Growing up with the media constantly, shoving the perfect body image down my throat has gotten me enraged. I know that in the future a boss is going to ask me to make a female body thinner, shrink the nose, lose the acne and make the lips pout. What I do not know is how I will be able to act. Despite every bone in my body screaming that I should never subject women to such mind-altering images, I know that if I do not follow what the boss says, I will be fired. So how do we retaliate against such demands? How will the designers of the future deal with this body image distortion and be able to sleep at night knowing they are the direct cause of women, teens, and children killing themselves over the toilet at night because they are not pretty enough? I knew that teens where vomiting to make themselves thinner, but I did not know that children under the age of five where going on diets. At that age, it seems like a child should be completely oblivious to what the fashion industry, media or vogue is saying about their image. And why should they be taking notice? Since when did Barney shove the image of Angelina Jolie into the faces of young children and call them ugly? Basically, I want to know where children are getting the idea that they need to diet in the first place? It must have something to do with pageant moms? In TMPIII lecture, a man stood in front of class and spoke about his ads and I will admit, they looked very interesting; however, he really pissed me off. Not only was he harming the female body image, but he was admitting it with pride. “And here again is another HOT girl.” Every time I heard the sentence come from his mouth I wanted to stand up and leave the room. How dare a designer give a lecture to a class of students about how it is ok to squish the nose of an eleven year old girl during editing because the nose she was born with was just too big. This type of blatant misuse of editing is what is getting designers in trouble. We are becoming not just tools for ruining our future children’s self worth but we are doing it on purpose now. And to end on another sour note about female body image, I could not believe what I was reading when I saw that some models where removing their bottom ribs to accentuate the thinness of their waists. How could any surgeon possibly be ok with someone removing their ribs? Not only are the designers and media of our country ruining the body image, but doctors are ruining it as well. People who we trust to keep us healthy are purposely making us sick for their own profit. It’s true that the bond I have with my car runs deep. Then again, I really like cars. Not only have cars helped people get from one place to the next but they’ve given me something to disassemble, fix, use power tools on, sand down and learn. I was greatly surprised when Lasn spoke about cars not needing to be replaced but not talking about the issue of metal rusting. Depending on the car, rusting metal is a big issue. Not only will rust on a car harm the integrity of a car taking on impact of a collision but it will also eat away precious metal that could be recycled. Maybe he could also focus on issues about cars needing to be rust proof so that we can recycle the metal easier as well as the big bad car industry trying to get us to buy a car every three years. I agree that buying a new car after three years is ridiculous. My car is a 1994 Honda and still running fine. But it does help to know how to actually fix your own car because going to a mechanic can sometimes be more expensive then buying another used car.
Today, society puts so much pressure on girls especially to look a certain way. Many young girls see models on TV, in magazines, on billboards almost everywhere they look so they get in their heads that they are supposed to look like that too. But, little do they realize how unhealthy a model’s life really is. Models are so made up when they go on stage and models in magazines are photoshopped and airbrushed to the extreme. And young girls especially, do not realize this or if they do know about it they cannot understand it. But either way it does put the horrible idea in there head that they are supposed to look like these models when really, it is impossible due to how fake models are made up to be. Barbies were the beginning of this fad I believe, these unrealistically proportioned dolls that little girls idol more then anything in the world. And a lot of the times people (real or not) that children idol really, it’s that they want to be them. And at this young age girls wanting to look like their Barbie is just a set up for disappointment and unnecessary lacking of confidence because these girls are scared they do not look like the right way. People change their diets and they do not realize how unhealthy it really is. It changes the way their whole entire body works and a lot of the time it cause permanent damage and changes to their bodies that cannot be reversed. There is not much being done about this problem because there are still this skinny, beautiful models parading around so who would not want to be them. It is all just a set up for disaster. -brynn kurlan
I think that Kalle Lasn made some excellent remarks in this week’s assigned section of Culture Jam, especially regarding simpler days in past times and the effect of consumer society on the environment. On the topic of the past, Lasn writes, A prosperous consumer culture had developed. We bought what we needed, with cash. We tucked away 10 percent of what we earned. We amused ourselves. We read. In summers Mom and Dad took the clan camping on the dunes. This was the American dream: a sprinkler on every lawn, a car in every driveway, a chicken in every pot. But somewhere along the line, the dream soured. The message we received grew darker and came faster. (59) Lasn certainly is a master of writing in a tone that makes the reader feel guilty. And on this subject, I believe we should feel guilty. We have gotten so wrapped up in things that hardly matter when you consider past generations and the things that were a part of their everyday lives. I personally feel spoiled of our time when I take for granted some piece of society today that amazes even my parents. To me, Skype-ing and tapeless video cameras are so commonplace, but to my mom (who isn’t even that ancient!), these things are modern marvels! It might seem silly but I really am jealous that new things are less impressive and more expected, and that I was never privy to the start of big changes. Another part of the reading that really struck me was Lasn’s section on the GDP. He writes, Consider: When the Exxon Valdez spilled its load of oil onto the Alaskan coast, $2 billion was spent trying to clean up and minimize the ecological damage. That money then circulated throughout the American economy, resulting in a significant increase in the GDP. When the Gulf War broke out, America’s GDP rose again. Money changed hands. The country became “healthier.” Indeed, every time there’s a car accident or a newly diagnosed cancer patient, whenever personal or societal catastrophes occur, the GDP goes up and the economy “gains.” (88-89) Although GDP is only one measure of the country’s economic status, for when it comes to individuals and their consumption CPI (consumer price index) is a better calculation, GDP is the one most people look to. I had never thought of it in those terms that Lasn draws out and it definitely makes me consider the way the economics measures success. But yet again, on the topic of body image and the objectification of women, Lasn goes on an irrelevant tangent. It is true that the media has only worsened these things, but notions of what people should look like have been around forever. And yes, girls do starve themselves and men agonize over their muscles because that is what they see on TV and in magazines, but the only disparity between that and the situation many years ago is a different time, different trend. Before the 20th century to be on the plumper side was a mark of status and wealth, whereas in the mid-1900s a typical housewife wore a constricting dress and heels just to run errands. Are these image norms so different at their core as the ones we face today?
