Sunday, December 9, 2012

Formal Paper II: Final Draft



November 25, 2012

High School Population

Dear American Adolescents,


What is more appealing, a beautiful mind or a beautiful body? Most would want to say a beautiful mind, but unfortunately this day and age it just so happens that the latter of the two is the more common answer, whether one says it or not. Our society is fueled by individual image and appeal while it should be driven by individual creativity and uniqueness. It is well known that current media plays a very large role in the lives of everyone that it touches (specifically young adolescents who are still learning who they are), and needless to say, that nowadays the media finds a way to touch just about everyone’s life in one way or another. Billboards, magazines, commercials, buses, milk cartons, blimps, t-shirts, and even pens are just a few of the items and methods that major corporations use to spread their logos and get their names into peoples’ minds in order to make a sale. These methods may work for their initial purpose, but it is clear that they have many very negative outcomes towards the visualization and importance of the female gender and their potential roles in society. In order to produce a better outcome in the future, the next generation should avoid media born influences and stray from mirroring the media’s objective and oppressing imagery.

Advertisers draw upon the inner desires in people, and then they play off these desires by creating a sense of appeal in the ads in which they design. At first it seems like they are being creative, but when looking at current day ads it is clear that consequently their methods objectify both genders, but much more often specifically women. The mainstream structure of current day advertisements appeal to sexual desire, which is believed to be innate in every human being, and by playing off this desire ads create an image of physical beauty and sexiness in order to grasp the attention of those who see their ads. Now that sex in advertising has been so consistent it gives viewers the idea that it is all that matters and in order to be happy they must look for physical beauty rather than inner beauty in their significant others.

This is where the line for objectification begins. An article written by Naomi Rockler-Gladen titled “Media Objectification of Women” gives a clear definition of what media objectification is, “Media that objectify women portray women as physical objects that can be looked at and acted upon-- and fail to portray women as subjective beings with thoughts, histories, and emotions” (Rockler-Gladen 1). So by advertisers using sex in advertising and portraying women as objects diminishes their unique values and puts all women on the same level, which is that of unimportance and whose values are based solely on physical and sexual image.

Distinguished author Jean Kilbourne has written many articles pertaining to this exact topic, and one in particular, “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt” goes over some similar points. For example, Kilbourne’s opening sentences, “Sex in advertising is more about disconnection and distance than connection and closeness. It is also more often about power than passion, about violence than violins” (Kilbourne 575). Kilbourne sets the stage by drawing a major parallel in ads and pornography, trying to degrade the value of the ads themselves and point out the clear difference in the feelings and ideals in which they present.

Now the major corporations that put out these degrading ads may see no fault in what they are doing because they are spending their hard earned money on the advertising schemes in order to make more sales and in turn more money. Other corporations will most likely see this as genius because it is just merely business at work and they are doing what they need in order to stay on top of the marketing brackets. But while the major business owners are thinking of themselves and how to make more money by exploiting the female gender, they don’t realize the severely negative effect that their work is having on the general female population. The exploitation is resulting in women’s desire to emulate the women that they see in advertisements, by wanting to be skinny and wear sexy attire and be submissive towards men, and this has a harmful effect on their health, unique talents and personal individuality. If advertisers were to draw upon different desires in the general population, rather than solely sexual desire and physical image, then perhaps they wouldn’t have such an extreme effect on people and they would be able to express their inner uniqueness and personality. The outcome of different advertising schemes would be much more appealing than the objectification of women and their diminishing value.

I myself recently graduated from high school and just turned twenty and am now out of my teenage years. During my time in high school, and still to this day, I was able to see first hand what kind of influence the media can have on the younger generation and how they mirror these influences in their everyday actions. I remember an old Axe commercial that showed women walking around, but the only thing that was visible of them was their upper body and lower legs, while everything else was edited out. The commercial had a man who put on Axe deodorant and walked around town while the women’s bosoms followed him around and then the man runs into a woman and she becomes whole again. This shows me how the Axe Company clearly believes that breasts are the only thing men see on women, and in order to achieve what they want they must purchase Axe body spray.  An article written about this same exact ad states, “This new Axe spot from BBH, New York, reaffirms the brand's worldview by literally reducing a woman to a headless, walking pair of breasts” (Nudd 1). Nudd explains how reducing women to just this image objectifies their “more important features”, while it is 100% inaccurate. This was a popular ad that influenced a lot of my high school peers to purchase the product and also speak objectively of women concerning their breasts and buttocks.

