Gay Vague

It's amazing how much advertising around us goes unnoticed. It's part of our world, yet we don't always recognize the placement: schools, movies, down the street, a T-shirt, and of course on TV and in magazines/newspapers. When we don't even pay attention to what is right in front of our face, it doen't surprise me that there are underlying messages such as the gay vague idea.
I think gay vague advertising is brilliant. A certain demographic sees one thing and another sees something completely different. This is amazing to me. Our brains see the same exact thing, but process it entirely different. It does saden me that the gay aspect has to be hidden for the more mainstream audience to accept it. Gay people are now a demographic, whereas years back they wouldn't even be considered. This is a step in the right direction, if only a small one.

Hypocrites

I couldn't believe when it was brought up in class that Dove and Axe are the same company.
Dove's "campaign for beauty" was really inspiring, showing what real women look like and that you should be comfortable in your skin. When the campaign began I remember some of the model's on Oprah, and it seemed like such a big step in the right direction. Dove made me naively believe that they might be sympathetic with the feminist cause. I was sad to find out how wrong I was.
Axe commercials are on the whole are usually more funny than sexy, but at the price of degrading women. I don't disagree with Axe's advertising tactic. The product is aimed at young men, and of course most of these men want women to find them attractive, if not irresistible. The commercials do what they're supposed to and making men smell better in the process. I think it's sad that women are objectified and seen as something to obtain, but these women did choose to do the commercial and we can choose not to support it. I for one don't support it, but I really don't count since I'm not their demographic.
Apart, the products aren't anything to really get upset about. However when you look at the entire picture, you see that the company feeding you "love how you are" is also telling you curvaceous horny women will love you if you use their product. It's sickening. This was an eye opener and I will definitely be a more contentious consumer in the future.

When Gender Doesn't Matter

I was upset lately reading an article in the New York Times. A woman was kicked out of a women's restroom at a New York restaurant because someone had mistaken her for a man. A male bouncer came into the restroom and told her to leave. When she tried to show him her identification, he refused to look at it and proceeded to throw her and her companions out of the restaurant altogether. She is suing the restaurant, thank god.
The whole situation is unsettling. Even if she were a man, she wasn't causing any problems using the restroom. The male bouncer made more of a problem barging into the restroom than someone using it. The fact that he would not even glance at her id shows that even if it had said female, he wouldn't of cared or possibly even believed it. The problem didn't stop there. He followed her back to her table and made a scene so that her table left. This prejudice or snap judgment may have been from just one person, and not the restaurant, but I'm glad that this story is getting the publicity it deserves. No one should be treated this way regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, dress, status, you name it.

Minority doesn't equal Maid

In many television shows and movies, minorities are depicted in helping roles. I was watching Weeds the other day and realized that the only Hispanic characters were maids and the only black characters were drug dealers, although the main character is a white drug dealer. So many times in the media we are given the Mexican housekeeper who teaches the children Spanish and talks behind the employer's back. Of course, not all Hispanic people are maids and not all maids are Hispanic but I believe it's detrimental to only show that race only in subservient positions.

Civil Rights

We should all be equal, most people agree with this concept. I question that when I look at the news and find Jena Six and Michael Vick.
The Jena Six case is horrible, but I'm not sure that it's a reason for the country to cry racism. True, the black kids might be treated unfairly, but we can't overlook the fact that they beat a boy until he was unconscious. It doesn't matter what the boy did, it was six against one. And it also doesn't matter what color any of them are, even if the area had bad race relations, when it's six against one the aggressors should be severely punished.
I also question race being an issue with the Michael Vick case. It doesn't matter if dog fighting is supposedly part of the black underground culture, it's animal cruelty, hateful, and murder. If something so negative is associated with a certain group of people, maybe the group members should try to come with a solution for the problem instead of blaming the problem. For example, people who complain about the President but didn't vote. They know there's a problem but have no way to resolve it.
More than anything, I think it's sad how the media portrays races and genders stereotypically. Instead of focusing in on the color of the people's skin in these instances, it would be a good opportunity to look at the hate crimes and aggression in todays society. I don't think skin color should be an issue when dealing with...anything. We are all equal and should be treated like it, whether we want to admit it or not.

Stereotypes and Envy

I found the handout on "Asian Superiority" very interesting. It's frustrating when a group of people are stereotyped, but what if they were stereotyped in a positive way? It doesn't sound as bad, but I think that it is.
Asian-American's have a stereotype tagged to them that they are excellent academically, especially in math and science. An Asian-American may feel inferior because they can't live up to this image. In some ways this may be worse than a negative stereotype. When a group of people has a negative stereotype placed on them, they are expected to fail. This is HORRIBLE, don't get me wrong, all I'm suggesting is that when people overcome the obstacle of their stereotype and become more than people expect it is more uplifting than when someone falls short of what's expected.
The same is true with gender: men are expected to be better at science and math and women are better at grammar and literature. When the gender excels at a subject out of their gender stereotype, it is commended, but if they fall short in their supposed subjects they feel like something may be wrong with them.
People are envied sometimes due to a certain stereotype, which leads to the stereotype pressure. For example: you are terrible at singing, but feel that all Hispanics sing amazing. This is flawed logic. Possibly a greater percentage are more talented singers, but possibly not. This envy leads to uncalled for pressure on that group to perform a certain way. Stereotypes are very frustrating. It would be wonderful if every person was valued not by their gender/race/sexual orientation/ect. but by their actions and values.

Stereotypes in a different era

Looking through a 1973 Time magazine, I find myself in a whole different world, when women stayed at home and raising the children was their profession.
The pictures of women are usually when they are with their husbands and are always in a dress/skirt. The women are extremely stereotyped. They are shown kissing, dancing or sewing.
The only woman I saw acting androgonous, a tennis player, was poked fun at on Battle of the Sexes. A man played women's tennis in a bonnet and dress! That's unbelivable. The Watergate scandal was also in this issue. A picture of the courtroom showed that out of 75 + people less than 5 were women. There were two pictures of primarily women: a fashion show and musical.
Well, at least I can look at these and thank god that I'm in a time of a more equal media. Not equal, but more equal.