In this weeks readings of culture jam I found the chapter on Your Corporate Connection to be very interesting. I know that there are a lot more people these days that are self conscious about the way they look. Media has driven people to a new level of being self conscious. The statistic that 9 out of 10 women feel that they would like to change something about themselves was outstanding. On top of that 50% of Canadian girls age 11-15 years old think that they should be thinner is outrageous. The fact that people start being self councious about there image at such a young age is unbelievable. I worked with the imfomous Miss Jay, from Next Top Model two years ago. She/He? Helped teach girls to walk for a fashion show in Savannah Georgia. To be in the show you had to be above 5’7 and have be under 130 pounds, depending on how much taller then that you could be a bit heavier. This was only a college fashion show, and Miss Jay said that half of the girls they chose for the show wouldn’t make it in the real fashion world. I think that the fact that they put so much importance on being skinny to be in fashion is unnecissay. If we used normal or average body types people would be as self conscious about there own image. People keep changing them selves to feel younger and more beautiful, I think that people should stop comparing themselves to others and embrace the way they look. If they had just a few fashion magazines in which they showed normal bodies, there would be less people on harmful diets or with eating disorders. Eating disorders didn’t start happening until media started showing the “perfect woman” there should be someway of going back to the way it used to be.
I think that Laurne Greenfield's photograph says a lot about todays society. In this day and age, there is so much pressure for people to look and act a certain way. This is a lot more crucial when it comes to girls. You truly would have to be a girl to understand. I know that through my own experience there is so much pressure for us to look beautiful, have the perfect clear face, the perfect tiny body, the best designer clothes and accessories. The media today has so much influence on everyone especially teenage girls. They want to be popular, rich, and beautiful. Everyone wants to fit in and be liked by everyone, and in order to do so, you must do what other people want you to do. This in my opinion is the medias fault. I say this because, without television and magazines showing all these beautiful, perfect looking models and celebrities and all the attention they get, girls would not think that if they looked and acted the way these people do, they would get all this wonderful attention. And that's really all they want in the end. The need attention from somewhere no matter where or who it comes from. All girls really want is for something or someone to make them feel important and loved in this world, and I don't think that nowadays many people get that attention from family members, so they look to others.
I find that I like Lasn's writing more and more as I read Culture Jam. His writing is extremely comfortable to read and the points that he discusses don't come off as pretentious. Because I myself have become so much a part of the consumer culture that we live in, it becomes scary when Lasn and other mass society critics point out aspects of our lifestyles that we've come to accept as normal. Talk about creeping normalcy!
What interests me is the concept of the never-ending back-and-forth between the public's excorporation of mass culture into hip culture and then the big corporations' incorporation of that hip culture into a manufactured "cool." Pop culture has become a site of continuous struggle between the rebellious anti-consumers and the big guys up in corporate constantly trying to mold this rebellion into a profit-making commodity. What resulted in the late 50s and early 60s was a new type of consumerism that turned advertising on its own industry.. Advertisements began to treat consumers like educated individuals rather than dopes of the industry's media, and ads in magazines addressed the industry's own faults, seemingly "coming clean" to the audience and selling a more honest product. This smart move made by the advertising industry was proposing a solution to overconsumption: more consumption. By consuming more honest products that were the real deal and not the product being sold by every other marketer, you could become a hip consumer. And hip consumers are what we have all tricked ourselves into becoming, except "hip" means nothing, when consuming is still consuming.
I don't necessarily think that looking to the older, better times will fix the problems that we have in today's consumer society. How far back will provide a good enough solution? Body image has been a problem since way before TVs and radios ever hit the scene. When food is scarce and abundance is desirable, women will be more attractive fuller and curvier. When society is in overabundance, women will be more desirable thin and frail. Men will always experience a back-and-forth in their search for the perfect form of masculinity, minorities will always be longing to fit into the majority, and large corporations will always find better ways to address their target audience's wants and desires in order to sell us their products. Consumerism is not going anywhere anytime soon, but what we can do is become smarter consumers who are better-informed and who take advantage of what resources are given to us in order to make more intelligent choices about the purchases we make.
The girl photographed above seems to have a lot of stuff. And that’s what it looks like, just stuff. It is littered about and it seems like there is more of it than she could possibly use, and most items will be discarded without being fully used. The worst part is that I cannot positively say that I have fewer items than her. I would like to think that even if I do have as many things as her, I can justify their use and why I have them. But I assume she can do the same, and her stuff and my stuff look just the same to the average person viewing all of our belongings. This is exactly what the section in Culture Jam discussed: we have all of these things that we are programmed into thinking make us happy, but it is questionable if we really are happy or just living in the ‘cult.’ Looking through the My Stuff project, I feel like most things I have provide some sort of function or are of some sentimental value to me. There is no doubt that I would get by with less, and Lasn argues that I would be just as happy, if not more so. I would be prone to arguing it, but I can’t say I am unbiased. A passage that really got me thinking was when he discussed our dreams. He says we do not want to have a different dream, and this same dream for everyone is driven by consumer ideas and any uniqueness between different people’s dreams has been lost. I wondered why something like this could happen if, in fact, wanting fame, power, money, sex and recreation is not what everyone truly wants. It seems like peer pressure. In grade school, if you wanted something different, for example sweatpants instead of jeans or any unpopular type of food, you would stand out and be picked on by classmates. It seems that peer pressure drives this common dream. If someone decides to choose other goals in their life different from those listed above, they are labeled as an ascetic and is considered ‘not normal’ and ‘normal’ people do not understand their desires and do not associate with them. It is a fear of being different, so this common goal allows them to have both something to shoot for and something in common with their peers.
Once again Lasn discuss further topics that, he feels, trouble the AmericaTM . These include government overpowering the people, body image issue, our typical days (our ‘cult’), our desire to want more and more in both objects and power, and the publicity of the G-7 summit. The topic that strike most shocking to me where fashion and the designer’s hidden messages and how some aspects of the G-7 summit suddenly becomes more of a publicity event for the world leaders. We all know the media plays a large role in our now very advanced lifestyles. That being said, Lasn described what seems to be ‘the perfect’ couple. Unfortunately, they broke up because the guys lust for woman who looks like Elle McPherson and women from the Playboy magazines. He further discussed on how most young women (50 percent) feel like they should lose weight instead of wishing they were thinner. This silent act of feeling pressured for no reason is inspired by the media. The media puts so much emphasis on models who are stick thin and modeling clothes for these mega-star designers like Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and Versace that I feel like there is no more sense of being a ‘real’ girl which (in my definition) a young woman who is at a comfortable weight and is proud of who they are. The G-7 summit issue caught my attention next. It was brought to my attention that these seven people control two thirds of the world’s wealth. That during this event these world leaders put on a good show for the thousands of journalists, reporters, and TV crews. In addition there are up to date articles written and headlines were made on every policy that they have agreed on. Lasn also wrote that even the demonstrations that erupts outside of where the meeting took place ‘adds’ to the importance and legitimacy of the meeting. Learning this almost infuriates me because I feel as if, if the world leaders are putting a show, then are they actually trying to do a good job on balancing the world’s economy or trying to make their individual country look the best? As I continue to read the book, I feel like moral priorities have been tossed aside to follow the American ‘cool’ or to be the best or ahead. In my opinion, strong morals and value are what built America, in my opinion, the future looks gray when given to the media.
