlie is too shallow and superficial to be romantically involved with an overweight woman? Is this a reflection of society’s opinion of people who are overweight?

As far as I can think of, Berta is the only overweight female on that show. Why is that? This show takes place in California and began in 2003. The statistics I found online illustrate that based on BMI, in California in 2003 26% of the female population was overweight and 20% was obese. (http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/cpns/Documents/CDPS-2003.pdf). This is a total of 46%! So, for every 10 females on the show, at least 4 should be overweight! For anyone who has seen the show, clearly that is not that case!

The media obviously does not want to portray characters as being overweight as that is not what they consider to be “trendy” or “popular”. I do not agree with this. I think television should reflect the truth about society and human nature and that truth is that some people are just not made to be a size 6! My problem with this show is taking the only overweight character and making her crass and sarcastic, basically taking any sex appeal away from her!

I believe this is a reflection of media’s view… therefor society’s view of overweight women. That they are not attractive to the average man and they are good for cleaning and cooking but definitely not for sex appeal. I think that is so wrong and a disgusting truth about our culture.

4 comments October 21, 2009

Buying This Will Make You Sexy! (I Wonder If There Is A Money-Back Guarantee On This?)

I found the answer to every woman’s question! And I found it for FREE on youtube.com!! I am so excited to share!! Do you want to know what I found out? I found out what’s sexy!! Do you want to know??  Ok… here is the secret… it’s Victoria’s Secret! That’s right, all you have to do is spend $100 (or more) on a few pieces of “clothing” from Victoria’s Secret… and BAM, you are sexy!! Well, according to Victoria’s Secret commercial anyway…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ0x_X0xXgU

Throughout this commercial there is an array of women strutting their stuff, flipping their hair, and licking their lips in a variety of different scenarios. However, it is clearly not the bras and panties in this commercial that make these women sexy. It is their bodies, their beautiful faces as well as the expressions on their faces, their makeup, the smoke, the positions they are standing… sitting… or laying in, and the wind blowing their hair and their sheets. They are selling a completely false idea that it is their product that makes a woman sexy!

Marissa Miller

Here is a perfect example… is it this swimsuit that makes her sexy or is it the fact that she is beautiful, oiled up, and is appearing to be starting to take of her bottoms? I am going with… it is not the swim suit.

I find it really upsetting that this commercial along with all of their others are showing that it is physical beauty that makes a woman sexy. Isn’t a smart, independent, and successful women sexy? Isn’t a women who knows who she is and what she wants sexy? I think so.

The closest this commercial comes to showing that successful women are sexy is about 33 seconds in and they show a beautiful brunette leaning on a clear glass desk wearing only a bra, panties and an open trench coat. Oh yea, and of course she is seductively touching her mouth.

Here is a link to an answers.yahoo.com page were people are expressing whether or not they feel the Victoria’s Secret models are too skinny.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080109191249AAaqsB8

I really think it sad that this is what the media has led our culture to. Abnormally thin and gorgeous women defining for the rest of society what is sexy.

3 comments October 13, 2009

Go Dove!

One day last week, I saw the most phenomenal commercial on television!! It was a Dove commercial for their “Self-Esteem” program. The version that I saw aired was probably no more than 35 seconds in length but touched on so many of the discussions we have had so far in this class! I was so struck and moved by it, I instantly “you-tubed” it and watched it again… and again. I founder a longer version on youtube.com too… that touches on more of the ways young girls are influenced by the media and pop culture. Take a couple minutes and watch this commercial, the link is below. It is amazing.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNFpoAt5PkA
 
The first thing that I found so intriguing is the way the commercial starts. This young girl is looking at an advertisement that is by no means directed for her. It is meant for a female much older… but it is there, for her to see. I think a lot of marketing groups forget about that or “overlook” that. It is just like the Calvin Klein ad that another student posted in the discussion forum. It was not created for elementary children but many of them, I am sure, saw it. And I am sure that in some way, it affected them.
 
