Women in Advertising
Thanks to tyrell for this link to the new Boots ad.
I wish it wasn't necessary for me to point out what's wrong with that, but apparently someone thought it was an effective advert, because let's shame women into spending a small fortune and subjecting themselves to painful procedures in order to be acceptable on the beach. This is offensive enough when it's portrayed as the only means to get a man, which is the only end a woman could have. Here, however, the gorgeous body is portrayed as the end itself. Note how the crowd staring and implicitly judging the woman is made up primarily of women and children - children, we are to assume, mean mothers and specifically, successful and enviable women (cause they gots kids, which of course is the goal of all women.)
I'm reminded of the Misty Lee controversy. For those of you not tuned into that part of the internet, Misty Lee is a stage magician and entertainer, as well as being the wife of comic writer Paul Dini (kingofbreakfast), who had the following to say about the controversy around Heroes for Hire #13 and the Mary-Jane "comiquette":
I don’t know if it was in a forum I was reading but it’s something I’ve heard a million times before - but usually, the strongest and loudest protest over sexy things come from ugly fat girls. And now I don’t necessarily agree with that and I’m probably going to get some awesome flame mail as a result of this, but as somebody who’s relatively secure in her sexuality - I don’t think I’m the hottest broad out walking around - I definitely don’t think I compare to some of these comic book chicks - but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like to look at ‘em. I find the feminine form very appealing and I’m not at all offended by that
See what she's implying there? If you don't think women should be objectified then it's only because you're jealous, because women, she implies, are intrinsically judgemental creatures, and all want to be attractive. It seems that women can be happy with the world and the bigotry therein, as long as we look good.
Women, the world wants to imagine now, are judgemental, envious shallow creatures, who cause our own misery with infighting more than any ideal imposed on us by men. Because every woman who complains is fat and ugly, the way to be happy is to be thin and pretty. The Boots advert tells us this is because women hold each other to standards, not men. That we can only be happy if we conform to the social ideal enforced by women.
The message isn't "look good and get a man" but "not conforming to society's physical ideal is unacceptable", which to me is even more offensive. It's not a promise that we'll get laid married if we look good, but a threat that if we don't look good, society will reject us.
Personally, I'd rather we had more ads like the Brazilian Fit Light Yoghurt than this shit. At least then we'd have sexy plus-size women to look at. (Seriously, go check those posters for how the stick of "don't be fat!" can really misfire.)
I wish it wasn't necessary for me to point out what's wrong with that, but apparently someone thought it was an effective advert, because let's shame women into spending a small fortune and subjecting themselves to painful procedures in order to be acceptable on the beach. This is offensive enough when it's portrayed as the only means to get a man, which is the only end a woman could have. Here, however, the gorgeous body is portrayed as the end itself. Note how the crowd staring and implicitly judging the woman is made up primarily of women and children - children, we are to assume, mean mothers and specifically, successful and enviable women (cause they gots kids, which of course is the goal of all women.)
I'm reminded of the Misty Lee controversy. For those of you not tuned into that part of the internet, Misty Lee is a stage magician and entertainer, as well as being the wife of comic writer Paul Dini (kingofbreakfast), who had the following to say about the controversy around Heroes for Hire #13 and the Mary-Jane "comiquette":
I don’t know if it was in a forum I was reading but it’s something I’ve heard a million times before - but usually, the strongest and loudest protest over sexy things come from ugly fat girls. And now I don’t necessarily agree with that and I’m probably going to get some awesome flame mail as a result of this, but as somebody who’s relatively secure in her sexuality - I don’t think I’m the hottest broad out walking around - I definitely don’t think I compare to some of these comic book chicks - but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like to look at ‘em. I find the feminine form very appealing and I’m not at all offended by that
See what she's implying there? If you don't think women should be objectified then it's only because you're jealous, because women, she implies, are intrinsically judgemental creatures, and all want to be attractive. It seems that women can be happy with the world and the bigotry therein, as long as we look good.
Women, the world wants to imagine now, are judgemental, envious shallow creatures, who cause our own misery with infighting more than any ideal imposed on us by men. Because every woman who complains is fat and ugly, the way to be happy is to be thin and pretty. The Boots advert tells us this is because women hold each other to standards, not men. That we can only be happy if we conform to the social ideal enforced by women.
The message isn't "look good and get a man" but "not conforming to society's physical ideal is unacceptable", which to me is even more offensive. It's not a promise that we'll get laid married if we look good, but a threat that if we don't look good, society will reject us.
Personally, I'd rather we had more ads like the Brazilian Fit Light Yoghurt than this shit. At least then we'd have sexy plus-size women to look at. (Seriously, go check those posters for how the stick of "don't be fat!" can really misfire.)