Another popular ad that came out a few years ago was produced by the Carl’s Junior and was made with the same intent as any other ad, to persuade customers. The ad was a commercial that star a very sexy woman who was in short shorts and a bikini and she was washing an old tuned up car. The woman would hold the hose and scrubber and walk around the car spraying water everywhere, while not saying anything provocative or intelligent, and then spray herself and proceed to lying on top of the car. Just in the heat of the moment, towards the end of the commercial, the woman pulls out a giant Carl’s Jr. burger and takes a big bite out of it while still wet on the soaking car. The corporation is trying to advertise their famous large burger, but for some reason it only shows up until the very end of the commercial and followed by the brand name. The advertising scheme pulls in viewers by showing a hot girl who is soaking wet in a bathing suit while washing a car, and then finishes the message by showing her take a bite of the “delicious” burger. There seems to be a controversial view as to why the woman is in the commercial anyways, she does not do or say anything that explains what is in the burger or even anything about it but instead shows off her body to gather attention.

The overall view of the female gender is constantly diminishing due to the continuing production of mainstream corporation advertisements and their consistent use and abuse of the socially constructed view of beauty. If this continues there will be a blatant shift downwards on the importance of women and all women will seize to be taken seriously. In order for there to be even a glimpse of light shed on this situation, there must be room for reformation in the ideals of corporation advertising. The goal can still be to make a sale but should be, rather, to accentuate a different desire in all potential customers. Because the advertisement world is and has already blackened the original sexual desire innate in humans, they must change their methods of persuasion before the culturally constructed male figure has all power and value over that of women, and before the younger generation grabs hold of these ideals with their learning minds and over emulates them as they grow up. There is much to think about and work on.

Sincerely,




Zack Newland

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Formal Paper II: Revised Draft


November 25, 2012

High school Population

Dear General Adolescent Youths,


What is more appealing, a beautiful mind or a beautiful body? Most would want to say a beautiful mind, but unfortunately this day and age it just so happens that the latter of the two is the more common answer, whether one says it or not. Our society is fueled by individual image and appeal while it should be driven by individual creativity and uniqueness. It is well known that current media plays a very large role on the lives of everyone that it touches (specifically young adolescents who are still learning who they are), and needless to say, that nowadays the media finds a way to touch just about everyone’s life in one way or another. Billboards, magazines, commercials, buses, milk cartons, blimps, t-shirts, and even pens are just a few of the items and methods that major corporations use to spread their logos and get their names into peoples’ minds in order to make a sale. These methods may work for their initial purpose, but it is clear that they have many very negative outcomes towards the visualization and importance of the female gender and their potential roles in society.

Advertisers draw upon the inner desires in people, and then they play off these desires by creating a sense of appeal in the ads in which they design. At first it seems like they are being creative, but when looking at current day ads it is clear that consequently their methods objectify both genders, but much more often specifically women. The mainstream structure of current day advertisements appeal to sexual desire, which is believed to be innate in every human being, and by playing off this desire ads create an image of physical beauty and sexiness in order to grasp the attention of those who see their ads. Now that sex in advertising has been so consistent it gives viewers the idea that it is all that matters and in order to be happy they must look for physical beauty rather than inner beauty in their significant others.

