Week 4 women in Ads

In this picture, it appears that the man is being aggressive with the female.  She looks like she is trying to pull away and he is the stronger more dominant in the relationship.  Also, the picture is not showing the female’s face, which makes her appear as a non-person and unimportant.  The female is also wearing a sexy outfit and they seem like they are about to partake in sexual activity.  This brings up the concept we talked about women always being sexual, and always seeking a man to pleasure her.


In the second picture, a man presses the woman against a wall.  She is extremely skinny and seems to have no choice in the matter.  The man is again showing dominance and violence toward the women.  Also, like the first picture, it is a sexual picture suggesting women are always sexually driving.   The unrealistic body image is also shown in this ad. 

This is a positive ad for many reasons.  One is that the woman is not stick skinny and shows a more realistic female body.  The woman is also African American which is a positive movement in creating equality.  The woman in the ad is also older and has wrinkles and other things that shows her age but she is not ashamed to bare it all to make the point that beauty has no age limit.  

 

LEARNING MODULE TEN

Learning Module 10 LIVE LEARNING MODULE due 4/18 by NOON

Pick one of the following events to attend during the Ladyfest activities and submit a 3 paragraph blog entry with your reflection, grounded in course content.

FRIDAY 4/15 1:00 pm – Screening of PBS’s In The Life episode featuring KIN4LIFE, followed by Q&A with Nor & IQ of KIN4LIFE – ten Hoor 125

SATURDAY 4/16 10:00AM – Old School Consciousness Raising Session lead by Melanie DeMaeyer (one of the author's we read this semester) – Chloe’s Cup - 2117 University Blvd

SUNDAY 4/17 Noon-6pm – Attend one of the workshops at Alabama Art Kitchen – 2626 University Blvd

Noon – Ladyfest Zine Workshop – Learn about the history and importance of zines and help make a zine for Ladyfest Deep South 2011.
3:30PM – Vagina Monologue Workshop – If you’ve ever heard of the Vagina Monologues, then this is the arts and crafts version of that. Come create your own!
4:30PM – Herbs Health for Women – This class is a very broad, general, and beginner friendly exploration of plant-based medicines for women. Local, Abby Hall Luca, will cover several herbs and herbal formulas/ preparations for young through post-menopausal women. No knowledge of herbs required!

For more info please visit the following social networking sites for Ladyfest Deep South 2011.

Tumblr
Facebook
Twitter

Learning Module 9

wrc.ua.edu/sexuala.cfm

 

LEARNING MODULE NINE
Due Sat. 4/9 by noon
 What would you do to end sexual violence at the University of Alabama? 

Using your articles for this week, write 1-2 paragraphs demonstrating your understanding of the social systems and social conditions that support male sexual violence against women and other men on college campuses.  Then in 1-2 paragraphs, build upon the “Feminist Frat Boys” article and reflect upon some possible forms of action/activism that you and your peers (as well as the larger University system) can take to end sexual violence on the UA campus.

Preventing sexual assault: Tips guaranteed to work! September 22, 2009

 

Please distribute this list.  Put it up in your place of work, in your university’s library or wherever you think theymight be read:
1. Don’t put drugs in people’s drinks in order to control their behavior.
2. When you see someone walking by themselves, leave them alone!
3. If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them!
4. NEVER open an unlocked door or window uninvited.
5. If you are in an elevator and someone else gets in, DON’T ASSAULT THEM!
6. Remember, people go to laundry to do their laundry, do not attempt to molest someone who is alone in a laundry room.
7. USE THE BUDDY SYSTEM! If you are not able to stop yourself from assaulting people, ask a friend to stay with you while you are in public.
8. Always be honest with people! Don’t pretend to be a caring friend in order to gain the trust of someone you want to assault. Consider telling them you plan to assault them. If you don’t communicate your intentions, the other person may take that as a sign that you do not plan to rape them.
9. Don’t forget: you can’t have sex with someone unless they are awake!
10. Carry a whistle! If you are worried you might assault someone “on accident” you can hand it to the person you are with, so they can blow it if you do.
Thanks to Feminist Law Professors!

