Aired on Bravo Tuesday 8-9pm, Jonathan:
Advertisement for Time Warner Cable – targets women who are also probably homeowners. This ad shows a woman at home in her 30’s with a similar aged man kneeling as if proposing. The woman acts surprised and talks about how excited she is while the guy just stares and then bends down to connect her high-speed Internet. The scene then pans to a cartoon background of rainbows and flowers with the woman acting as though she had been proposed to all the while. This commercial reinforces gender stereotypes because it shows women as overly emotional, completely oblivious to their surroundings, and always desperate for a relationship with a man.

Aired on Bravo Tuesday 8-9pm, Jonathan:
Advertisement for Michelob Ultra Amber – targets adults, both men and women. This advertisement for a new type of Michelob light beer opens to a guy on one side of the scrimmage line and a woman on the opposite team for a friendly game. The woman is talking about the guy guarding her, “throw it to me, I’m gonna be wiiide open.” When she catches the football, the guy body slams her into the ground to the surprise of all the other players. The next shot shows the guy telling a teammate at a bar, “no free passes baby” referring to the woman. The woman flies across the screen and tackles him to the ground in retaliation. This advertisement subverts gender stereotypes because it shows a woman fighting back and not being dominated by men.

Aired on MTV Tuesday 1-2pm, 8th & Ocean:
Advertisement for Dove – targeted at young women in their teens and twenties. This advertisement for Dove is a part of a campaign called Campaign for Real Beauty and features images of everyday women instead of models who are happy with themselves. This commercial for Dove Energy Glow shows quick clips of women of all ethnicities and sizes in their undergarments dancing and jumping to highlight “real women with real bodies.” The general feel of the commercial is one that is uplifting to women and breaks the traditional image of a thin supermodel in all advertising, thus it subverts gender stereotypes.

Although I expect and know there are gender stereotypes in advertising, it was still surprising to me to see these commercials. The Time Warner commercial shows a very outdated view of women as purely living in a fantasy while the Dove commercial purposely tries to break through traditional stereotypes by showing real women. I’m surprised not by the existence of gender stereotypes, but by how outright it can be even on shows geared towards females, although it is encouraging to see that not all advertisers are following this pattern. Additionally, I was glad to see an advertisement such as Dove’s on MTV, a network targeted towards youth, because personal values like those regarding gender roles are often formed during this time by consuming mass media. At least Dove will set a good example for young women who are watching MTV. The Michelob ad speaks well to the audience of Jonathan but could also work with many other shows due to its appeal to both men and women hitting the other gender in a humorous tone. Because the Time Warner ads seems to be targeted more towards older women with families, maybe it is more permissible and less offensive for Time Warner to show a commercial of a woman dreaming about a proposal that isn’t actually happening. Overall, my expectation of gender stereotypes in advertising was confirmed, but I hope more advertisers follow the example of Dove in reversing this practice.

The first ad, for Poligrip denture adhesive, targeted at women ages 45 and older, did a good job of subverting gender stereotypes. Rather than seeing an old woman in her home, the character was an African-American politician who needed a “strong denture adhesive to keep up with her busy day.” The ad shows a working woman, not in the home, which is one way advertisements can stay away from the “housewife” stereotypes, common in ads today.
The second ad, for Milk, seemed to target women from ages 20 to 40. It, for the most part remained neutral. The first scene shows a mom playing with her baby, followed by a young woman on a treadmill, and finally a woman in a business suit walking down the street. The ad emphasized the necessity for these busy women to drink milk for stronger bones and weight loss. The ad remains neutral by showing women in several settings and not discriminating against any particular type of woman.
The third ad, for Swiffer Duster, tends to lead toward the side of enforcing gender stereotypes. The entire commercial consists of a woman’s hand dusting everything in sight. While an actual woman is never pictured, it is obvious that it is a woman’s hand; yet another example of a woman cleaning.
While watching General Hospital, a soap opera on ABC at 2:00pm, I found a surprising combination of advertisements that, for the most part, stayed away from stereotyping women. I expected to see countless ads for cleaning products and diapers. Instead, the majority of the ads were for different types of medicine. Most were directed towards moms, which is not surprising as the key demographic for a soap opera tends to be a wide range of women anywhere from 20 to 50. Each ad fit the target audience appropriately and a large majority stayed away from gender stereotypes, in a market in which they are expected.

