AskMen.com: The ultimate sexist ploy
One of the important tips given by AskMen.com
With all the super-sexist advertisements that are in the media on a daily basis, there are few things that really, truly shock me. I’ve seen a lot of screwed-up stuff, but this article in particular really takes the cake.
I present to you, from Askmen.com:
Top 10 Subtle Ways to Tell Her She’s Getting Fat
The title alone is enough to make anyone vomit. Here’s a quick overview of some of the major atrocities that lie within. Continue reading
The Irish media and censorship make girls dress sexily
[Ed. note: This article is Part Two of a three-part series about the intersection of secular and religious culture in Ireland and the effect of those forces on Ireland's young women. Here's Part One.]
Gay Byrne in 1966, hosting The Late Late Show: Ireland's first, and the world's longest-running, television chat show
The novelty of television took hold in Ireland back in the 1950s, but a lack of funding and expertise in the area hindered the production of quality Irish programs.
This required the use of British and American television imports that introduced the Irish to the fast-paced and modern lifestyle of Western culture where people were good-looking, bold, and competitive. Women, in particular, were depicted as fashionable, independent, and sexually uninhibited, a noticeable difference to the typical Irish woman who was reticent and plain. Continue reading
A rise in male cosmetic surgery: Welcome to our world!
As bummed (that’s putting it mildly) as I am about the cultural beauty ideals that women are pressured to achieve—and as much as I feel that the average male is sometimes complicit in the ideals’ prominence in our culture—I don’t think the solution is to foist the same restrictions and fantasies on men. Which is pretty much what seems to be happening these days.
Simon Cowell and Gordon Ramsay - both accused of going under the Botox needle
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, chemical peels, laser hair removal, and other cosmetic procedures on men are up 45 percent since 2000. Similarly, current reports reveal that there’s been a 30 percent rise in male Botox users. Boots, the cheap-and-chic British cult pharmacy, recently acknowledged that sales from its men’s skincare products are growing faster than the rest of the chain’s lines. And a 2009 study at the University of South Florida found that more than 80 percent of 360 male students had removed body hair. So what gives?
Well, the current issue of Details magazine is calling it a new era of male body obsession: “We’ve all become body-conscious to the core (not to mention conscious of our core),” they write on their site. “Working out more, eating better, dressing in slimmer clothes, getting the hedges trimmed (and maybe even a nip or a tuck).”
Some experts chalk up this new male vanity to men’s stress about unemployment. In other words, as men compete for today’s scarce jobs, they’re increasingly judged on their looks instead of their intellect or achievements. In fact, men are complaining that they forced to compete with increasingly younger candidates—and need to look good to do it. Whoa. Harsh, dudes.
Another reported reason is the fact that guys today are consistently inundated by photos of perfectly groomed celebrities and rugged sports stars courtesy of gossip mags and other media. In other words, every average guy with a family, work responsibilities, and a mortgage is now comparing himself to guys whose job it is to look good—guy who have armies of professionals organizing their food, physical appearance, fitness regimen, wardrobe, etc. And it’s hard on them, poor things.
The "fetishized" male body
Then there are guys complaining about the whole “skinny jeans” trend, which requires intense body maintenance in order to be carried off. Oh, amen to that, brothas. I feel your pain.
“Look around,” the Details web site continues. “Everywhere you turn the male form is being idealized commodified, festishized” (their italics). No arguments here—that is bad news through and through. But the whole “Sound the Alarm! This body obsession stuff is getting kinda crazy and we don’t like it!” leaves me kind of speechless. Because really, what else is there to say except, “Welcome to our world.”
– Audrey D. Brashich
Two decades of progress (or lack thereof) in media representation
A daunting task...
It was a daunting task. My first mission as an About-Face intern was to downsize a cabinet of media images collected over the course of the last twenty (!!) years into three binders containing the most essential or iconic images. This gave me more than just a little perspective on how the media’s portrayal of women has changed over the years.