Learning Module 8

Learning Module Eight
DUE SATURDAY 4/2  BY NOON

Look up some of the videos discussed in this week’s readings.  In two paragraphs, discuss what it means to "flip the scripts" of hetero-masculine sexual dominance? How does this also relate to re-appropriation and counter-appropriation?  Who has the power to set the patterns for dominant forms of representation in the music industry and Why? (use “intersectionality” in your analysis)

Next find a couple of videos that demonstrate what you would consider to be empowering to the women (and men) involved in them (as well as those viewing them), especially in relation to what you observed and learned from the film Dreamworlds 3).  Provide the name of the videos and in 2 paragraphs explain how female artists are using their messages, language, bodies, etc. toward greater gender empowerment?

BRAINSTROMING--Group 4

Group Project Brainstorming -- Group 4

BRAINSTORMING--Group 3

Group Project Brainstorming -- Group 3

BRAINSTORMING--Group 2

Group Project Brainstorming -- Group 2

BRAINSTORMING-- Group 1

Group Project Brainstorming -- Group 1

EXTRA CREDIT!

Due Sat 3/26 by noon

In 2-3 paragraphs, please reflect upon the following article and place it in conversation with this week’s readings on globalization and women’s labor.  What is the importance of labor unions here and abroad?  Why are they particularly important for women laborers?  How do union concerns here in the United States relate to union concerns in the “developing world”? (hint: consider free trade agreements).  Can you imagine unions being a point of transnational solidarity for workers?  Why?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brigid-o/from-the-triangle-fire-to_b_839023.html

ALABAMA ISSUES!!!!

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-prosecution-of-pregnant-women-as-drug-labs-in-alabama#?opt_new=t&opt_fb=f

Blog 7

LEARNING MODULE SEVEN

(Due Saturday by Noon)

Read the Heterosexual Questionnaire and take the time to answer the questions for yourself.  Now read the following prompt and critically reflect upon the following questions.

This morning when you awoke from a night’s sleep, you became aware that society was no longer as you remembered it. In fact, it had universally made a 180-degree turn in sexual orientation and the world you remember as being a comfortable environment for heterosexuals like yourself no longer accepts people like you. You don’t want to return to isolation, so you must deal with the situation, and do it right now. But now you don’t fit in. Homo-erotic love is the required standard. Heterosexuals are moral outcasts. They are widely thought to molest children, and the marriage of your partner that you have looked forward to for several years will not be legally recognized. Procreation takes place in test tubes and hired wombs according to accepted procedures, and couples like you and your partner are considered hazardous to population growth. You turn on the TV news, only to see a demonstration on the courthouse steps by anti-heterosexual activists shouting ‘heterosexuality is sin’ and ‘ban the straights.’ A sense of doom envelops you as the truth sinks in. You have a cup of coffee and sit down to think about how you will deal with the situation.” What do you think? How will your life change? What will happen to your relationship with your family and friends, now all gay? Will you allow others to know that you are straight and risk the consequences? What might they be? How do you decide to deal with the situation? Why?

In 2-3 paragraphs, write some key insights drawn from BOTH of these exercises, and how it felt to answer the questions.  Use course readings to discuss ways to navigate through this oppressive situation and how you see the world changing if homophobia was abolished.

Please Note: If you do not identify as straight, feel free to adjust this prompt in a way you see fit.  Either examine and explain how you would feel as a part of the dominant privileged group, what you think would be different, or explain how things are for you now not fitting into the dominant category.  If you identify as bi or fluid in some way, feel free to discuss this as not having a category and how in either situation bisexuality/fluid sexuality gets left out.

