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jeudi, mars 23, 2006

Women want to be...what men want?

If money is the root of all evil, then most advertising is its spawn.

The media and advertising are really one in the same. We've all heard this before...that what you see on the cover of magazines is a product, celebrity gossip is false, everything we see is made up to get us to consume, CONSUME, CONSUME.

The other day at work I noticed a third GIANT advertisement sweep by on the side of a commuter bus. The first one I noticed was an AD for the new show, "Pepper Dennis," which stars former supermodel Rebecca Romijn (however you spell her name...I don't really care to look in up). The AD shows her in a (not particularly revealing) red dress, she has heels on and pearls around her ankles (Don't get that), and she's twisted up in the cord of her mic. Of course she is sprawled across the AD in a typical 'model' pose...lest we forget she's a former model. The show, however, is about a reporter.

The second AD I saw was for GUESS. Need I say more? Their ADs are always filled with tiny, skinny, girls with dark makeup around their eyes, they usually have tan skin, and they're wearing barely any clothing -- all of them are in provocative positions. Now for a clothing line, wouldn't you want to showcase the clothing??

The third AD I saw was for...well, this shows how ineffective the AD was...I don't know. But it said 'STYLE' next to two supermodel sized women in bikinis fighting -- surrounding them were men in suits.

OK. At this point I spoke up to my co-worker Pet. "Why are ADs, even those trying to sell to WOMEN, smeared with negative images of women?" Pet laughed and I continued, "Its like women want to be what men want now...and that's it. That's all they need to know to buy something - that men will like them for it."
"And its probably a woman who's leading the AD campaign," she replied.
"GENIUS!" I thought. OF COURSE. Not all the campaigns, but how much do you want to bet that women are the ones throwing these pitches.

Now, no one is forgetting that we live in a patriarchal society to begin with and that it has thus far brainwashed most of the people within...but nonetheless, women have probably given in to wanting to be what men want them to be - even when it comes to their careers and intentions.

So lets see who the people in charge of the sleazy, unhealthy, negative ADs are. Are they women? Are they strong women? Are they money-hungry (Duh)? Do they know what they're doing? That they're influencing 80% of women to feel poorly about the way they look - telling little girls, they aren't beautiful the way they are??

I'm on a mission! I'm going to research who it is that is leading these campaigns and I'm going to start with the women I find who are. I'm going to contact the women I find who are heading these campaigns, see who replies and see if they know what they're doing. And I'm going to report to you my results. Maybe no one will respond, but it will be interesting just to see how many women are leading these ugly campaigns.