Young girls are so susceptible and so impressionable… and negative influences are everywhere… I really believe that is a 24/7 job for parents to try and stay on top helping their children adjust and accept the things they are seeing. Because pop culture is literally everywhere, I do not think that trying to shelter children from it would be as effective as teaching children how to handle it. Teaching them that a persons weight, hair color, skin, or curves is not what defines them. And, from the commercial, it seems like that is what Dove is trying to do. It is telling parents to talk to their kids… “before the industry does”. Good for them! Below is a link to the website for their “Campaign For Real Beauty”. It is an awesome site where you can hear what some young girls have to say about beauty.
 
http://www.dove.us/#/cfrb/
 
I know that I have thought a lot, in the past month about how the media affects teenage girls and not as much about how the media affects child girls. I think the self-esteem problems of teenager girls stem from a lot younger than I ever noticed. (Although, thinking about it now, the first time my girlfriend’s daughter ever told me that she thought she was fat… she was five. That’s right… FIVE)
 
That is such a sad part of our culture. That the self-esteems of even our youngest female members are negatively influences by the media and pop-culture.

7 comments October 9, 2009

“The Crush” … Hunters All Over The Country “Crushing” On Tiffany

Since the beginning of mankind it has been the role of men to hunt for food. Still today hunting is a more popular sport for men then for women. I believe that the Outdoor Channel has grabbed hold of this statistic and used it to their advantage with the creation of the show “The Crush with Lee and Tiffany”.

Just the other day I took notice of a hunting show that my husband was watching. (The hunting channel comes on about a month before opening day… so he can get mentally prepared, I suppose!) There, on this hunting show, was a beautiful thin blonde holding a weapon.

I do not think that it is a coincidence that this show contains hunters’ two favorite things: pretty girls and weapons! I see very clearly what the Outdoor Channel was looking to do here. They are using the male sex drive to gain ratings!

I have actually debated this topic with my husband before as he is convinced that she is only on there because of her passion for hunting. I don’t know if he is naïve or argues with me just to argue but I know that there are husband and wife couples all over the country that enjoy hunting together… why her? Why this couple? It is because they are both attractive and appealing to the eye. Here is the link to their shows website where you can view pictures of both Tiffany and Lee.

http://www.thecrush.tv/

It is like in the movie City Slickers when all of the characters are first arriving at the ranch. The two characters Barry and Ira Shalowitz are makers of a popular ice cream. One of them is overweight and the other is short and “geeky”. When they first introduce themselves as being the “ice cream guys” Billy Crystal’s character replies with, “but the guys on the commercial are so…” and they finish his sentence with “attractive? If it were us, would you want to eat ice cream?”

David Paymer, playing "Ira Shalowitz"

Josh Mostel, playing "Ira Shalowitz"

I think that is exactly what The Outdoor Channel is doing. They are giving their viewers someone attractive to watch, instead of just your regular Joe. I wonder if she realizes this. Maybe she doesn’t care, but I am not sure how I would feel about my looks making me a TV star under the blanket of my talent.

4 comments October 2, 2009

“Toddlers and Tiaras”… TLC’s Window Into a Horrifying Industry

Have you ever seen the show Toddlers & Tiaras on TLC? It is a reality show about child beauty pageants. I have never seen an entire episode as I refuse to give TLC the ratings, however I have tuned in before just long enough for my blood pressure to rise. This show opened my eyes to the absolutely horrifying industry of Child Beauty Pageants. Playing dress-up is one thing, but what these girls are put through is child abuse on so many levels!

There are two main reasons that I find this industry to be unbelievably disgusting.

