Kathy is for LOVERS

For my research paper I’m going to focus on MTV. I am going to research the evolution of the channel as a whole. This can include the types of programs that have started on MTV and the ones that are now. (music videos to reality tv) Also I may look into the different ways that MTV has advertised these programs, if the research potential is there. There are many books in the library that discuss MTV, from it’s affect on politics to the generation of a style of television. There must also be things online in data bases but i have yet to figure out the proper keywords in order to find it. MTV is much too broad a search, and I’ve tried MTV network as well.

So the first thing that came into my mind when we were supposed to pick an advertisement to trace through history was coke. It’s been around for a pretty long time, so theres a lot to trace. They also have had an extremely large campaign to advertise anywhere and everywhere. But coke seems pretty generic, so I kept thinking. The next thing I came up with was ciggarettes. It would be interesting to see how one manufactures a product that will slowly kill you. It has to take a lot to sell that kind of thing, (other than the burning addiction that comes attached) because if it were easy then people would be selling murderers or something equally lethal. I also thought about Barbies, although I don’t think that would go very far, it seems too specific. Maybe dolls in general, because they’ve been around about as long as little girls have and someone had to sell it to them.

1. I like how Bordo wrote this essay. Usually written speech and spoken speech are two completely different things. But this essay is written more like how one may talk. There is structure to the essay, but it is loose and free-flowing. Bordo makes sure never to stray from her point, but to explain it thoroughly instead of short and straight to the point. This is much like a conversation that is spoken from one person to another. There is a point to every conversation, but it is never just a stating of the facts and then walking away. This type of writing makes the reader seem more involved. Instead of just listening to what the author has to say, they are more like the recipient of this knowledge as if they were able to speak back to her with their own opinions.

2. The subtexts of the essay are split up in a way that Bordo is able to convey how the perception of males in society has evolved over time. The first one introduces the beginning of when the general public first noticed that men were beginning to be subject in the same way women have been in the media for years. It then moves on to discuss how the fashion world was not the first to model men in a sexual manner, but that when this started it became the most main stream. Then she goes on to discuss the different types of ads that use men in a sexual way to sell their products. The next couple sections talk about how there are different types of men, ones who depend on their wife to get dressed and others that actually put an effort into what they want to wear. It also depicts the societal changes throughout history in men’s and women’s fashion. The last section talks about how instead of society changing for the better, it is changing for the worse. Since women are overexposed in the media and the general public is becoming more aware of it, it would seem that this practice would slowly dwindle out of use. But instead, the same rules are now applying to the opposite sex, which is not the type of equality women have been asking for.

3. Bordo uses the opinions of others infused with her own in order to make her opinions stronger. She uses the wisdom of Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Berger to describe the Calvin Klein ads. She also uses the opinions of the general public in order to supplement her own opinions of the new ads that surfaced. These differences help to prove what she feels about men in ads and in the media in general.

4.

This ad adheres to the business men of America. This group is the young bachelors who work a 9-5 every day in a plush office and drive home at night in a really nice car. They feel that a nice suit can be the thing that gives them the edge over their competetors. It gives them a sense of power and prestige that can’t possibly come from hard work.

1. These two ads are selling the same product, but in completely different ways. The first ad is from a time where sex and other “private” aspects of people’s lives were somewhat taboo to display for everyone to see. This is why the product is not even the center of attention of the advertisment, but seemingly an afterthought. For the second ad, the 1970’s was a time where sex was talked about in every aspect of life, and advertisers used this fact in order to make their products more desireable. By using Sybil Shepard in their ad, they have made Kotex more desireable just because of the fact that this beautiful woman wears them. The amount of writing in the ads also shows the type of time period these ads came from. The first ad has a large amount of writing that people most likely would have read, not because they had nothing better to do but because advertisements were less frequent. But by the 1970’s the amount of advertisements increased, and the corresponding amount of words in each ad had to decrease in order for the message to get accross.

2.

(adflip.com)

Both of these ads are trying to sell shoes. The first one, from the 1950’s, does this by showcasing the shoes and providing a write up about their qualities and attributes. The second ad, which is current, is selling “classic” shoes by providing a “classic” image.  Although this ad does not exude sexuality, it is still there. Cubism was a movement of art that could convey many different images, not just one of a naked woman. By using a naked woman they have added the sexuality and appeal of the shoes.  The difference of the ads show the difference of importance within the time periods. In the first ad they are using the actual product’s attributes to sell the item itself, while in the second they are using underlying sexual tones to put their product ahead.

1. Susan Douglas values a woman who is independent. Although the media is trying to portray an independent woman as a result of feminism, but their independence is not completely so. Their independence depends on the fact that women are still a slave to their appearance. Douglas admires a woman who may still want to look beautiful but does not put that above all else. No where in this essay is Douglas conveying her disdain for makeup in general, but the fact that advertisers make the general public feel they need the makeup to be better than who they are. Instead of suggesting products that can make people feel better about themselves, which perhaps was the initial purpose of makeup, they force products on people so that they need to be more attractive. “Americans were desperately insecure, consumed by self-doubt and self-loathing, and totally obsessed with competing with other people for approval and acclaim” (pg 119) Advertisers have picked up on the American way and have fed off of this in order to turn these weaknesses into needs. This is the problem that Douglas has with advertising. She does not advocate for the deceipt of women in order to make a few dollars on skin cream that in actuality does nothing.

2. Douglas decides that the advertisers of the 1980’s are to blame for turning feminism into a marketing ploy. “Women’s liberation now became equated with women’s ability to do whatever they wanted for themselves, whenever they wanted, no matter what the expense” (pg 117). They have turned women from being free to being dependent again. No matter that women have the right to their own choices, they are now a slave to their choice of being beautiful, which is not being free at all. Even though this has started in the 1980’s, there are no signs of the media getting better. Even today advertisers are taking advantage of women’s “needs” to sell their product. This will not change until the group that these products are being sold to changes. Only when women are able to realize that they do not need these products in order to be beautiful, then the advertising market will remain unchanged.