Digging through the files, I sifted through a dizzying barrage of messages (“Thinner is better!” “Skin should have no wrinkles, blemishes or imperfections!” “Your looks define you!”). With all of the ads new to me, each flip of the page made me want to alert everyone in the office. “Hey! Look at this! Can you believe this?!”
Take this gem, for example
I needed to be told several times that I had to be more cutthroat in tossing images into the trash. But they were all so shocking! They all seemed important to keep.
I kept expecting the images to become less objectifying, sexualizing, and degrading as the years went on. Progress has to have been made for women in the media, I kept telling myself… right?
The 2009-2011 binders lent no support to that notion. In fact, I found them the most shocking of all. While many positive ad campaigns have emerged over the years, most advertisements are still perpetuating the same ideas, often times more overtly than in the past. To me, today’s images are more appalling…because they are sending the same messages that were appalling twenty years ago, and often times they’re more blunt and obvious.
Take these two ads, for example:
1997
2010
They have a lot in common. They are both using women and sex to sell perfume. But the 2010 ad ups the ante, adding an element of infantilization with a young woman dressed in a decidedly little-girl dress, riding a pony. And while the ’97 ad is suggestive of sex with the faintly seductive pose of the model, the 2010 ad does away with all subtlety, sticking the perfume in the middle of her crotch.
Clearly, the content hasn’t changed much, and if anything has worsened, but the main offenders today are different. In the late 90s these were mainly high fashion ads and models. But now celebrities are playing a growing role in media and are often blatantly using sex or violence to sell their products (and/or themselves). Images like these became incredibly common in the last few years:
This doesn’t make me feel very Gleeful
Does painting Kim Kardashian silver make her less naked?
Why is Katy Perry in an animal cage? And why does she seem to like it?
So I guess this is where we are, in the year 2011. The evolution of media over the course of two decades provides an unsettling perspective. It leaves me feeling a tad indignant and quite a bit disappointed, but all the more motivated to work for positive change.
Aubrey Toole is a senior at UC Berkeley majoring in psychology.
Every time a bell rings, a (Victoria’s Secret) angel gets its wings
This bra costs 2.5 million dollars
Rather than being “fashionable,” the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is a throwback to an era where women were valuable merely as decorations.
If every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings, then a lot of bells must have been ringing on Tuesday evening.
The Victoria’s Secret “fashion” show aired on CBS Tuesday night. It was a glittery, glamorous hour filled with beautiful “angels” walking the runway in lingerie, heels, and feathery, glittery fantasy wings. You can’t deny that the women and the outfits were beautiful confections, perhaps even works of art in some cases. One model even wore a $2.5-million dollar bra for a turn on the runway while Maroon Five played “Moves like Jagger.”
The show featured themes like “superhero”, “ballet”, and “Club Pink.” I was waiting for “hungry”, but perhaps that’s just me.
One of the models has been very public about not eating any solid food for the nine days leading up to the show. Maybe every time a bell rings a Victoria’s Secret model should get a cheeseburger? Continue reading
Will male objectification persuade us to check our breasts?
Rethink Breast Cancer harnesses the power of viral advertising with their new app, Your Man Reminder, but is objectification ever OK? In the promo ad, a doctor admits that since “studies have shown that women are more likely to watch a video if it features a hot guy”, he can’t discuss breast cancer with the viewer himself—he’ll let a hot guy do it.
Let’s get one thing straight. All objectification is not created equal. Men aren’t objectified in our culture nearly as much as women, and context matters. But the app still objectifies men by treating their bodies as things to be sold, and these men are clearly only being valued for their bodies. This is illustrated in the scene where, as the doctor speaks, the camera wanders away from him over to the hot guy’s abs.
The chart is pink because it's about lady science.
What’s more, every man in this ad has a similar body type: low body fat and very muscled. Let us not forget that men are not immune to negative body image. In fact, eating disorders in men are on the rise. And this one-size-fits-all approach isn’t good for women either. It erases women who might have different tastes, as well as those who aren’t attracted to men at all.