One of the passages that really caught my eye in this weeks reading of Culture Jam was the section discussing both women and men’s distorted views of their bodies and how it affects their lives. So much of today’s advertising and media portray edited versions of human bodies and beauty and this puts pressure on consumers to look like the models they see in ads. The video that we watched in discussion the other day gave us a visual portrayal of how much of a models appearance in shows and ads is edited and false. Entire layers of make-up are pealed off after shows and these women are of course stick thin. These are the images and standards that are set for young women in America; how can you possibly avoid feeling self-conscience. In Culture Jam this week one thing was one of the points that I not only agreed with, but I could relate to.
As a human in today’s culture, we are compared daily to the looks of those in advertising and most of us cannot help but let it affect the way we perceive ourselves. Whether or not we all take it to the extremes that are mentioned in Culture Jam, the statistics about women and men who thought they should be skinnier did not shock me at all. Because of the standards that society has set for what is beautiful, warped or not, we are not comfortable in our own skin and it forces us to make changes to what we look like. I am personally certain that so many people use enhancements and go under the knife, not just because these processes and products are now readily available but because of commercialisms pressure to be a specific kind of beautiful. I wish we could all be comfortable and happy with what we look like but media pressures seem to have made that impossible.
“Power, in Case's world, meant corporate power. The zaibatsus, the multinationals that shaped the course of human history, had transcended old barriers. Viewed as organisms, they had attained a kind of immortality.” – Neuromancer Corporations are amazing aren’t they? In some odd way they have grown so big that they are invisible. It’s like thinking about the size of the entire world. You cannot picture it in any accurate way. This problem is made worse by the fact that brands are usually owned by larger hives that have their hands in many different elements of our lives. A problem that comes out of this is the fact that we cannot see without really investing time going up the beanstalk to find out what kind of giant rests at the top of these corporations. The only thing we do know is that they are unfavorably rich. But we don’t know what they really do with their wealth. This leads to an example of one such giant and his empire. David H. Koch and his brother Charles are the multibillionaire kings of Koch industries. Ever hear of them? I didn’t know of them either even though I use Quilted Northern. “but, isn’t quilted northern made by Georgia-Pacific?” yes it is… And Koch industries own them after spending 21 billion dollars. What is funny is that I at least could not find a link to Koch industries on the GP website but they are proudly displayed on the Koch website. It’s even harder to climb that bean stalk than I had guessed it seems. At any rate the Koch brothers themselves are wealthy. And they do support many charitable causes with their wealth. BUT that is not what culture jam was so worried about right? Wasn’t the main issue with the corporations the fact that they could buy their political favors? Well here’s the real kicker ladies and gentlemen. http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer It seems that many of those grassroots events. You know…the ones where the average Joe can’t take it anymore and starts screaming for change. (or in this case kicking Obama out.) are in fact funded by these brothers. The elite of the elite. The people and corporations that many grassroots are pissed off with.. I am hearing echoes of Neuromancer’s Villa Straylight. A place where the corridors twist and turn until none of it makes sense and the people inside are all mad.
While attending and watching the presentation during the lecture that was on Wednesday, I was inspired by the "Manufactured Landscapes" movie. At first I thought it was pretty boring and that we were being sucked into some sort of hypnosis event, I appreciated the hyperbolic statement that the director created. I was thinking to myself, “this is just ridiculous, they keep showing the same thing” but then about eight minutes within the movie the camera zoomed out to a birds eye perspective and it was insane how many workers were on the scene. I was impressed to see how many people would be willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the job. For so long I thought that machines had formed all the technologic advancements. When in reality, some of these things that are being produced and actually built by hand. Another aspect of the movie that caught my attention was the part when the people in the yellow jacket were recognized as numbers instead of corporate names. Technology has really impacted the way we perceive humanity. This film gave me a different perspective on how I feel about recycling goods. Being that I had the opportunity to see where our recycled material goes, I feel rather strange knowing that I partook in some of this unfortunate mess that all of America have shipped into China and other countries. It’s amazing how deceived one could be by watching the media without educating oneself about certain ideas such as the need to recycle. Prior to watching this movie, I had no idea of what happens to the things we generally try to restore. When I seen the kids taking pictures of the abundance of metal behind them, it allowed me to see the change in culture because there’s no way I would be there, working as a young child neither as an adult.
In this week’s readings of Culture Jam, it was very interesting to see his opinions on the history of America and how corporations have played a role in the formation of our modern culture. He utilized a variety of material to support his points. One example in particular was when he quoted Abraham Lincoln on page 68 as saying, “’Corporations have been enthroned…An era of corruption in high places will follow and the money power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people…until wealth is aggregated in a few hands….and the republic is destroyed.’” The fact that one of our former presidents predicted the future of our country even before the symptoms of consumerism began to show in our culture. I was also pleased to see that he addressed the unrealistic body image for both men and women the media promotes. Recently I have been reading a lot about ridiculously photoshopped and airbrushed images in magazines and seen examples that point this out. This makes people more aware that the images they are seeing are not realistic and do not represent an ideal that is possible to achieve. As a woman and a member of our society, I understand the pressures of needing to look toned and skinny but as I have started to realize this is something the media has taught me to believe and not what I have decided for myself. Here are some links to photoshop mistakes that point out how ridiculous this process actually is: http://jezebel.com/5675854/matthew-mcconaughey-sadly-airbrushed-to-look-like-pubescent-boy http://jezebel.com/5664820/maxim-gives-avril-lavigne-sloppy-photoshop-curves http://jezebel.com/5650974/madonnas-dolce--gabbana-ads-before-the-photoshop/gallery/ http://jezebel.com/5643967/photoshop-legislation-wont-fix-the-real-problem
The section of reading of Culture Jam for this session was particularly jarring to me. I think I would like to focus on the idea of the media determining how we feel about ourselves physically and emotionally. I as a young woman am well aware of the expectations that the media has presented and expected us to abide by when it comes to our physical appearance and what kinds of items we purchase as consumers. I would also like to say though that I think a big part of the pressure comes not only from the idea that women are comparing themselves to what they see on television or in magazines but by the thoughts they worry about their lovers having about them in comparison to those that are presented in the media. I remember sitting in the bedroom of my boyfriend and his roommate in the fraternity house in which they live and considering the irony of my instant insecurity as the two of them commented on the behinds of two very attractive young ladies whose butts happened to touch during the commercial. The commercial was football related, that’s all I remember about what was being sold, but I do remember that the girls were in skin tight dresses, that were a bright blue color, with long flowing hair and perfect physique. It wasn’t me checking out these girls and wishing it was them, it was the boy that I care about checking out and commenting on these girls that pricked my feelings. It’s the same with the beautiful celebrities shown on posters or Playboy, it’s not me I’m worried about; it’s him. I would say that it’s less about brand loyalty for me, mostly because I cannot afford the brand name of most products, but I will admit that that insecurity that is reinforced every time I see my boyfriend (not so) innocently ogling a young woman presented on TV followed up by a commercial on make-up gets to me either way. I might not buy Garnier Fructis hair products because they’re too pricy but I still consider whether or not my hair is able to even remotely compete with the ladies on the screen, and so I buy something, maybe not the brand, but something to keep up my appearance and so I still feel as though “they” win. I have no resolutions for this post, mainly considerations for myself.