Women in T.V. Commercials

1) Ecko Untl. Shoes - targets young men. In this commercial, a floating tennis shoe is shown next to an attractive young female dressed in provocative underwear. In one shot, the viewer sees a close up of the girl’s chest and in another, the young woman is shown crawling away from the camera on all fours. This commercial is a perfect example of using female anatomy to sell products. It reinforces the idea that women are objects as it does not even show the girl’s face. The commercial tells the audience that they will be sexed up if they buy the shoes.

2) Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes -targets moms with young children. In this commercial, a mother prepares a quick and easy meal of pancakes for her son and who are in a rush to get to school on time. This commercial reinforces gender rolls as the mother is shown doing the cooking. A father figure is never included in the commercial, thus making the kitchen seem like a woman’s territory.

3) Florida’s Natural orange juice- targets orange juice fans. In this commercial several women in a variety of supermarket each reach for a carton of Florida’s Natural orange juice. As they reach into the shelf, their hands enter an actual orange grove where male workers hand them the juice. This commercial supports the common assumption that women do the grocery shopping in families. It also reinforces another gender roll as it shows males working in the outdoor orange grove.

I saw all three T.V. commercials at different times and on different channels. The shoe advertisement was on Comedy Central around eleven thirty at night. The commercial’s appearance made sense to me as I saw a Girls Gone Wild ad immediately following it. Both advertisements were saying something about the late-night audience. I cannot recall the program I was watching, but I am quite sure it was vulgar in nature (perhaps South Park or some vulgar comedian). I was not surprised to see this blatant display of sex. In fact, I would agree with the advertising company that it catches male attention. The Aunt Jemima frozen pancake commercial was shown around 5 o’clock in the afternoon on Oxygen (I happened to be flipping channels). Unlike the shoe commercial, the Aunt Jemima pancake commercial targeted women with children and supported the notion that women were supposed to make food for their family. I think the advertisement worked as women often do the cooking in many households. I believe the commercial that least targeted a specific sex was the Florida’s Natural orange juice ad. Despite the fact that it showed only women as grocery shoppers, the orange juice itself was being promoted to anyone who loves “all natural” juice. I saw this commercial around 5:30 in the afternoon as I was flipping channels as well. It was shown on Fox.

I was watching a lifetime movie, and three of the commercials played in one break were very consistent with women stereotypes. One was Revlon foundation, and had Halle Barry advertise their make up. The next one was Clearasil, where a teenage girl was worried about a class photo because she had pimples. The last was Kirstie Alley advertising for Jenny Craig and weight loss. These commercials all go with typical women stereotypes of women wanting to improve their physical appearance. The first commercial (Revlon) advertises make-up for a smoother looking face, the second one a clear complection, and the third a thinner body. These commercials were aired on lifetime for obvious reasons: most of their audience are women. Though these are stereotypes, it can't be ignored that females are the gender which care more about outer appearance and invest in things such as weight loss programs and acne.

The whole section on the women’s movement has really opened my eyes to all the negativity felt towards women in our society. Although people may not think that women are looked upon badly, in reality, the stereotypical aspect of a woman’s life is often presented in our culture. In class we watched a video on advertisings portrayal of women. I found it to be very interesting how over the years the image of women in advertising has not gotten better but worsened. Jean Kilbourne made very good points in her presentation and showed how advertising would sometimes lessen women by mocking their physical attributes and focusing only on beauty and assumed gender roles. It is disturbing to me to know that this advertising, while sometimes being sexist and manipulative, can be persuasive and work. The woman on TV doing the family laundry while the father eats the meal already prepared for him, or the half clothed teenager calling a late night chat line of hot young singles, all reinforce the idea that women belong in the home or simply as just mere sex objects. This all is made more evident by issues on abortion and unfair pay wages. Still today women aren’t afforded the right to decide what to do with their bodies, while getting paid less than a man because of those decisions made about their bodies. I feel that this section has been most relatable for me in the fact that I am a woman and have before and will forever experience the effect that this movement has had. The articles we read in class only prove to shock me more with each one I read, from students learning that complications accompanying pregnancy were only a woman’s fear of pregnancy to rape being the fault of the raped and not a crime. These things only make me want to make a difference in my generation to change the ideas held about women now and in the future.

