PROCRASTINATION
Interesting, if not very PC, article about beauty, mainly focused on Dove's latest campaigns:
Another Dove ad, focusing on girls’ insecurities about their looks, concludes, “Every girl deserves to feel good about herself and see how beautiful she really is.” Here, Dove is encouraging the myth that physical beauty is a false concept, and, at the same time, falsely equating beauty with goodness and self-worth. If you don’t see perfection in the mirror, it suggests, you’ve been duped by the media and suffer from low self-esteem.
And an article about the sexism embodied in the ideal of a flight stewardess, that mentions our own SIA:
I personally don't mind, but the world's 13th largest carrier still proudly refers to its female cabin crew as the "Singapore Girls." Boasts the airline's Web site: "We have one of the world's youngest fleet in the air, a network spanning five continents, and the Singapore Girl as our symbol of quality customer care and service." It's a branding that dates to 1972 and is the brainchild of Ian Batey, founder of the Singapore advertising giant Batey Ads, with whom the hometown airline has shared a decades-long relationship.
In many countries, the requirements to become a Singapore Girl are the stuff of discrimination lawsuits or are banned outright: Candidates can be no older than 25, and are forced to "retire" by 35. They must be of Asian extraction (most are Singaporean or Malay, but many are Chinese, Indian, Korean, Indonesian or Japanese) and must be "slim and attractive, with a good complexion and warm personality."
"The Singapore Girl strategy turned out to be a very powerful idea," writes Venture Republic magazine. "A successful brand icon with an almost mythical status and aura around her." Madame Tussauds wax museum in London installed a Singapore Girl in 1994. It was the museum's first commercial figure. In 1992, the Mattel toy company released a Singapore Girl edition of its famous Barbie doll.
"The Singapore Girl encapsulates Asian values and hospitality," adds Venture Republic, "and could be described as caring, warm, gentle, elegant and serene."
Or, put another way in a story from Reuters, "Despite her success, critics complain the Singapore Girl concept is sexist, outmoded and largely intended to serve male passengers' fantasies of desirable, subservient Oriental women."
I don't know how many male passengers truly fantasize about subservient Oriental women, but plenty of fliers, male and female alike, fantasize about good on-board service. Obviously the Girls excel in that regard, helping Singapore Airlines rack up more customer service awards and accolades than virtually all other carriers combined.
Another Dove ad, focusing on girls’ insecurities about their looks, concludes, “Every girl deserves to feel good about herself and see how beautiful she really is.” Here, Dove is encouraging the myth that physical beauty is a false concept, and, at the same time, falsely equating beauty with goodness and self-worth. If you don’t see perfection in the mirror, it suggests, you’ve been duped by the media and suffer from low self-esteem.
And an article about the sexism embodied in the ideal of a flight stewardess, that mentions our own SIA:
I personally don't mind, but the world's 13th largest carrier still proudly refers to its female cabin crew as the "Singapore Girls." Boasts the airline's Web site: "We have one of the world's youngest fleet in the air, a network spanning five continents, and the Singapore Girl as our symbol of quality customer care and service." It's a branding that dates to 1972 and is the brainchild of Ian Batey, founder of the Singapore advertising giant Batey Ads, with whom the hometown airline has shared a decades-long relationship.
In many countries, the requirements to become a Singapore Girl are the stuff of discrimination lawsuits or are banned outright: Candidates can be no older than 25, and are forced to "retire" by 35. They must be of Asian extraction (most are Singaporean or Malay, but many are Chinese, Indian, Korean, Indonesian or Japanese) and must be "slim and attractive, with a good complexion and warm personality."
"The Singapore Girl strategy turned out to be a very powerful idea," writes Venture Republic magazine. "A successful brand icon with an almost mythical status and aura around her." Madame Tussauds wax museum in London installed a Singapore Girl in 1994. It was the museum's first commercial figure. In 1992, the Mattel toy company released a Singapore Girl edition of its famous Barbie doll.
"The Singapore Girl encapsulates Asian values and hospitality," adds Venture Republic, "and could be described as caring, warm, gentle, elegant and serene."
Or, put another way in a story from Reuters, "Despite her success, critics complain the Singapore Girl concept is sexist, outmoded and largely intended to serve male passengers' fantasies of desirable, subservient Oriental women."
I don't know how many male passengers truly fantasize about subservient Oriental women, but plenty of fliers, male and female alike, fantasize about good on-board service. Obviously the Girls excel in that regard, helping Singapore Airlines rack up more customer service awards and accolades than virtually all other carriers combined.