The one section of this week's reading that really struck me (and it appears it has had the same effect on many others as well) is Lasn's section on how the media has altered our psychological being; how we define happy, or perfect. From childhood, young girls are subject to images of stick-thin Disney princesses, waiting on their Prince Charming to sweep them away. Last year I took a class on the history of the 1960s, and this effect was discussed in detail. Young girls grow up watching Disney cartoons in which the pretty, proper princess must wait in agony for her prince charming to rescue her, taking her on the only road to happiness. The need to be 'attractive' by some standards has been programmed into childs' minds since they could walk and talk.
These effects aren't only limited to young girls, as Lasn points out. Young boys are also subject to images of insanely muscular princes and heros, with unnaturally large muscles; their broad, broad shoulders tapering down into an unnatural V-shape. Boys grow up thinking they must be manly, and that manly = muscular.
The effects of media on how we can be happy is perfectly exposed by Lasn. He states "The controlling elite are simnply people with powerful media access who are all pushing in the same direction," (75). If the media spent as much time preaching about acceptance rather than 'perfection,' I am willing to bet that society would be happier and more satisfied as a whole.
I thought the part about the American dream, in the book Culture Jam, was particularly interesting because I had never noticed the slight but very detrimental change of thinking from ‘how much is enough’ to ‘how much is possible’. In our grandparents generation, people wanted just enough to not be in want, it wasn’t a desire for stuff, as our self gratifying consumer society is now, but rather a desire for security. Lasn says on page 60, “On the surface, life in America is much more stimulating than it was in the ‘50s. But people are oddly dysphoric. Restless. Unfulfilled. Deadened.” Americans on a whole, whether we are aware of it or not, have tried to fill the void with possessions, with stuff. Where did this void form? What was there before? I think the key to happiness lies not in what we have but who we have, it lies in relationships. As people fill up their lives with technology and use it not to aid in relationships but instead of relationships their lives become increasingly empty. We have forgotten how to appreciate life and relationships for what they are. This can be seen in one area of technology: facebook. When we are with friends we take pictures and joke around, all the while thinking of what witty thing we are going to say under the picture post on facebook. When we post our status, how much are are thinking about truly communing with friends and less about molding other’s perception of us? I think we need to realize that are mindset has warped the American dream, what once was beautiful, the chance to not be in need, is now corrupted into not being in want of anything.
I found this week’s reading of Lasn’s Culture Jam to be really interesting. One statement that stuck out to me was the idea that some models have actually had their bottom ribs removed in order to accentuate their skinny waists. I was absolutely stunned when I read this. I had never heard of this before and the fact that people, not just models, have taken to changing their bodies to look thinner so far as to remove bones I think is beyond crazy. We might as well remove all our organs while we’re at it. I’m sure then we’d look even skinnier. Lasn blames this behavior partially/mainly on corporations. The advertisements that tell us we need to lose 10 pounds before summer comes so that we will look good in our bikinis, that we should probably get rid of the flab on our arms, and, oh, our teeth need to be whiter and our hair needs to be shinier; these advertisements are all controlled by corporations. These corporations tell us these things and then have us go out and buy their “solutions.” To top it off, freedom of speech by the general public has become virtually impossible and/or not allowed. For example, Lasn tells a story about a high school boy from Georgia by the name of Mike Cameron. Coca-Cola was sponsoring and subsidizing Mike’s high school and during “Coke Day” at their school when the company flew in to visit, Mike wore a Pepsi T-shirt and ended up getting expelled for his “insolence.” Seriously? Another fine example is that of when Lasn and his crew can’t convince any major corporation to broadcast their “Buy Nothing Day” TV campaign - except for CNN Headline News. This is almost obviously because the campaign goes against all or everything that every major corporation is trying to accomplish: to get people to buy stuff.
On the topic of advertisement, I believe that the American people like to point their fingers at the media and other external forces for the problems, which occur within their homes. I fail to believe that Americans have become brainwashed zombies who have no idea why they buy the goods and services that they buy, but are rather instructed to buy these goods by the media. Adults are free thinking human beings, who are able to form their own opinions and thoughts on any given topic. With that being said, I cannot understand how people believe that commercialism brainwashes consumers, when the ultimate decision of whether of not to purchase a good or service is completely on the consumer. Advertisements can make suggestions, but the choice of what, where, and when to buy or consume products rests with the consumer himself. With respect to children, I do agree that advertisements should never be aimed at a child age group, but at the same time, parents must also be there in order to instruct their children of what is right and wrong. Many people believe that young girls attempt to emulate the skinny models that they see in magazine covers, but if the parents were to tell their daughters that these are manufactured images, and that these are not realistic bodily expectations, then there would be dramatically less problems with regard to that issue. There are some weak minded individuals that choose to allow advertisements to dictate what they do or do not purchase, but in this situation, the consumer is at fault.
Growing up with the media constantly, shoving the perfect body image down my throat has gotten me enraged. I know that in the future a boss is going to ask me to make a female body thinner, shrink the nose, lose the acne and make the lips pout. What I do not know is how I will be able to act. Despite every bone in my body screaming that I should never subject women to such mind-altering images, I know that if I do not follow what the boss says, I will be fired. So how do we retaliate against such demands? How will the designers of the future deal with this body image distortion and be able to sleep at night knowing they are the direct cause of women, teens, and children killing themselves over the toilet at night because they are not pretty enough?