Desperate Housewives 8-9 ABC

Advertisement for Century 21—targeting single moms
The words “single mom” appear on the screen and then a woman is shown talking to her real estate agent. She says something about how amazed she is that her agent could help her find a place to live with her low budget. Then the words “because life changes” come up. I feel that this subverts gender stereotypes because it proves that women can fend for themselves, and even though it emphasizes that they may be low-income without husbands, it shows independence and the ability to live without a man.

Advertisement for L’Oreal Paris Volume Shocking Mascara—targeting women 18-35
This commercial shows a woman—probably a model—putting on mascara. After she applies it, she walks through a party and the man pouring the champagne gets distracted and spills it all over the floor. Then, two women watch her walk by in amazement because of her “shocking” lashes. Then, the voiceover says, “Dare to be daring” as the commercial ends. This commercial seems to enforce gender stereotypes because it shows that men are interested in looks and the only way for a woman to express herself is through her appearance.

Advertisement for Propel Fitness Water with Calcium—targeting athletes, probably women
This commercial shows a water bottle turned upside down and the drop that comes out turns into a woman tennis player. She starts playing and the voiceover says, “Because bodies in motion stay in motion.” The display of a sweaty, woman athlete subverts gender stereotypes and proves that it is okay for women to be strong.

It is not surprising to find that most commercials remain neutral on the issue of gender stereotypes. I was actually expecting more to enforce the stereotypes because of the audience watching Desperate Housewives. There has definitely been an increase in commercials subverting the typical gender roles. More women athletes and ads depicting rugged and sweaty females have expressed a change in previous attitudes. During this timeslot on a show that could be targeted towards men and women, the gender stereotypes were less enforced than, say, commercials during Oprah on daytime TV. Ad agencies are aware of their audiences and know that gender-neutral ads are more appropriate when there is a mixed audience.

A prevailing issue in the feminist movement was the fight for equal pay and opportunity in the work force. The lecture we had over this sparked a thought about a related issue in my mind, the right of equal education for women. Even though women were allowed to go to college, a lot of people saw it unnecessary and some colleges would not accept women into the school. Both of my parents had experiences with this, since they were graduating high school in the mid 1960s. My dad decided to attend Texas A&M University, which did not allow women at the time. This was true of many specialized schools. My mom’s dad thought women did not need an education and gave her the choice of fashion or secretary school. He refused to let her or her sister go to college, though it was expected of her brother. Restrictions and conventional ideas like these, I think were root problems to inequality in the work force. Women did have the freedom to go to college and get an education if conditions allowed it, but a lot of the time women were not given the same opportunity as men to receive the accurate training for higher paying jobs. Even when women overcame this boundary, they were paid less. It is shocking that even today women are paid less than men for the same job on average. There was a stigma attached to even the word “woman,” which I think at the time, this single word could discredit or over shadow the person herself. I think feminist movement was very successful in its fight. It gave me the equal opportunity to any education I would desire, which my mom reminds me of all the time.

Tuesday, 9 pm – Comedy Central: Richard Pryor Special

Advertisement for Kay Jewelers – targets fathers with wife and children.
The husband is covering the wife’s eyes for a surprise, while four children have set up a band in the garage. There are guitars, a small drum set, keyboard, etc. The dad reveals the surprise and all the kids start playing a “Happy Mother’s Day” jingle that is a very bad voiceover and obviously not those kids singing. (It actually sounds like 8 or 9 kids singing at once) Overall the commercial is, in my opinion, very unrealistic, and it plays off of that loving family feeling to try and sell a Mother’s Day diamond ring for 800 bucks. Though there’s nothing negative portrayed in the commercial, the roles the man and woman play enforce gender stereotypes by showing typical parent behavior, and having the man purchase the ring for the woman. The woman, of course, is touched by this gesture and swoons. Gross.