PostSecrect.com

There's a website called PostSecrect--some of you may have heard of it. Pretty much it's a website of ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrects annoymously on one side of a postcard. The following link was one of the post cards sent in this week and deals with the topic of last week. Just wanted to share it with you all.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL89S7PHQ3Rp5t9Db6MKArk-nyKLbVOtJCeqFRG9m139h6xXIoc3TM6jZ-rKVhxeNZRAkVWlguMrskTNiEReRpEb5VuahQDiV59VPSquKpZXDJRfj7S6jS19mm5Jni552Qev2YEtWlKVNI/s1600/pp.jpg

Learning Module 6

LEARNING MODULE SIX
Due Saturday (2/26) by noon

After reading the essay, “And So I Choose,” by Allison Crews place her discussion of “rights” in conversation with the article you read for class this week, “Beyond Pro-Choice vs. Pro-Life?”  First (2 paragraphs), in your own words, please describe why each of these terms are in fact problematic or limiting to our larger discussion of reproductive rights.  Why were each limiting in Crew’s reflection?  What does a “reproductive justice” paradigm offer instead?  Second (1-2 paragraphs) reflect on the recent arguments surrounding legislation addressed to congress (see links below).  What do you think is at stake in politicizing women’s bodies and reproduction?  What would a reproductive justice argument look like in response to this legislation?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/18/planned-parenthood-fundin_n_825258.html?ref=fb&src=sp
http://reproductiverights.org/sites/crr.civicactions.net/files/documents/Center%20for%20Reproductive%20Rights%20Testimony%202%2014%2011.pdf

Learning Module 5 (Redo)

LEARNING MODULE FIVE (REDO)Due Wednesday 3/2 no later than Noon

Imagine you are participating in a conversation with the Combahee River Collective and, in a consciousness-raising group, you read the following article.  Using the Combahee River Collective Statement and what you have learned in the past weeks, discuss a black feminist perspective to this issue (In 2-3 paragraphs).   How would the Collective approach the issue, especially with regard to privilege, interlocking oppressions, “the personal is political”, and a critique of the limitations of dominant feminist and anti-racist approaches to hierarchies of inequality.  What new perspectives might they offer?  Be creative…imagine you are sitting at the table with them!
http://www.theroot.com/views/recy-taylor-symbol-jim-crow-s-forgotten-horror

Learning Module 5

LEARNING MODULE FIVE
(due Saturday by noon)

Imagine bell hooks joins the Combahee River Collective and in a consciousness-raising group reads her article “Straightening Our Hair”, and shows the film clip “A Girl Like Me”.  Based upon your readings for this week, discuss a black feminist perspective to this topic.  How would the Collective approach the issue, especially with regard to privilege, interlocking oppressions, “the personal is political”, and a critique of the limitations of dominant feminist and anti-racist approaches to hierarchies of inequality.  What new perspectives might they offer?  Be creative…imagine you are sitting at the table with them!

http://www.understandingrace.org/lived/video/index.html

LEARNING MODULE 4

(Due Saturday by NOON)

1)    Choose three examples from either the White Privilege Checklist, the Male Privilege Checklist, and the Black Male Privilege Checklist, or the Heterosexual Checklist (Katz) that made you think about your own privilege in a new way and tell us why (1 paragraph)

2)     Now make your own checklist (5 items) and explain why these are privileges using the week’s readings and lecture.  Explain key facets of the systems of oppression (gender, racial, heterosexist) that exist to reinforce these privileges in your life (2 paragraphs).

3)    Go to your section’s wallwisher link for “Gender Microaggressions” (on E-learning).  Post an example of a gender microaggression.  Then post the message that this microaggression sends (this is a required posting and will count toward full credit for this learning module!)

"The dominant group is damaged even as it receives huge benefits. You pay for the privilege and the cost is enormous.”~Tim Wise

Part 1:

The first picture is an advertisement for Nicoderm CQ. Most advertisements for nicotine gum or patches all tend to have the same "Quitting is tough, but cancer is worse" message, but this one is geared specifically towards women. The message is now more like "Quit smoking or you'll lose your looks." The ad even says "The Beauty of Quitting," and displays a picture of a lovely woman (thin, light-skinned, and conventionally pretty) who we can assume has taken steps to "prevent the damage" smoking might inflict upon her otherwise flawless face by using this product.