But the Your Man Reminder app isn’t all bad. For one thing, this ad recognizes that heterosexual women have sexual desires. When people say “sex sells,” they usually mean “objectification of women sells”.
Because people making this statement assume the viewer is a straight man, advertisers use “sex sells” as an excuse to plaster naked women on ads for everything from men’s shirts to real estate. When this is questioned, people inevitably bring out the old, tired excuses: “Men are just more visual. Women don’t really want to see naked men.” In fact, in the past, Rethink Breast Cancer has been the source of just this kind of exploitation of women. So although it’s still objectification, it’s nice to see Rethink Breast Cancer acknowledge that (straight) women have sex drives and enjoy sexual images.
Looking at this picture is beneficial to your health.
For another thing, this ad is effective. After seeing the ad, I was so intrigued, I immediately showed it to several of my friends. And the clever “TLC” acronym has stuck in my brain. This ad is a genuinely good way to spread this information, and it’s important information.
Of course we should focus on the message. I don’t agree with the methods used in this video, but I can’t argue with encouraging women to take care of their health. What do you think—do the positives outweigh the negatives? Or does Rethink Breast Cancer still have a lot to learn about what makes a good campaign?
- Magdalena
Former Survivor Contestant Turns Body Image Activist
We're all on the same team
There are numerous ways to have an impact on how the media represents women. But sometimes it’s difficult to know where to turn.
If you’re like me, you have days when you want to take a baseball bat to your TV, shred every fashion magazine in the supermarket, and go on a spray-painting rampage to black out all the sexist billboards you’re confronted with on your morning commute. It’s easy to get frustrated and feel like you’re drowning in an abyss of media and advertising – like there’s no escape from the constant reminder that you’ll never be OK until you look like the unrealistic, computer-generated, flawless image staring back at you.
We both know the industry needs to change if we as women and girls are going to start feeling better about ourselves. It’s true that this is a HUGE issue and it can be daunting to know how to go about making positive changes. But, the good news is this: you’re not alone. Here on the About-Face web site, you’re among thousands like you who are fed up with the lies and false promises advertising promotes. You’re among a collective of critical thinkers that don’t accept things at face value.
And, it doesn’t just stop there. There are other people like us who have female-empowering messages. For example, I AM THAT GIRL, founded by the 26-year-old body-image activist and former Survivor contestant Alexis Jones.
Her mission is similar to ours — building community, rallying for healthy media, and empowering girls to reach their full potential by believing in their unique beauty, intellect, and strength.
She specifically wants to remind girls and women that we are on the same team, a good reason to give her a shout-out.
But who exactly is That Girl?
According to Alexis, she’s the “best version” of yourself -– the strong, confident girl who is fully aware of her gorgeousness both inside-and-out -– the girl who doesn’t let the media dictate how she should look or behave.
The aims of I Am That Girl are BIG, because, as I mentioned, Project Tackle The Media is no small job. But when enough voices come together, things get done, as Alexis and her team have already proved by taking this issue to the White House, where they presented to the Council on Women and Girls (a Council Obama signed into executive order in 2009) about the current state of media as an actual global crisis.
Wow. I’m inspired.
Hey, don’t worry. You don’t have to go to the White House to make a difference. Your voice matters and you — yes you — can have a serious impact. Want to get more involved and put your frustration into action? Check out About-Face Actions for inspiring ways to challenge our relationships to weight, body image, and media messages, and make sure to let us know what you’re up to.
Joy Robbins is a Professional Counselor and Yoga Teacher living in Australia. She specializes in the treatment of disordered eating and negative body image. Read more about her work here and here.
Cheerios trades whole grains for less you
General Mills is the latest brand giant to jump on the correlation bandwagon, linking consumption of MultiGrain Cheerios to weight loss and size reduction.