Advertisement for Simmons Beautyrest mattresses – probably targeting middle aged people.
This commercial shows how scientists over the years have always used a bowling ball falling on a Simmons mattress to demonstrate how it doesn’t disturb the pins. It shows black and white footage of old inventor-like personas followed by, eventually, a woman in a modern lab coat doing the same thing. The woman, however, decides to lie across the mattress afterward and pose in an almost seductive manner. This is a clear enforcement of gender stereotypes, as it states indirectly that the men are doing real scientific work, and the woman is just for looks.

Advertisement for Red Zone Clear Gel – Targeting men ages 18-35
The whole commercial is just a close up of a woman’s body, from the chest to the thighs. The woman’s face is never shown, and her body is in tight clothing, rather revealing, and dancing with sweat dripping all over. The screen reads: “When she’s hot, she glistens.” Then the commercial goes on to compare that to how a guy’s sweat is not as attractive. While very amusing, this commercial uses the woman only as an object, with no face or personality attached. I feel this definitely enforces gender stereotypes, both as women being used as objects, and how all women are supposedly attractive even when sweating. I know for a fact women can be gross too.

I often notice advertising on television, due to my major, and the themes in these commercials are not surprising to me. Tuning in to a station like Comedy Central, I expect to see a lot of ads targeting young men, probably using sex appeal. These commercials will most likely enforce gender roles, as its difficult to use sex appeal and not objectify women. I feel that this type of advertising is not wrong, as the intended audience will be affected in the intended way, and people who are offended by these ads are too easily offended to begin with. I don’t think anyone watching the “Richard Pryor Tribute” would be that uptight. I have known for a long time that stereotypes exist in ads, and I feel its important to accept that it is a way that people make money in this culture. To put things simply: it works.

“Little Rapes” was a very striking essay to me because it discussed something every girl has experienced at least once, sexual harassment. The author connects small incidents that seem insignificant, such as catcalls on the street, to rape, which carries considerable more weight in our society. In linking these incidents of personal intrusion, the author serves to express the seriousness of these incidents no matter where they may lie on the spectrum of severity.
This very short essay narrates different situations in which women have felt violated by a man, whether it may be verbally or physically. This article caught my attention because in every incident described in the essay I can either relate a story of my own, or the story of a close girlfriend. A large part of the women’s movement was executed through consciousness-raising. This essay raises consciousness of the seriousness of situations that most women, even today, do brush off as something they just have to deal with as a woman. I can remember being at Barton Springs with one of my girlfriends and having an elderly man completely force his way into our conversation. He had been blatantly eavesdropping and randomly jumped into the talk without our permission. Even after we told him we were trying to study, he persisted by coming and sitting next to me on the hill. My girlfriend was very giggly and shifty when he talked to her. It was clear he was making us both uncomfortable, but for some reason we both allowed him to continue out of what we considered “politeness”. However, after a couple of minutes of unwelcome, slightly inappropriate conversation, I realized how ridiculous it was that we could not sit at Barton Springs and study in peace. He was the one doing something wrong, and yet we were the ones feeling bad. I gathered up the nerve and told him, for the second time, that we had come to the pool to study, not to be harassed by old men and I thought it would be best if left us alone. Although this is nowhere close to being raped, by sitting next to me he was violating my personal space. Although he was not engaging in aggressive, or overly sexual behavior, his subtle sexual innuendos were enough to make me and my friend feel uncomfortable in our own skin. Essentially, this is what the author of “Little Rapes” is describing. Although the women’s movement was established in the 1960’s, and despite the extensive sexual harassment legislation that has been passed, men still have the ability to make women feel uncomfortable about their sexuality. There was no way I could possibly file a real charge against that man. Even if I had, would it have been worth it? Would the authorities have taken my complaint seriously? I would argue no. That is why this essay is important. The only way that this sexually charged power structure will ever be diminished is if women begin to realize their right to stand up to even the smallest of personal violations. These small incidents that we all endure should not be considered a fact of life that all women must deal with. By labeling these incidents as “little rapes”, the author is assigning the proper gravity to a serious situation that has become a commonplace occurrence.

