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Women imagined in advertising => Gender, sex and society

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ruyi:
A while back in meebo the topic of American Apparel came up, and there was a discussion about the way its ads depicted women and sexuality. For those parties interested I suggest this video:

Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising's Image of Women

I don't agree with all of the points she makes but I thought her coverage of the 1990s (I think?) Calvin Klein ad campaign is pertinent to the debate on American Apparel. As shown at ~22:30, mimicking pornography is nothing new.

It's pretty straightforward and covers a lot of the basics, so I figure it can be used as a starting point for a broader discussion on advertising, consumer culture, sex and the body.

Inlander:
Are you envisaging the kind of discussion that should perhaps go in DISCUSS! instead?

ruyi:
Oh shoot! Maybe. I guess ultimately you/other mods should decide whether or not to move this there at your discretion, but at the moment I think it should be here because
-the folks involved in the meebo conversation I had in mind don't usually check DISCUSS!
-though I didn't make this clear in the original post I would rather people talked about their personal experiences instead of hashing out theory cos that gets kinda dry

To start: the video really resonates with me when she talks about how frequently she'll hear people say "But advertising doesn't effect me!" I feel like this is definitely what I want to believe most of the time, but the reality is I have moments where I definitely hate my body  :-( I try to channel it into becoming more health conscious but honestly a lot of it is tied up in how attractive I wish I were.

This is also probably the reason why I find watching TV very exhausting at times. There are just so many advertisements and I feel like my mind has to work extra hard to dissemble the images / undo the work performed by the images.

Inlander:
Okay, we'll let this thread kick into gear and see which way it rumbles. That's how we did it back in the day, on the street.

In, um, Yarralumla.

Darkbluerabbit:
I think my favorite (worst) ad I've seen was a Wal-Mart commercial about the "real heroes of football."  Women came pouring, in slow motion, out of kitchens bearing bowls of chips and dip, and were greeted with high fives from the men watching the BIG GAME!  I guess they were saying women who make chip dip are the quarterbacks of the party planning world?  Either way, my response was "WHAT."  I've tried to find it on Youtube, but searches turn up nothing.  Anyone else remember this?

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