ReplyDeleteI knew that teens where vomiting to make themselves thinner, but I did not know that children under the age of five where going on diets. At that age, it seems like a child should be completely oblivious to what the fashion industry, media or vogue is saying about their image. And why should they be taking notice? Since when did Barney shove the image of Angelina Jolie into the faces of young children and call them ugly? Basically, I want to know where children are getting the idea that they need to diet in the first place? It must have something to do with pageant moms?
In TMPIII lecture, a man stood in front of class and spoke about his ads and I will admit, they looked very interesting; however, he really pissed me off. Not only was he harming the female body image, but he was admitting it with pride. “And here again is another HOT girl.” Every time I heard the sentence come from his mouth I wanted to stand up and leave the room. How dare a designer give a lecture to a class of students about how it is ok to squish the nose of an eleven year old girl during editing because the nose she was born with was just too big. This type of blatant misuse of editing is what is getting designers in trouble. We are becoming not just tools for ruining our future children’s self worth but we are doing it on purpose now.
And to end on another sour note about female body image, I could not believe what I was reading when I saw that some models where removing their bottom ribs to accentuate the thinness of their waists. How could any surgeon possibly be ok with someone removing their ribs? Not only are the designers and media of our country ruining the body image, but doctors are ruining it as well. People who we trust to keep us healthy are purposely making us sick for their own profit.
It’s true that the bond I have with my car runs deep. Then again, I really like cars. Not only have cars helped people get from one place to the next but they’ve given me something to disassemble, fix, use power tools on, sand down and learn.
I was greatly surprised when Lasn spoke about cars not needing to be replaced but not talking about the issue of metal rusting. Depending on the car, rusting metal is a big issue. Not only will rust on a car harm the integrity of a car taking on impact of a collision but it will also eat away precious metal that could be recycled. Maybe he could also focus on issues about cars needing to be rust proof so that we can recycle the metal easier as well as the big bad car industry trying to get us to buy a car every three years. I agree that buying a new car after three years is ridiculous. My car is a 1994 Honda and still running fine. But it does help to know how to actually fix your own car because going to a mechanic can sometimes be more expensive then buying another used car.
Today, society puts so much pressure on girls especially to look a certain way. Many young girls see models on TV, in magazines, on billboards almost everywhere they look so they get in their heads that they are supposed to look like that too. But, little do they realize how unhealthy a model’s life really is. Models are so made up when they go on stage and models in magazines are photoshopped and airbrushed to the extreme. And young girls especially, do not realize this or if they do know about it they cannot understand it. But either way it does put the horrible idea in there head that they are supposed to look like these models when really, it is impossible due to how fake models are made up to be. Barbies were the beginning of this fad I believe, these unrealistically proportioned dolls that little girls idol more then anything in the world. And a lot of the times people (real or not) that children idol really, it’s that they want to be them. And at this young age girls wanting to look like their Barbie is just a set up for disappointment and unnecessary lacking of confidence because these girls are scared they do not look like the right way. People change their diets and they do not realize how unhealthy it really is. It changes the way their whole entire body works and a lot of the time it cause permanent damage and changes to their bodies that cannot be reversed. There is not much being done about this problem because there are still this skinny, beautiful models parading around so who would not want to be them. It is all just a set up for disaster. -brynn kurlan
ReplyDeleteI think that Kalle Lasn made some excellent remarks in this week’s assigned section of Culture Jam, especially regarding simpler days in past times and the effect of consumer society on the environment. On the topic of the past, Lasn writes,
ReplyDeleteA prosperous consumer culture had developed. We bought what we needed, with cash. We tucked away 10 percent of what we earned. We amused ourselves. We read. In summers Mom and Dad took the clan camping on the dunes. This was the American dream: a sprinkler on every lawn, a car in every driveway, a chicken in every pot. But somewhere along the line, the dream soured. The message we received grew darker and came faster. (59)
Lasn certainly is a master of writing in a tone that makes the reader feel guilty. And on this subject, I believe we should feel guilty. We have gotten so wrapped up in things that hardly matter when you consider past generations and the things that were a part of their everyday lives. I personally feel spoiled of our time when I take for granted some piece of society today that amazes even my parents. To me, Skype-ing and tapeless video cameras are so commonplace, but to my mom (who isn’t even that ancient!), these things are modern marvels! It might seem silly but I really am jealous that new things are less impressive and more expected, and that I was never privy to the start of big changes.
Another part of the reading that really struck me was Lasn’s section on the GDP. He writes,
Consider: When the Exxon Valdez spilled its load of oil onto the Alaskan coast, $2 billion was spent trying to clean up and minimize the ecological damage. That money then circulated throughout the American economy, resulting in a significant increase in the GDP. When the Gulf War broke out, America’s GDP rose again. Money changed hands. The country became “healthier.” Indeed, every time there’s a car accident or a newly diagnosed cancer patient, whenever personal or societal catastrophes occur, the GDP goes up and the economy “gains.” (88-89)
Although GDP is only one measure of the country’s economic status, for when it comes to individuals and their consumption CPI (consumer price index) is a better calculation, GDP is the one most people look to. I had never thought of it in those terms that Lasn draws out and it definitely makes me consider the way the economics measures success.
But yet again, on the topic of body image and the objectification of women, Lasn goes on an irrelevant tangent. It is true that the media has only worsened these things, but notions of what people should look like have been around forever. And yes, girls do starve themselves and men agonize over their muscles because that is what they see on TV and in magazines, but the only disparity between that and the situation many years ago is a different time, different trend. Before the 20th century to be on the plumper side was a mark of status and wealth, whereas in the mid-1900s a typical housewife wore a constricting dress and heels just to run errands. Are these image norms so different at their core as the ones we face today?
In this weeks readings of culture jam I found the chapter on Your Corporate Connection to be very interesting. I know that there are a lot more people these days that are self conscious about the way they look. Media has driven people to a new level of being self conscious. The statistic that 9 out of 10 women feel that they would like to change something about themselves was outstanding. On top of that 50% of Canadian girls age 11-15 years old think that they should be thinner is outrageous. The fact that people start being self councious about there image at such a young age is unbelievable. I worked with the imfomous Miss Jay, from Next Top Model two years ago. She/He? Helped teach girls to walk for a fashion show in Savannah Georgia. To be in the show you had to be above 5’7 and have be under 130 pounds, depending on how much taller then that you could be a bit heavier. This was only a college fashion show, and Miss Jay said that half of the girls they chose for the show wouldn’t make it in the real fashion world. I think that the fact that they put so much importance on being skinny to be in fashion is unnecissay. If we used normal or average body types people would be as self conscious about there own image.