1. Advertisement for Nike women’s apparel – targeted towards young, active, athletic women. This is a two page spread with dancers wearing Nike clothes. The caption reads “In the real world ladies aren’t supposed to LOOK LIKE HELL and wear skimpy clothes and blot their makeup with their shirt, but here things are different. MY MASCARA IS RUNNING my knuckles are covered with eye shadow and NO ONE JUDGES ME. Or thinks my pelvic thrusts are some kind of mating call. And NO ONE TELLS ME WHAT TO DO although the mirror points out that my bra straps are showing. Just do it. Nikewomen.com” This ad subverts gender stereotypes because it encourages women to be active and ignore what society prescribes. It says to ignore everything and, to be clichéd, just do it.
2. Advertisement for Women & Co.® - targeted towards working women. Here, cut out copy is juxtaposed on top of a perfume ad. In bold, the headline says, “There is no pheromone stronger than financial success.” The copy reads; “Magazines are full of suggestions about where women can spend their money. But where can a woman turn when she wants to learn about saving and investing? When you join Women and Company,® a service from Citigroup . . . We’ll help you gain the knowledge and confidence to prepare for your financial future.” While it plays off of a stereotype, it is trying to subvert it at the same time. The goal of the ad is to encourage women to, in a way, be more like men.
3. Advertisement for Dove Body Lotion with Subtle Self-Tanners – targeted towards women in general. In this Dove campaign for real beauty ad, an average woman is wearing a black bra and panties against a black background. The copy reads, “Who would have thought that getting a tan could be good for your skin.” While the ad appears to be gender neutral, it still appeals to women wanting to better their appearances to be tan. I have to applaud Dove’s campaign for real beauty though, they have prided themselves on advertising with real women who have real bodies. They do not conform to gender stereotypes because they do not use idealized models.

All of these ads were found in the May 2006 issue of Vogue magazine. Vogue targets fashion forward women of all ages. The ads I selected are targeted towards varying audiences, as they all read the publication. Because Vogue is a fashion magazine, a majority of its ads are for fashion houses and are merely a picture of one or more models and a label. Some of the ads with copy definitely reinforced gender stereo types, but the ones I chose did not. These ads were fairly consistent with my general perception of stereotyping in advertising. I have had a couple of different classes where we discussed the objectification of women and how sex sells. I realize that this technique has been used throughout time, and while it is still used quite often today, advertisers are becoming more and more responsible. All three of the ads appeal to a woman’s independence: Nike in the physically empowered sense, Women & Co financially, and Dove confidence wise. Stereotypical home product ads don’t work on the sophisticated Vogue audience, and obviously advertisers have taken note.

The Women's Movement of the 1960s covered issues such as equal pay, abortion, birth control, and sexual discriminations. The women involved in the movement thought that it was time to stand up for their rights and gain equal respect as men in society. Bread and Roses's Declaration of Women's Independence showed the kind of things that the women wanted in society. Declaration of Women's Independence covered the four main topics including economy, control of our bodies, family, and education and culture. As for economy, the women of the movement wanted to“participate in the economy on a basis of equality with men." In other words, women did not want any sex discrimination in their jobs. Women also emphasized that they wanted equal pay and that they would not accept low pays compared to men. Under the topic‘control of our bodies’women stressed the ending of laws that governed birth control and abortion. They also wanted complete information regarding their bodies. Under the topic regarding families, the women emphasized the need for child care centers. As for education/ culture the women highlighted the importance of ending sexual tracking, changing vocational counseling, and admitting more women in colleges. They also wanted to end the advertising that included women's bodies and stereotypes in sex-roles.
The Declaration of Women's Independence clearly showed what the women wanted. This also showed the things that women fought for in their movement. Because of their continuous effort to fight for their rights, in the present day, it is visible that their wishes are granted and that their effort finally paid off.

Tonight I was watching Gilmore Girl on the WB station at 7 p.m.

Description 1: A mom was getting her two children, one boy and one girl, ready to go to school in the morning. She decided that they needed a hearty breakfast and without skipping a beat moved to the freezer to pull out Aunt Jemima frozen pancakes “a quick, and scrumptious breakfast.” In the commercial a father was never introduced and portrayed the mother in the typical care giver role to the stereotypical two child family. This ad was geared to mothers who are crunched for time in the morning and need a quick fix for their children.