A recent Cheerios commercial features a run-in with two women at a clothes donation drop box. The first female praises her friend’s weight loss and appearance. The pal attributes her svelte size to a whole grains, specifically MultiGrain Cheerios. The closing, uninspired voiceover assures the viewer that “more whole grains equals less you.”
Why is a woman’s ability to take up less space revered? This is a maddening message and an obvious objectification of women. Cheerios assumes that we are all in the business of losing weight, promoting the “one-size-fits-all” standard of beauty. Weight loss as a primary goal idolizes thinness and irresponsibly encourages unhealthy and disordered behaviors and attitudes towards food and body image.
This idea of taking up less space even works metaphorically showing that, as women, we are still being marginalized in the media. Our culture encourages this unhealthy obsession with weight loss and reduction, as though we can only take up space if sporting diminutive dimensions in a pretty package.
The woman in the commercial slips her old clothes into the mouth of the drop box and in a triumphant tone resolves that she’s “not going back there again”. She suggests that that any sort of “going back” implies a moral failing. This is infuriating because it demonizes our bodies and reinforces the idea that they are to be controlled and managed.
Cheerios wants you to be... less you.
While Cheerios’ push for a diet high in whole grains is a positive and healthy one, the implications of this commercial are dangerous. Our fundamental worth is not derived from being objects; we are more than visual morsels whose primary purpose is looking good. Advertising objectives reposition products based on this premise, attempting to capitalize on self-consciousness. Commercials like this diminish female presence by reducing us to our physical bodies and encouraging us to be thinner. Our strengths are so much more than the ability to whittle our waists into a narrow definition of beauty and attractiveness.
These media-mandated definitions of beauty are unimaginative and downright old-school. There are more outlets of empowerment today than ever before, but we still have work to do. Let’s take Cheerios’ directive and curb our consumption of these damaging media messages. In the ad, the woman’s reflexive response to seeing her friend is to immediately praise her for her weight loss and appearance. How many times do we do this? Let’s refuse to contribute to this culturally coached idea that size and appearance are our currency.
How can you rail against society’s “one-size-fits-all” standard of beauty and encourage a focus on overall health and body diversity? What one thing can you do today to appreciate your female form its capabilities? What accomplishments can you pay tribute to that have nothing to do with appearance?
Heather Klem is a blogger, yoga enthusiast, and impassioned body image and media literacy advocate (when not working at her corporate day job!).
Barbie: The Young Girls’ Ultimate Role Model?
Especially in this day and age, every young girl should have a role model. They need someone to look up to — someone who will validate their dreams, inspire their hearts, and represent all the positive, healthy ideals life has to offer. My mother is my role model, and so when I saw this commercial the other day, I assumed it was a shout-out to all the hardworking mothers setting their daughters on the right track. After all, at such a young age, who can inspire young girls to “go to the moon”, “dance”, and “teach the next generation”?
Apparently, Barbie can.
There are so many problems with this commercial. First of all, the ad implies — and even encourages young girls to believe — that it’s perfectly fine to idolize a 11.5 inch, unhealthily disproportionate doll. Last time I checked, living, breathing, animate role models served this purpose much better. What are we doing to the future generation when we suggest that they find solace, comfort, and inspiration in the domestic comfort of a Barbie? We should be pushing young girls’ dreams outside of the playpen, into the world, where they will be surrounded by real, healthy women who actually have their best interests at heart.
When the commercial first comes on, you think, “Finally! An ad empowering young women to break the stereotypes and have a profound influence on the world.” They want to be astronauts, bakers, and ballerinas — right on! But then we realize their dreams are being inspired by a Barbie doll. This comes as an unexpected shock; I know my initial reaction was to laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of the correlation! Suddenly, the girls’ hopes are trivialized because they are being attributed to a bastardized representation of what a woman ought to be.
Of course, the commercial wouldn’t be complete without the ever-present reminder that Barbie is first and foremost a doll desired for her attractiveness. “She has awesome style!” says one of the featured young actresses. We’ve all seen the horrifying infographics of Barbie’s severely screwed up proportions, and we can’t forget that even though Barbie has had 125 careers, she’s still showing young girls an unrealistic representation of the female body.
