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Rachel Nee
2/6/15

 

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            During our discussion today we discussed advertisements and how women are seen today compared to how they were seen in chapter 7 of Where the Girls Are, “Throwing Out Our Bras.” Back in the 70s women’s rights were an issue that most women protested but weren’t taken seriously, they were seen as not powerful and some believed what they were fighting for wasn’t right. Men especially, they believe that males are the ones with power; they are the ones that have always been seen in the media as dominant. Women have struggled to have a voice in what’s right and what’s wrong when it comes to them being portrayed in the media, and I believe this is still a struggle today. For example, magazines, we all see the magic of photo shop and how it’s used to create this “ideal” woman for the cover. This is a misleading image, and when released to the public, can create self esteem issues for young girls, especially those who may idolize the person. These girls feel that’s what they have to look like which can lead to eating disorders, depression, etc. Society doesn’t realize how negative it can be for those looking at the cover. One controversy surrounding a cover was when Jennifer Lawrence was on the cover of both Glamour Magazine and Flare Magazine; images were released on how much photo shop was done to her body and face and it was a drastic before and after. Jennifer is a curvy girl, and that is taken away in the gifs seen of the before and after. This just goes to show that some of us are striving to look like someone that doesn’t even look like that. Another issue with advertisements is they make women look weak, for example ads where you see families in the kitchen whether it’s advertising a cleaning product or a type of meal, the woman is always cooking the food and setting the table for her husband and children. The woman is always cleaning with the product and cleaning up after her family. The dad is seen as dominant on his way to work, or not doing any of the work the wife is doing. Why do women have to be put into that position? What would be so wrong about a dad cooking dinner or cleaning up a mess? In the past, women were the stay at home wives who cooked and cleaned, while men went out to work and would come home to dinner prepared for him. This stereotype continues today in advertisements, the women is put in the position she’s “supposed” to be in, when in reality that isn’t the case. Recently I saw an ad where a woman asked adults and children what it meant to do something “like a girl.” When the adults were asked to run like a girl they waved their hands around and complained about their hair mocking what a female running looks like to them, when asked to throw like a girl they did a weak throw or mocked a girl dropping the ball before even throwing it. What was interesting after adults were asked was what the young girls had said about running and throwing like a girl. When the young girls ran they had a strong run and went fast, and when asked to throw threw with a strong arm. The commercial ends with, “Let’s make Like A Girl mean amazing things.” I really liked this ads message and the way it was portrayed, because it shows that we aren’t to be shown as weak, we are strong and we are able to do things, we can be shown as dominant. I think women in the media will always be a problem, sure there are ads that have shown women as strong, but it’s more based on men when it comes to showing power and dominance. We have good commercials like this one, and others that still tend to put the female in a weak position. Society has ideals and norms that have been followed since the past, and can only get worse for the younger generation. Women deserve a stronger voice and should be able to be advertised as someone they are not someone they are made out to be.