ReplyDeletePeople keep changing them selves to feel younger and more beautiful, I think that people should stop comparing themselves to others and embrace the way they look. If they had just a few fashion magazines in which they showed normal bodies, there would be less people on harmful diets or with eating disorders. Eating disorders didn’t start happening until media started showing the “perfect woman” there should be someway of going back to the way it used to be.
I think that Laurne Greenfield's photograph says a lot about todays society. In this day and age, there is so much pressure for people to look and act a certain way. This is a lot more crucial when it comes to girls. You truly would have to be a girl to understand. I know that through my own experience there is so much pressure for us to look beautiful, have the perfect clear face, the perfect tiny body, the best designer clothes and accessories. The media today has so much influence on everyone especially teenage girls. They want to be popular, rich, and beautiful. Everyone wants to fit in and be liked by everyone, and in order to do so, you must do what other people want you to do. This in my opinion is the medias fault. I say this because, without television and magazines showing all these beautiful, perfect looking models and celebrities and all the attention they get, girls would not think that if they looked and acted the way these people do, they would get all this wonderful attention. And that's really all they want in the end. The need attention from somewhere no matter where or who it comes from. All girls really want is for something or someone to make them feel important and loved in this world, and I don't think that nowadays many people get that attention from family members, so they look to others.
ReplyDeleteI find that I like Lasn's writing more and more as I read Culture Jam. His writing is extremely comfortable to read and the points that he discusses don't come off as pretentious. Because I myself have become so much a part of the consumer culture that we live in, it becomes scary when Lasn and other mass society critics point out aspects of our lifestyles that we've come to accept as normal. Talk about creeping normalcy!
ReplyDeleteWhat interests me is the concept of the never-ending back-and-forth between the public's excorporation of mass culture into hip culture and then the big corporations' incorporation of that hip culture into a manufactured "cool." Pop culture has become a site of continuous struggle between the rebellious anti-consumers and the big guys up in corporate constantly trying to mold this rebellion into a profit-making commodity. What resulted in the late 50s and early 60s was a new type of consumerism that turned advertising on its own industry.. Advertisements began to treat consumers like educated individuals rather than dopes of the industry's media, and ads in magazines addressed the industry's own faults, seemingly "coming clean" to the audience and selling a more honest product. This smart move made by the advertising industry was proposing a solution to overconsumption: more consumption. By consuming more honest products that were the real deal and not the product being sold by every other marketer, you could become a hip consumer. And hip consumers are what we have all tricked ourselves into becoming, except "hip" means nothing, when consuming is still consuming.
I don't necessarily think that looking to the older, better times will fix the problems that we have in today's consumer society. How far back will provide a good enough solution? Body image has been a problem since way before TVs and radios ever hit the scene. When food is scarce and abundance is desirable, women will be more attractive fuller and curvier. When society is in overabundance, women will be more desirable thin and frail. Men will always experience a back-and-forth in their search for the perfect form of masculinity, minorities will always be longing to fit into the majority, and large corporations will always find better ways to address their target audience's wants and desires in order to sell us their products. Consumerism is not going anywhere anytime soon, but what we can do is become smarter consumers who are better-informed and who take advantage of what resources are given to us in order to make more intelligent choices about the purchases we make.
The girl photographed above seems to have a lot of stuff. And that’s what it looks like, just stuff. It is littered about and it seems like there is more of it than she could possibly use, and most items will be discarded without being fully used. The worst part is that I cannot positively say that I have fewer items than her. I would like to think that even if I do have as many things as her, I can justify their use and why I have them. But I assume she can do the same, and her stuff and my stuff look just the same to the average person viewing all of our belongings. This is exactly what the section in Culture Jam discussed: we have all of these things that we are programmed into thinking make us happy, but it is questionable if we really are happy or just living in the ‘cult.’ Looking through the My Stuff project, I feel like most things I have provide some sort of function or are of some sentimental value to me. There is no doubt that I would get by with less, and Lasn argues that I would be just as happy, if not more so. I would be prone to arguing it, but I can’t say I am unbiased.
ReplyDeleteA passage that really got me thinking was when he discussed our dreams. He says we do not want to have a different dream, and this same dream for everyone is driven by consumer ideas and any uniqueness between different people’s dreams has been lost. I wondered why something like this could happen if, in fact, wanting fame, power, money, sex and recreation is not what everyone truly wants. It seems like peer pressure. In grade school, if you wanted something different, for example sweatpants instead of jeans or any unpopular type of food, you would stand out and be picked on by classmates. It seems that peer pressure drives this common dream. If someone decides to choose other goals in their life different from those listed above, they are labeled as an ascetic and is considered ‘not normal’ and ‘normal’ people do not understand their desires and do not associate with them. It is a fear of being different, so this common goal allows them to have both something to shoot for and something in common with their peers.
Once again Lasn discuss further topics that, he feels, trouble the AmericaTM . These include government overpowering the people, body image issue, our typical days (our ‘cult’), our desire to want more and more in both objects and power, and the publicity of the G-7 summit. The topic that strike most shocking to me where fashion and the designer’s hidden messages and how some aspects of the G-7 summit suddenly becomes more of a publicity event for the world leaders.
ReplyDeleteWe all know the media plays a large role in our now very advanced lifestyles. That being said, Lasn described what seems to be ‘the perfect’ couple. Unfortunately, they broke up because the guys lust for woman who looks like Elle McPherson and women from the Playboy magazines. He further discussed on how most young women (50 percent) feel like they should lose weight instead of wishing they were thinner. This silent act of feeling pressured for no reason is inspired by the media. The media puts so much emphasis on models who are stick thin and modeling clothes for these mega-star designers like Calvin Klein, Donna Karan, and Versace that I feel like there is no more sense of being a ‘real’ girl which (in my definition) a young woman who is at a comfortable weight and is proud of who they are.
