So this week we are reading “The Empire of Images in Our
World of Bodies” by Susan Bordo and we are watching Miss Representation in class. Susan Bordo discusses how images and
the media portray ideals for women and girls. Plastic surgery and age defying
methods are a focus at the beginning, but then she transitions to gender
differences for toys and videos by
talking about her daughter. Miss
Representation depicts how society sees women and how the media portrays
them. For example, how men see woman in politics and how women feel the need to
compete with other women.
For this blog posting we have two options for discussion:
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| Figure 1: Halle Berry - Catwoman. Retrieved from: http://tytempletonart.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/the-top-ten-catwoman-actresses-2/ |
Option 1: Miss
Representation talked about women in film and television. The point was
made that there are very few women protagonists that are complex or have
story lines void of love stories or involving any men sexually/romantically. An argument could be made that Catwoman is an example of such a woman protagonist. Not
only are there few women protagonists, but also few producers, writers, and
directors that are women in the industry. We propose that you find an example of a woman protagonist who is
not what the film deems the “bangable” hero or the chick flick heroine. On the
flip side, we propose that you find a blatant example of such a “bangable” hero
or a classic chick flick heroine. Try to post a video, image, trailer, or movie
poster that you can find with one these women and discuss how they are an
example of one of these stereotypes or not.
Option 2: In “The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies”
by Susan Bordo, there is a point about gender and advertisements along with
consumer items. If you ever walked into a toy store there is a girl aisle and a
boy aisle. The only aisles that sometimes you can find gender neutral toys are
the baby aisles. We would like it if you could find an advertisement that is
gender neutral for toys or any other consumer item. Or find one that is so
completely stereotypical, that it is very obvious. On the other hand, find a toy
or an example from a store that is gender neutral as well. Think about Susan’s
article and make argument about how this reflects and affects children in our
society. Below we've included commercials that we found are very gender specific, along with one little girl's opinion about toys and gender.
Figure 2: Nerf Strike Commercial.
Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjla695Ju0
Figure 3: Easy Bake Oven Commercial.
Retrieve from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lreImESlrG0
Figure 4: Riley on Marketing.
Retrieved: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CU040Hqbas