Description 2: Nair for “smooth radiant legs.” Obviously this ad is focused at women, mostly young adults to mid-30’s. The ad shows sexy, tan women showing off their hairless legs. I feel that this ad reinforces old gender roles because it shows women as attractive and I think that some people inference beauty with no intelligence.

Description 3: This Pier 1 Imports commercial had a song playing in the background “It’s your thing, do what you want to do.” It showed women accenting and decorating their homes with the accessories they found at the store. This commercial can be taken different ways: one, you can say that it’s typical for women to be the ones who are in charge of decorating thus the ad is stereotypical; or you can take the approach that with the accent of the song, decorating is a way for women to express their freedom and right to choice. I love that this ad, if you look at it the 2nd way, can actually subvert gender roles and empower women.

At first I was shocked to find that these three advertisements were on back-to-back, but then I realized that I was watching a show geared to young adults, mainly females, and is on a younger based station. The first commercial was very stereotypical and I was annoyed that the father wasn’t even presented in the ad. It’s just so obvious and not unique to have the mom preparing to send the kids off to school. The second ad focused more on sex appeal and envy for their sale. Showing attractive females and their naked legs may make men buy the product for their girlfriends, or make women jealous of the fact that it’s possible to be so beautiful. The last commercial as I mentioned in the description can go either way. For the most part, after watching the rest of the show and seeing the networks ads, I feel that ad agencies aren’t trying to be innovative and continue to reinforce old gender rules. This is of course not true for all agencies and brands, but on this particular network ads are geared towards women and indeed reinforce ancient attitudes.

In class, Professor Boade gave an alternate assignment for the response paper that looked at sexism still being alive and well in the world of advertising. You were supposed to describe 3 advertisements that displayed the degradation or objectification of women. Well, I attempted to do this assignment but I found a couple other things more interesting than the advertisements themselves.
First of all, the channels that the commercials are on were mainly geared towards the older generations. Stations such as VH1, MTV, and E showed commercials with scantily clad women, but were mostly not focused on sex as much as they were on humor or their own shows. That being said, the networks’ shows were sometimes pretty discriminatory towards women, but the commercials themselves were not. You always have to have a couple exceptions such as the TAG body spray commercials. In these commercials men spray themselves with the body spray and ravenous women jump them and fight over them. There are a variety of other commercials that promote that you have to have clear skin, hairless legs, a slim figure, and perfect hair too, but nothing that suggested that women can’t keep up with men in the work place or society in general.
Most of the homemaker commercials I saw were on early morning TV on programs like the View, soap operas in general, and the regular evening sitcom line ups. However, most of the degrading commercials were on during the day when homemakers, who would be staying home with their children, are watching. I think these validate what the stay at home moms are doing and also enforcing with their kids that those household tasks are all their mothers supposed to do. Also, they are enforcing with the children that when they grow up and get married that the wife is supposed to do laundry while the husband goes out and makes the money. The best example of this is a Suzuki commercial when the wife kisses her husband good bye as he walks out the door then base jumps off a cliff to his car and zooms away. Yet again, this pushes the stereotype that wives are very much satisfied by staying in the home while their husbands jump off cliffs and race cars.
Surprisingly enough, channels like Spike TV, ESPN, and Fox Sports Net did not exploit sex as much as you would think. Instead they focused on things like humor, violence, and food. There was that occasional beer commercial with the dancing, sweaty women and men drooling over them and in general most alcohol commercials did feature voluptuous women who weren’t the brightest of people. You would think that these networks that are geared towards men would focus more on the degradation of women (let’s face it, sex sells), but instead they focused on other issues that were pertinent to their male audience.
At first I was surprised by how few sexually charged or discriminatory commercials were out there because I only recognized a few. Then when I took a step back to think about it, I realized that I have become so numb to it that it is hard for me to pick out these discriminatory commercials because I watch so many of them all the time. I feel like they are not trying to be degrading, they are trying to sell their product, so if that involves pushing stereotypes about women, they don’t have any problems doing it. Does this say something about today’s society? I am going to have to say yes.