The G-7 summit issue caught my attention next. It was brought to my attention that these seven people control two thirds of the world’s wealth. That during this event these world leaders put on a good show for the thousands of journalists, reporters, and TV crews. In addition there are up to date articles written and headlines were made on every policy that they have agreed on. Lasn also wrote that even the demonstrations that erupts outside of where the meeting took place ‘adds’ to the importance and legitimacy of the meeting. Learning this almost infuriates me because I feel as if, if the world leaders are putting a show, then are they actually trying to do a good job on balancing the world’s economy or trying to make their individual country look the best? As I continue to read the book, I feel like moral priorities have been tossed aside to follow the American ‘cool’ or to be the best or ahead. In my opinion, strong morals and value are what built America, in my opinion, the future looks gray when given to the media.
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ReplyDeleteOne of the passages that really caught my eye in this weeks reading of Culture Jam was the section discussing both women and men’s distorted views of their bodies and how it affects their lives. So much of today’s advertising and media portray edited versions of human bodies and beauty and this puts pressure on consumers to look like the models they see in ads. The video that we watched in discussion the other day gave us a visual portrayal of how much of a models appearance in shows and ads is edited and false. Entire layers of make-up are pealed off after shows and these women are of course stick thin. These are the images and standards that are set for young women in America; how can you possibly avoid feeling self-conscience. In Culture Jam this week one thing was one of the points that I not only agreed with, but I could relate to.
ReplyDeleteAs a human in today’s culture, we are compared daily to the looks of those in advertising and most of us cannot help but let it affect the way we perceive ourselves. Whether or not we all take it to the extremes that are mentioned in Culture Jam, the statistics about women and men who thought they should be skinnier did not shock me at all. Because of the standards that society has set for what is beautiful, warped or not, we are not comfortable in our own skin and it forces us to make changes to what we look like. I am personally certain that so many people use enhancements and go under the knife, not just because these processes and products are now readily available but because of commercialisms pressure to be a specific kind of beautiful. I wish we could all be comfortable and happy with what we look like but media pressures seem to have made that impossible.
“Power, in Case's world, meant corporate power. The zaibatsus, the multinationals that shaped the course of human history, had transcended old barriers. Viewed as organisms, they had attained a kind of immortality.” – Neuromancer
ReplyDeleteCorporations are amazing aren’t they? In some odd way they have grown so big that they are invisible. It’s like thinking about the size of the entire world. You cannot picture it in any accurate way. This problem is made worse by the fact that brands are usually owned by larger hives that have their hands in many different elements of our lives. A problem that comes out of this is the fact that we cannot see without really investing time going up the beanstalk to find out what kind of giant rests at the top of these corporations. The only thing we do know is that they are unfavorably rich. But we don’t know what they really do with their wealth. This leads to an example of one such giant and his empire. David H. Koch and his brother Charles are the multibillionaire kings of Koch industries. Ever hear of them? I didn’t know of them either even though I use Quilted Northern. “but, isn’t quilted northern made by Georgia-Pacific?” yes it is… And Koch industries own them after spending 21 billion dollars. What is funny is that I at least could not find a link to Koch industries on the GP website but they are proudly displayed on the Koch website. It’s even harder to climb that bean stalk than I had guessed it seems. At any rate the Koch brothers themselves are wealthy. And they do support many charitable causes with their wealth. BUT that is not what culture jam was so worried about right? Wasn’t the main issue with the corporations the fact that they could buy their political favors? Well here’s the real kicker ladies and gentlemen.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/30/100830fa_fact_mayer
It seems that many of those grassroots events. You know…the ones where the average Joe can’t take it anymore and starts screaming for change. (or in this case kicking Obama out.) are in fact funded by these brothers. The elite of the elite. The people and corporations that many grassroots are pissed off with.. I am hearing echoes of Neuromancer’s Villa Straylight. A place where the corridors twist and turn until none of it makes sense and the people inside are all mad.
While attending and watching the presentation during the lecture that was on Wednesday, I was inspired by the "Manufactured Landscapes" movie. At first I thought it was pretty boring and that we were being sucked into some sort of hypnosis event, I appreciated the hyperbolic statement that the director created. I was thinking to myself, “this is just ridiculous, they keep showing the same thing” but then about eight minutes within the movie the camera zoomed out to a birds eye perspective and it was insane how many workers were on the scene. I was impressed to see how many people would be willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the job.
ReplyDeleteFor so long I thought that machines had formed all the technologic advancements. When in reality, some of these things that are being produced and actually built by hand. Another aspect of the movie that caught my attention was the part when the people in the yellow jacket were recognized as numbers instead of corporate names. Technology has really impacted the way we perceive humanity.
This film gave me a different perspective on how I feel about recycling goods. Being that I had the opportunity to see where our recycled material goes, I feel rather strange knowing that I partook in some of this unfortunate mess that all of America have shipped into China and other countries. It’s amazing how deceived one could be by watching the media without educating oneself about certain ideas such as the need to recycle. Prior to watching this movie, I had no idea of what happens to the things we generally try to restore. When I seen the kids taking pictures of the abundance of metal behind them, it allowed me to see the change in culture because there’s no way I would be there, working as a young child neither as an adult.
In this week’s readings of Culture Jam, it was very interesting to see his opinions on the history of America and how corporations have played a role in the formation of our modern culture. He utilized a variety of material to support his points. One example in particular was when he quoted Abraham Lincoln on page 68 as saying, “’Corporations have been enthroned…An era of corruption in high places will follow and the money power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people…until wealth is aggregated in a few hands….and the republic is destroyed.’” The fact that one of our former presidents predicted the future of our country even before the symptoms of consumerism began to show in our culture.
ReplyDeleteI was also pleased to see that he addressed the unrealistic body image for both men and women the media promotes. Recently I have been reading a lot about ridiculously photoshopped and airbrushed images in magazines and seen examples that point this out. This makes people more aware that the images they are seeing are not realistic and do not represent an ideal that is possible to achieve. As a woman and a member of our society, I understand the pressures of needing to look toned and skinny but as I have started to realize this is something the media has taught me to believe and not what I have decided for myself.
Here are some links to photoshop mistakes that point out how ridiculous this process actually is:
http://jezebel.com/5675854/matthew-mcconaughey-sadly-airbrushed-to-look-like-pubescent-boy
http://jezebel.com/5664820/maxim-gives-avril-lavigne-sloppy-photoshop-curves
http://jezebel.com/5650974/madonnas-dolce--gabbana-ads-before-the-photoshop/gallery/
http://jezebel.com/5643967/photoshop-legislation-wont-fix-the-real-problem
Weekly Response for November 2, 2010
ReplyDeleteThe section of reading of Culture Jam for this session was particularly jarring to me. I think I would like to focus on the idea of the media determining how we feel about ourselves physically and emotionally.