There's no message about health; apparently now the number-one danger associated with smoking is not stroke, emphysema, or cancer, but ugliness. This ad presumes to know what women care about, and it is not having a healthy body. According to this ad, the only health benefits that a woman who quits smoking has to care about are the ones that show on the outside, the ones that make her prettier. She must aim not for healthier lungs, but healthier skin. She should care about her true assets (i.e. her looks) because long-lasting beauty is a much worthier goal than long-lasting health, right?

The next ad is almost entirely comprised of text, but the message is just as warped as the one in the previous picture. This is obviously an ad for a jewelry store, but it is not aimed at women. The ad assumes that men will be buying the jewelry, that they have both the money and the authority to buy diamonds. What goes unsaid is that a woman won't be buying jewelry for herself, that buying jewelry is what a man does to bribe or cajole a woman into a certain mood. Buy a girl a diamond bracelet and she'll be all smiles, right? It doesn't matter if you backed over her cat, just bring home something shiny and all will be forgiven. This implies that women are shallow and easily swayed by material goods. The tone of the ad is sarcastic; the implied "Because we all know how women can be, flighty and easily swayed," is missing from the ad.

Part 2:

When I first saw this ad, I thought it fit the typical "pretty skinny white girl" requirements, but then I looked more closely. "We all walk in different shoes," is the message that accompanies the picture. And though the woman in the picture might look like your typical pretty skinny white girl, you only need to read further to see that this woman is not average: she is in fact, a "paralympic athlete, actor and president of the Women's Sports Foundation." And then comes the Aha! moment: Those aren't her real legs, they're prosthetics. This ad doesn't say "Look at this disabled woman, isn't she beautiful?" It says, "Look at this beautiful, strong, AND accomplished woman, who is also physically challenged." This ad might not completely defy the beauty myth, but it is a step in the right direction. I think it's admirable that Kenneth Cole is promoting "non-uniform thinking," even if it seems more like a fashion-y pun than a modus operandi. But I do believe that this ad, which is just one part of a larger campaign that features models of various racial and ethnic backgrounds, levels of physical ability, sexual orientations, and political leanings, is a step toward seeing more positive and empowering advertisements in the future.

Part 1: The first advertisement sends the typical message to women: “use this product and you will be skinny and have a man.” We all know that this is not true especially with a high sugared product such as Pepsi. Pepsi, if not used in moderation for most people, causes weight gain and a serve out break of acne. I’m

not saying it’s a bad thing because our bodies are made the way they are supposed to be but the image contradicts itself. Also, the advertisement says that by drinking Pepsi the consumer will be “up to date and smart.” I have had a lot of soft drinks in my day, but none have made me any smarter or given any more knowledge of current events. Maybe if the cans came with articles out of the Wall Street Journal I could see where it could be true, but until then it is just false advertisement.

The only reason I even saw the second article was due to how little the model’s waist was. It did not make me want to buy her jeans, but instead give her a hotdog. This type of advertisement is the reason so many women and girls are developing eating disorders. There is no way in the world anybody could be that skinny and still be healthy. This picture gives off the impression of “Hey. Want to wear these cool clothes? Then you need to be as little as me.” I hate to break to Ralph Lauren, but if that is the only size they are selling, then they are about to lose a whole lot of business.

Advertisements like these paint such an unrealistic picture. The reason it is so hard to make it in the modeling world is because there are so few people that are actually like this. If advertisers put “real” women into their ads, I think it would help woman discover that they are beautiful just the way they are.

Part 2: This ad was put out by

Seventeen magazine and I think they should be applauded for their efforts. They are showing that most people in there magazine are not real, and for young women to stop trying to be like them. What I do not understand is why put the models into the magazine? Instead of putting one ad in about how none of these women are real, why don’t they put a real woman in every ad? Either way, it is a small step into helping show women what true beauty really is and a small step is better than a step backwards.

Ads

The first ad is for


belvidere vodka.It is degrading to women in a couple o f ways. Its insinuating to the audience that if you have a woman drink this vodka, something such as oral sex may occur.
The second ad is showing a man spanking his wife in a add for a certain coffee. It's related to a woman having an affair, and the many spanking her and punishing her for it. It's showing a mans dominance and somewhat of domestic violence, all over a coffee brand.

Ads