Who wouldn’t want Barbie as their best friend?!
Some argue that by promoting Barbie’s workforce-related success, perhaps Mattel is attempting to change the image of the Barbie doll. But do the pros of this new Barbie image outweigh the cons of the “ideal” body image portrayed by the doll? If young girls are idolizing Barbie for her career, how can we be sure they won’t idolize her in terms of her body?
My advice? Change the image of the Barbie doll by changing the Barbie doll — chest size, waist-to-hip ratio, and all.
- Hailey
Negative body talk is alive and well among college women
Negative body image doesn't stop after high school.
As a college freshman, I’m constantly being exposed to the living habits of other women. In a dorm, you quickly learn the rituals of college life, both in the academic and social senses. Unfortunately, amidst hectic class schedules and fun-filled social lives, college students are not exempt from the impact of the negative body image messages of the media.
It’s interesting — even though college is meant to be a time for individual growth, it’s shocking how strictly young women continue to conform to standards the imposed upon us by the media and pop culture. Living in a dorm of mostly women, I can’t help but notice how much time my peers spend on makeup, clothing, dieting, and getting guys’ attention. In a college atmosphere — an atmosphere in which students are supposed to be developing their futures and careers — women students spend a disproportionate amount of time stressing over minute “flaws” in their appearances.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I definitely indulge in a good makeover once in awhile. Swooning over guys is an entertaining pastime! But I can’t help but wonder what the our daily routines would be like if the media did not instill upon us the sense that our worth is derived from our clothing, weight, and physical appearance. To put things in perspective, I spent a week listening to the conversations of the girls living on my floor. These girls do not fit any single stereotype; they are of varied physique, ethnic background, social class, and religion. Interestingly enough, negative body image was one of the few traits they all had in common. Throughout the course of a week, these were the top five quotes I found the most horrendous:
Ally: “I don’t even realize it, but half the time I’m sucking in my stomach.”
Bodies — female bodies in particular — are meant to have curves and shape. Women’s stomachs aren’t meant to be the concave, non-stomachs so often portrayed in mags and on TV. (Ahem, Victoria’s Secret, ahem.)
Tara: “All my roommate ever eats is salad. I wish I could be healthy like that!”
Um, what? Last time I checked, all-salad diets lacked vitamins and fats essential to our growth and health. In our current society, eating less is immediately correlated to being healthier – and that’s not always true.
Deirdre: “Jake spent the entire night flirting with that Gracie girl; he didn’t even give me the time of day. I knew I should have worn the low-cut top!”
There is so much atrocity in this statement. Deirdre immediately assumes she got the cold shoulder because her outfit was not “revealing enough.” Apparently in order for Jake to pay Deirdre attention, her cleavage needs to be exposed.
Selia: “I can’t believe I just ate that brownie. I need to go to the gym.”
Indulgence isn’t always a bad thing. Is physical exercise important? Absolutely. Going to the gym is a great way to stay active and be fit. However, going to the gym purely to work off a single brownie seems a bit excessive, don’t you think?
Meghan: “I just bought this pair of size 3 Angel Jeans. By the end of the semester they’re going to fit me like a glove. I’ll do whatever it takes!”
I’m a firm believer that your clothes should fit you; you shouldn’t have to fit your clothes. Young women shouldn’t feel the need to do “whatever it takes” to reach a magic number.
Disturbing, huh? Keep in mind, this is just one perspective, from one student, from one college. Do you think these quotes are typical of many college-aged women? How do these conversations compare to conversations had by girls in high school and middle school? Are these quotes indicative of negative body image, or are the students merely acting according to gender stereotypes to “fit in?”
Regardless, these quotes assert that even as young women grow into adulthood, sexist, negative portrayals of women in the media continue to infiltrate their mindsets and impact their daily lives.
And that’s not okay.
How can we break the stereotypes?
- Hailey