I as a young woman am well aware of the expectations that the media has presented and expected us to abide by when it comes to our physical appearance and what kinds of items we purchase as consumers. I would also like to say though that I think a big part of the pressure comes not only from the idea that women are comparing themselves to what they see on television or in magazines but by the thoughts they worry about their lovers having about them in comparison to those that are presented in the media.
I remember sitting in the bedroom of my boyfriend and his roommate in the fraternity house in which they live and considering the irony of my instant insecurity as the two of them commented on the behinds of two very attractive young ladies whose butts happened to touch during the commercial. The commercial was football related, that’s all I remember about what was being sold, but I do remember that the girls were in skin tight dresses, that were a bright blue color, with long flowing hair and perfect physique. It wasn’t me checking out these girls and wishing it was them, it was the boy that I care about checking out and commenting on these girls that pricked my feelings. It’s the same with the beautiful celebrities shown on posters or Playboy, it’s not me I’m worried about; it’s him.
I would say that it’s less about brand loyalty for me, mostly because I cannot afford the brand name of most products, but I will admit that that insecurity that is reinforced every time I see my boyfriend (not so) innocently ogling a young woman presented on TV followed up by a commercial on make-up gets to me either way. I might not buy Garnier Fructis hair products because they’re too pricy but I still consider whether or not my hair is able to even remotely compete with the ladies on the screen, and so I buy something, maybe not the brand, but something to keep up my appearance and so I still feel as though “they” win.
I have no resolutions for this post, mainly considerations for myself.
The one section of this week's reading that really struck me (and it appears it has had the same effect on many others as well) is Lasn's section on how the media has altered our psychological being; how we define happy, or perfect. From childhood, young girls are subject to images of stick-thin Disney princesses, waiting on their Prince Charming to sweep them away. Last year I took a class on the history of the 1960s, and this effect was discussed in detail. Young girls grow up watching Disney cartoons in which the pretty, proper princess must wait in agony for her prince charming to rescue her, taking her on the only road to happiness. The need to be 'attractive' by some standards has been programmed into childs' minds since they could walk and talk.
ReplyDeleteThese effects aren't only limited to young girls, as Lasn points out. Young boys are also subject to images of insanely muscular princes and heros, with unnaturally large muscles; their broad, broad shoulders tapering down into an unnatural V-shape. Boys grow up thinking they must be manly, and that manly = muscular.
The effects of media on how we can be happy is perfectly exposed by Lasn. He states "The controlling elite are simnply people with powerful media access who are all pushing in the same direction," (75). If the media spent as much time preaching about acceptance rather than 'perfection,' I am willing to bet that society would be happier and more satisfied as a whole.
I thought the part about the American dream, in the book Culture Jam, was particularly interesting because I had never noticed the slight but very detrimental change of thinking from ‘how much is enough’ to ‘how much is possible’. In our grandparents generation, people wanted just enough to not be in want, it wasn’t a desire for stuff, as our self gratifying consumer society is now, but rather a desire for security. Lasn says on page 60, “On the surface, life in America is much more stimulating than it was in the ‘50s. But people are oddly dysphoric. Restless. Unfulfilled. Deadened.” Americans on a whole, whether we are aware of it or not, have tried to fill the void with possessions, with stuff. Where did this void form? What was there before? I think the key to happiness lies not in what we have but who we have, it lies in relationships. As people fill up their lives with technology and use it not to aid in relationships but instead of relationships their lives become increasingly empty. We have forgotten how to appreciate life and relationships for what they are. This can be seen in one area of technology: facebook. When we are with friends we take pictures and joke around, all the while thinking of what witty thing we are going to say under the picture post on facebook. When we post our status, how much are are thinking about truly communing with friends and less about molding other’s perception of us? I think we need to realize that are mindset has warped the American dream, what once was beautiful, the chance to not be in need, is now corrupted into not being in want of anything.
ReplyDeleteI found this week’s reading of Lasn’s Culture Jam to be really interesting. One statement that stuck out to me was the idea that some models have actually had their bottom ribs removed in order to accentuate their skinny waists. I was absolutely stunned when I read this. I had never heard of this before and the fact that people, not just models, have taken to changing their bodies to look thinner so far as to remove bones I think is beyond crazy. We might as well remove all our organs while we’re at it. I’m sure then we’d look even skinnier. Lasn blames this behavior partially/mainly on corporations. The advertisements that tell us we need to lose 10 pounds before summer comes so that we will look good in our bikinis, that we should probably get rid of the flab on our arms, and, oh, our teeth need to be whiter and our hair needs to be shinier; these advertisements are all controlled by corporations. These corporations tell us these things and then have us go out and buy their “solutions.”
ReplyDeleteTo top it off, freedom of speech by the general public has become virtually impossible and/or not allowed. For example, Lasn tells a story about a high school boy from Georgia by the name of Mike Cameron. Coca-Cola was sponsoring and subsidizing Mike’s high school and during “Coke Day” at their school when the company flew in to visit, Mike wore a Pepsi T-shirt and ended up getting expelled for his “insolence.” Seriously? Another fine example is that of when Lasn and his crew can’t convince any major corporation to broadcast their “Buy Nothing Day” TV campaign - except for CNN Headline News. This is almost obviously because the campaign goes against all or everything that every major corporation is trying to accomplish: to get people to buy stuff.
On the topic of advertisement, I believe that the American people like to point their fingers at the media and other external forces for the problems, which occur within their homes. I fail to believe that Americans have become brainwashed zombies who have no idea why they buy the goods and services that they buy, but are rather instructed to buy these goods by the media. Adults are free thinking human beings, who are able to form their own opinions and thoughts on any given topic. With that being said, I cannot understand how people believe that commercialism brainwashes consumers, when the ultimate decision of whether of not to purchase a good or service is completely on the consumer. Advertisements can make suggestions, but the choice of what, where, and when to buy or consume products rests with the consumer himself. With respect to children, I do agree that advertisements should never be aimed at a child age group, but at the same time, parents must also be there in order to instruct their children of what is right and wrong. Many people believe that young girls attempt to emulate the skinny models that they see in magazine covers, but if the parents were to tell their daughters that these are manufactured images, and that these are not realistic bodily expectations, then there would be dramatically less problems with regard to that issue. There are some weak minded individuals that choose to allow advertisements to dictate what they do or do not purchase, but in this situation, the consumer is at fault.
ReplyDelete