The first is that it seems to appear over and over again that the mothers want to succeed more than the children. I remember one scene of Toddlers In Tiaras that I caught where the mom was pushing the daughter to practice her routine and all the little girl wanted to do was go swimming in the hotel pool. All the little girl wanted to do was be a little girl… and the mother, in this instance, clearly wanted to be a part of the pageant much more than her daughter did. Take a look at this image from the show for example:

I believe that this image completely brings to into view my point. “A picture is worth a thousand words” and to me this picture is worth at least that. Take a look at the expression on this child’s face. Does she look like she wants that eyeliner on? I don’t believe that she does. Take a look at this video on youtube.com entitled, “Child Beauty Pageants= Sad Faces and Fake Smile”  I think the title says it all. About a minute and a half through into the clip they show Joanna a “Reigning Champ”, she doesn’t even look like a child and she has more makeup on then most adult women wear! Also, take note of the young girl being crowned about three minutes and fifteen seconds into the clip. Watch her smile slowly fade. Anyone who knows a child can clearly see that is not the genuine smile of a child excited for wining something!! She is smiling because that is what she was trained to do…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeGBFgNxewc

The other very part of this industry is a result of the first. These mothers are so concerned with the success of their child that they are forgetting about their job as parent to protect their child. There are a lot of really mentally sick individuals in this world who see these young girls as more than just a “beautiful child”… there are people out there who actually see these young CHILDREN as sex objects. It actually turns my stomach just to think about it.

I found all of these images online by a simple Google image search of “Toddlers and Tiaras”. I wonder if these mothers know that not only are they dressing their children up like adults for the pageants, but images of their daughters are available to anyone, anytime, anywhere.

I believe that the media plays a huge role in why mothers push their children into beauty pageants. These women are living vicariously through their daughters. They were not able to make it as child pageant queens… so they need their children to. The amount of money that these families spend on dresses, accessories, and travel is because they need their children to succeed in a beauty pageant so they can finally meet the media’s standards of beauty.

7 comments September 24, 2009

Mean Girls or Mean Producers?

Let’s take a look at the movie Mean Girls starring the beautiful Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert and Amanda Seyfriend. I would have to guess that the majority of the viewers of that movie were teenage girls. And through just this one movie and in about 97 minutes the producers were able to push the ideas that risque clothing makes high school girls popular, being skinny makes you popular, being smart (or on the math league) makes you a dork, being mean gets you the cute boyfriend, saying mean things about fellow classmates makes you popular, promisquity makes you popular and being friends with unique individuals is not cool.

Vaughan's Blooming Artist Awards - Nicole Crimi (centre) receives the Short Stories Award from Communities in Bloom Judge Mike McClellan (left) and Regional Councillor Gino Rosati.

There are also 2 scenes in the movie that take place at “Regina George’s” (Rachel McAdams) house that I find terribly disturbing. The first, is the first time the girls go to her home, “Regina George’s” (Rachel McAdams) much younger sister “Kylie George”, played by Nicole Crimi, is dancing to the song “Milkshake” by Kelis. How inappropriate is that? Not only was the way she was shaking her behind inappropriate for a child her age but basic jist of the song is about a girl using her butt to attract guys! (Click here to read the lyrics: http://www.elyrics.net/read/k/kelis-lyrics/milkshake-lyrics.html) Is that really something that this young girl should be dancing to?

The other scene that I find really upsetting is when Regina George (Rachel McAdams) is rolling around with a young boy on her bed and her mom comes in an offers them a condom. That is nothing short of telling young girls that being sexually promiscuous makes you cool.

I wonder if the producers were aware of all the negative influences they were putting in this one movie? I wonder if they have teenage daughters of their own? I wonder if they would be ok with their teenage daughters rolling around on a bed with a young boy or only drinking cranberry juice for 72hrs to lose weight.

The premise of this movie was a young, beautiful, well rounded, smart, cultured girl with good parents and good friends losing her own identity and being completely drawn into the idea of being popular or “a plastic”. I do not believe that the producers did not realize that the movie would have the same affect on real life young, well-rounded, cultured girls.

They took all the things that young girls are vulnerable toward,  hired a few popular names to star in it, slapped a catchy title on it and BAM published 97 minutes of all the superficial ways that young girls need to be to roll with the popular crowd in their schools. Wasn’t that nice of them?

Actually… it was really mean.

10 comments September 16, 2009