Distinguished author Jean Kilbourne has written many articles pertaining to this exact topic, and one in particular, “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt” goes over some similar points. For example, Kilbourne’s opening sentences, “Sex in advertising is more about disconnection and distance than connection and closeness. It is also more often about power than passion, about violence than violins” (Kilbourne 575). Kilbourne sets the stage by drawing a major parallel in ads and pornography, trying to degrade the value of the ads themselves and point out the clear difference in the feelings and ideals in which they present. This is where the line for objectification begins. Another article written by Naomi Rockler-Gladen titled “Media Objectification of Women” gives a clear definition of what media objectification is, “Media that objectify women portray women as physical objects that can be looked at and acted upon-- and fail to portray women as subjective beings with thoughts, histories, and emotions” (Rockler-Gladen 1). So by advertisers using sex in advertising and portraying women as objects diminishes their unique values and puts all women on the same level, which is that of unimportance and whose values are based solely on physical and sexual image.

Now the major corporations that put out these degrading ads may see no fault in what they are doing because they are spending their hard earned money on the advertising schemes in order to make more sales and in turn more money. Other corporations will most likely see this as genius because it is just merely business at work and they are doing what they need in order to stay on top of the marketing brackets. But while the major business owners are thinking of themselves and how to make more money by exploiting the female gender, they don’t realize the severely negative effect that their work is having on the general female population. The exploitation is resulting in women’s desire to emulate the women that they see in advertisements, by wanting to be skinny and wear sexy attire and be submissive towards men, and this has a harmful effect on their health, unique talents and personal individuality. If advertisers were to draw upon different desires in the general population, rather than solely sexual desire and physical image, then perhaps they wouldn’t have such an extreme effect on people and they would be able to express their inner uniqueness and personality. The outcome of different advertising schemes would be much more appealing than the objectification of women and their diminishing value.


Sincerely,






Zack Newland

Monday, November 26, 2012

Formal Paper II: Rough Draft




Dear Interested Reader,




What is more appealing, a beautiful body or a beautiful mind? Most would want to say a beautiful mind, but unfortunately this day and age it just so happens that the latter of the two is the more common answer whether one says it or not. Our society is fueled by individual image and appeal while it should be driven by individual creativity and uniqueness. It is well known that current media plays a very large role on the lives of everyone that it touches (specifically young adolescents who are still learning who they are), and needless to say, that nowadays the media finds a way to touch just about everyone’s life in one way or another. Billboards, magazines, commercials, buses, milk cartons, blimps, t-shirts, and even pens are just a few of the items and methods that major corporations use to spread their logos and get their names into peoples’ minds in order to make a sale. These methods may work for their initial purpose, but it is clear that they have many very negative outcomes towards the visualization and importance of the female gender and their potential roles in society.

Advertisers draw upon the inner desires in people, and then they play off these desires by creating a sense of appeal in the ads in which they design. At first it seems like they are being creative, but when looking at current day ads it is clear that consequently their methods objectify men and women but specifically women much more often. The mainstream structure of current day advertisements appeal to sexual desire, which is believed to be innate in every human being, and by playing off this desire ads create an image of physical beauty and sexiness in order to grasp the attention of those who see their ads. Now that sex in advertising has been so consistent it gives viewers the idea that it is all that matters and in order to be happy they must look for physical beauty rather than inner beauty in their significant others.

Distinguished author Jean Kilbourne has written many articles pertaining to this exact topic and one in particular “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt” talks about some similar points. For example Kilbourne’s opening sentences, “Sex in advertising is more about disconnection and distance than connection and closeness. It is also more often about power than passion, about violence than violins” (575). Kilbourne sets the stage by drawing a major parallel in ads and pornography, trying to degrade the value of the ads themselves and point out the clear difference in the feelings and ideals in which they present. This is where the line for objectification begins. Another article written by Naomi Rockler-Gladen titled “Media Objectification of Women” gives a clear definition of what media objectification is, “Media that objectify women portray women as physical objects that can be looked at and acted upon-- and fail to portray women as subjective beings with thoughts, histories, and emotions” (Rockler-Gladen 1). So by advertisers using sex in advertising and portraying women as objects diminishes their unique values and puts all women on the same level, which is that of unimportance and value based solely on sexual image.