Blog 5
The first medium I surveyed was Vogue. Wow is all I have to say. I kept thinking back to the video we watched in class about minorities and women in advertisements. Just like that video, almost every single advertisement was a skinny, white female in a promiscuous position or in a submissive pose. Maybe this is because Vogues target audience could be white females so that’s what they advertise towards, but I highly doubt that. This monotonous tone in advertisements is most likely due to the media moguls fear of losing their audience by placing minorities in their advertisements- which is a totally ridiculous fear. By strictly placing whites or white females in sexual or submissive poses, they are just placing emphasis on their fear, in an awful downward spiral. I also noticed that if there were minorities in the advertisements, they were almost always a famous figure in today’s pop culture- making it “socially acceptable” to look up to them.
Advertisements In Vogue-
Prevage Body Elizabeth Arden Anti-Aging Moisturizer- The was one of the most blatantly offensive ad’s I saw. The name alone, “Anti-Aging”, sends the message that looking older is not desirable and that women should do everything in their power to stay looking young. This ad featured the naked backside of a model and had arrows pointing out all of the problem areas that every woman deals with. Everything that every woman naturally battles, this advertisement pointed out in a derogatory manner, making things that were perfectly natural seem like s problem area that only their miracle cream can fix.
Michael Kors Clothing- Two women in close contact, insinuating sexuality associated with the wearing of this brand.
Jessica Simpson “Juicy” Cologne- In this ever-so “All American” advertisement, a famous bubbly blonde is laying down with a come hither look, all to promote her new scent called “Juicy”- obviously not describing a juicy fruit….. This exploits women, and feeds into the advertising motto: ”Sex sells.”
Revlon Lash Fantasy Total Definition Mascara- This ad was virtually the only advertisement I could find in this magazine that feathres an African Amerian woman. And that woman happened to be none other than Oscar winner Halle Berry. The caption reads, “Lashes you lust after,” promoting not only eyelashes, but that lust is a desireable power women should exert over men. Even the name, Lash FANTASY, eludes to the thought of sexual fantasies. Again, the age old “sex sells” method is at play in this ad.
Advertisements in Rolling Stone-
The advertisements in Rolling Stone were a lot different than those in Vogue. Also, a lot better I though. Don’t get me wrong, there were still more whites featured in these ads, but there were also more diverse ads, and also ads that weren’t using sex to sell. They were smarter and I think geared more towards a more educated and open consumer.
Just Cavalli- Instead of featuring women, this advertisement featured only men. But the models in this ad were portraying the skinny-on-drugs, grunge rocker. They all looked sickly and depressed. I guess people think that being a addicted rocker is a good thing, but this advertisement did not appeal to me and just gave a bad image of musicians.
DKNY Jeans- This advertisement featured men, women, and minorities. There were 2 men and 2 women. The men were standing tall, with their shoulders back and also elevated higher than the women. The women were hunched over, with “come-hither” looks on their over-makeup’d faces. This enforces the stereotype of men dominating women.
Television Commercials-
Hardee’s Western bacon Six Dollar Burger- This commercial featured a famous Latina model eating a Hardee’s burger. But it wasn’t just eating, she was licking her fingers, and eluding to sexual acts while eating this burger. They had her sitting spread leg in a dress on some stairs. This was a very degrading commercial to women, not to mention the fact that nobody who regularly eats those burgers could look like that… nobody.
Kohl’ for Candiees- featuring young white an d black girls, playfully dancing and running around together, but wearing clothes that were much to old for them.
Verizon Rhapsody Commercial- Great representation of mixed races- all using the same product.
Watching these ads confirmed what we have learned in class. Minorities are not usually given the same treatment in advertisements. If a male and female are in an ad, the male gets the dominant role. If a white and a minority are in the same ad, the white is given the dominant role. Especially in fashion and makeup ads, white women are considered the beautiful norm and are usually used. And if black women are featured, they are usually famous. If our country is going to say that we have changed, and that we can “see past color and gender”, then we need to start acting like it.
