It's official: Television really does rot your brain.
Let's talk about commercials.
If you've been paying attention, you know this means "Let's talk about gender and advertising", so feel free to skip to the bottom.
Ok, so maybe not "rage" so much as "I think this is kind of lame. What do you guys think?", but I digress.
Exhibit A: Best Buy Carolers, a.k.a. Gender Stereotypes: The Musical
The implication here, obviously, is that men are lazy and not very bright and of course the perfect gift for any man is a giant TV. I think it is significant that, in this commercial, it is a woman being given unsolicited advice on what to buy for a man. There is a similar commercial, that I can't find video of, in which a man asks the carolers what to get for his wife, in contrast to the above video. This time, the carolers tell him he should get her a phone so she can "text her friends like every waking minute" and then suggest that he get one for himself so that he can "walk out [of the store] working", implying that it is his task to work at every opportunity while his wife chats frivolously.
There are a few assumptions at work here that I take issue with:
1. Lazy bum/workaholic dichotomy in male figures. Lest it be said that I am a man-hating feminazi, let me point out that I'm offended on behalf of the guys, too.
2. Men need help shopping while women have to be persuaded to buy things. I think this is related to a more general assumption that men seek and women must be sought, but that's just me.
3. Use of/interest in electronics is necessarily gendered. You know which of my friends text me the most? The guys. You know who watches the most TV and movies out of, like, everyone I know? Me. This particular stereotype, which is evident in advertising for most electronics chains, is not only inaccurate and unfounded, it's just straight up wrong.
Exhibit B: Star Trek DVD, a.k.a. Chicks Don't Trek
First off, I have to say that the concept for this commercial is kind of genius. The idea of Trekkers finally being able to "come out" because of the movie is fabulously funny, mostly because it's true. However, did you notice what all the newly-outed nerds have in common? Yep, that would be the Y chromosome (I assume. There could be a tranny in there.) Now, there's another commercial, which I also could not find video of wtf, which does feature an attractive blonde woman. Instead of expressing her own relief at "coming out", however, she voices disbelief at discovering that someone in her household was "one of them". Now, I realize that the prevailing stereotype of geekdom (out-of-shape, frumpy, 20-30-something guy) is pretty deeply ingrained in our culture, and, to be fair, it's reasonably accurate for about 20% of the subculture. But, as I'm sure most of my f-list can attest, chicks are trekkers, too, and I, for one, would like a little representation in the mainstream.
Interestingly, the place where I've noticed the guy-geek cliche being most challenged is on G4. Granted, you could argue that the fact that all (most? I don't watch that much G4) their personalities are good-looking, under 30, and well-dressed relates to a whole other image mess, but at least the pop culture beauty standard is gender equitable, which it's usually not.
Thoughts? Additions? Other examples?
In other news, I need an apron, because cooking is messy and I wear nice clothes. I need someone to talk me out of buying one from CafePress, or at least help me decide which one to get. 'Cause see, there's Tiny Castiel, which is just too cute for words, but then there's The Angels have the Phonebox, because LOVE, and we can't forget about the Torchwood logo, which now that I think about it is kind of funny if you consider the food on the show, and there's the Map of Gallifrey, which is super pretty and awesome. Opinions?
ETA: I R DUM. Can somebody tell me how to embed video? It's not working so good.
If you've been paying attention, you know this means "Let's talk about gender and advertising", so feel free to skip to the bottom.
Ok, so maybe not "rage" so much as "I think this is kind of lame. What do you guys think?", but I digress.
Exhibit A: Best Buy Carolers, a.k.a. Gender Stereotypes: The Musical
The implication here, obviously, is that men are lazy and not very bright and of course the perfect gift for any man is a giant TV. I think it is significant that, in this commercial, it is a woman being given unsolicited advice on what to buy for a man. There is a similar commercial, that I can't find video of, in which a man asks the carolers what to get for his wife, in contrast to the above video. This time, the carolers tell him he should get her a phone so she can "text her friends like every waking minute" and then suggest that he get one for himself so that he can "walk out [of the store] working", implying that it is his task to work at every opportunity while his wife chats frivolously.
There are a few assumptions at work here that I take issue with:
1. Lazy bum/workaholic dichotomy in male figures. Lest it be said that I am a man-hating feminazi, let me point out that I'm offended on behalf of the guys, too.
2. Men need help shopping while women have to be persuaded to buy things. I think this is related to a more general assumption that men seek and women must be sought, but that's just me.
3. Use of/interest in electronics is necessarily gendered. You know which of my friends text me the most? The guys. You know who watches the most TV and movies out of, like, everyone I know? Me. This particular stereotype, which is evident in advertising for most electronics chains, is not only inaccurate and unfounded, it's just straight up wrong.
Exhibit B: Star Trek DVD, a.k.a. Chicks Don't Trek
First off, I have to say that the concept for this commercial is kind of genius. The idea of Trekkers finally being able to "come out" because of the movie is fabulously funny, mostly because it's true. However, did you notice what all the newly-outed nerds have in common? Yep, that would be the Y chromosome (I assume. There could be a tranny in there.) Now, there's another commercial, which I also could not find video of wtf, which does feature an attractive blonde woman. Instead of expressing her own relief at "coming out", however, she voices disbelief at discovering that someone in her household was "one of them". Now, I realize that the prevailing stereotype of geekdom (out-of-shape, frumpy, 20-30-something guy) is pretty deeply ingrained in our culture, and, to be fair, it's reasonably accurate for about 20% of the subculture. But, as I'm sure most of my f-list can attest, chicks are trekkers, too, and I, for one, would like a little representation in the mainstream.
Interestingly, the place where I've noticed the guy-geek cliche being most challenged is on G4. Granted, you could argue that the fact that all (most? I don't watch that much G4) their personalities are good-looking, under 30, and well-dressed relates to a whole other image mess, but at least the pop culture beauty standard is gender equitable, which it's usually not.
Thoughts? Additions? Other examples?
In other news, I need an apron, because cooking is messy and I wear nice clothes. I need someone to talk me out of buying one from CafePress, or at least help me decide which one to get. 'Cause see, there's Tiny Castiel, which is just too cute for words, but then there's The Angels have the Phonebox, because LOVE, and we can't forget about the Torchwood logo, which now that I think about it is kind of funny if you consider the food on the show, and there's the Map of Gallifrey, which is super pretty and awesome. Opinions?
ETA: I R DUM. Can somebody tell me how to embed video? It's not working so good.