The program I was watching was the Boston Red Sox vs. the New York Yankees on ESPN at 7pm eastern time on Monday, May 01, 2006. During one of the commercial breaks I came across three commercials that sparked my interest. The first one was an Olive Garden commercial in which they showed cooks in the back, both male and female, cooking delicious meals and serving them to a wide variety of people. This commercial seemed to remain neutral to gender stereotypes as it showed both men and women cooking and eating together. Its intended audience was for everyone that wanted a good meal. The second commercial I saw was for Hampton Inn Hotels. This one showed all different people of different races and genders playing and having a good time together in and around the hotel. It seemed to subvert gender stereotypes as they showed women doing the same thing as men and vice versa. The intended audience was for travelers looking to have a great place to stay wherever they travel. The third and final commercial I watched was for Lamisil AT, which is supposed to prevent athlete’s foot. The commercial showed men playing basketball and working construction. By doing so, it basically said that only men can get athlete’s foot and reinforced gender stereotypes. This commercial’s intended audience was for men that are on their feet all day and in no way did they give a hint towards women. After watching these commercials I realized that indeed there is still some hidden gender stereotyping going on in the world of advertising. Some people are trying to make universal commercials that can apply to everyone of different races and genders and there are still others that focus strictly on men and leave women out to dry.

First off I must qualify this response by saying that I am a guy and because of that can’t fully understand everything that the women of the feminist movement go through. I personally have never been persecuted for my gender or been discriminated against for it. But even though I am not all knowing about the subject I do have some problems with it.

Overall I think the movement was a good idea and it did a lot for women. In this day and age I feel that women are seen as equals with men. Some might disagree with me on this but from what I have seen in my lifetime that’s the way I feel. So in general it was a good idea, but I think in some ways it went to far. It seemed to get somewhat militant at times and made people go away from the movement. Those women had the right idea but went about it in the wrong ways. Now you might ask what I mean by this. In class we were asked to write a short paragraph about why some women would say “I want equality but I wouldn’t say that I’m a feminist”. Isn’t that what being part of the movement was all about? It was but with the militantness of the movement came a lot of negative publicity. When I hear the word feminist, I think of some women that would like to have me and all men burned at the stake. That shouldn’t be what I think of first but I do. I am all for equality between genders but I still feel that most feminists wouldn’t like me.

Some other issues I have with the movement regard numbers. I am constantly hearing about the idea of equal pay and how on average men get paid more than women. There should be equal pay, I totally agree with that but that statement just isn’t right. Just because women get paid less doesn’t mean there isn’t equal pay. It’s not equal pay when women get paid less than men for the same job. You don’t hear of those statistics, you just hear the on average statistic. People need to get this one straight, because that deficiency in pay could be because a lot of women take jobs that pay less. For example, there are a lot of female secretaries which get paid less than the business men they work for. This example would have nothing to do with equal pay because a secretary gets paid less than a business man regardless of gender. Its things like these that give me a negative attitude towards parts of the feminist movement even though I am one hundred percent for gender equality. That’s why I think the leaders of the movement need to take a look at the direction they are taking and change it so they don’t alienate the people who want to help them.

The “Stereotypical” Woman in the Woman’s Movement

A few weeks ago I was a bit shocked with myself for having some stereotypical views about the women’s movement. I usually see myself as looking at the whole spectrum and I try to be as fair as possible to any issue. But when we were studying the women’s movement I was surprised at myself when I saw my own views about the movement. Professor Boade had asked us in class what we thought about the typical women in this particular movement. My preconceived notions were that a typical woman in this movement would have been a young, white, college-educated female. But professor Boade soon explained that this was not really the case. In fact, she told us that many of the women who associated themselves with this movement were older African-American women who, at many times, were not educated beyond the high school experience. As I listened to this I was disappointed in myself for stereotyping this group to a particular person. But it makes sense that not all the women would be young, white, and college educated. The women of this movement did not care about where you came from or what your educational background was like. They only cared about the fact that you were a woman who needed justice. If you were a woman, then they cared about you and your issues, whether they be equal pay for equal work or even abortion and sterility issues. But this does not mean that they only cared about women. If men wanted to join the fight, that was okay by many groups. After all, the more people that could help fight this issue, the better. The point is that I am glad to have seen this different view about the women’s movement. I am glad for the fact that I have seen the true scope of involvement by all people rather than a selected group.