So I analyze pretty much every ad I see now because of this class! I don't know if anyone else has seen the commercial for Whole Grain Cheerios but the tag line is "more grains... less you". Obviously they are trying to communicate that eating whole grain foods can help you lose weight but I found the delivery pretty shocking. That statement goes right along with what Jean Kilbourne talked about in her video about how women are supposed to take up less space.
It also sort of suggests that you=your body.. which I definitely don't agree with. Everyone, not just women, are much more than just their bodies. We all obviously have personalities, feelings, goals, brains, families etc. but this commercial apparently disagrees. This idea that we are bodies represent who we are is definitely not new but is extremely dangerous. I can understand in some cases, like maybe with an athlete or bodybuilder, that our bodies do give some clues or hints as to what we are all about, but other than that there really shouldn't be a strong correlation. I think as a society we do have a lot of stereotypes about people based solely on their looks. People who are overweight are lazy and don't care about themselves, they are funny and would make a great chef for example. Skinny women are successful and motivated and clearly take good care of themselves. But what about the girls (we all know at least one!) who can eat and eat, never work out and still stay skinny? Or the overweight ones who try every diet and excercise plan they can but their bodies just can't lose weight?
It is dangerous to judge people based on any superficial attribute because you can really never know.
What really caught my eye when I read that tagline is the fact that they are promoting MORE of something in order to get LESS of something else. Like how many times in this world can you have more of something you and want (food), and then lose something you don't want (weight). But to go along with what you said, I find it was made a point as well to have women take up less space. Probably one of the last things I'd think would promote women being less of something would be a cheerios commercial. It should be about health and taking care of oneself, rather than taking up less space. It's weird to see that even Cheerios stoops as low as to hint at womans physical appearance.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you when you say that you = your body. We are all judged this way and judge people this way. You may see an overweight girl and assume she "eats her feelings" or see a really sexy girl and assume she is a slut. In the same way when you see a big muscular guy you assume he is into sports and that he is prolly a douche bag. And if you see a skinny boy you may assume he is a pussy. But in reality, many people are not the same as their outer appearance and it is not good to judge a book by its cover. For example, freshman year my friend Laura and I met this big buff dude wearing a Hollister shirt. We assumed he was way out of our league. But after getting to know him and seeing through his buff exterior we found out he was as sweet as could be and really a child at heart. Laura and him began dating and have been for two years, and to this day he is one of the coolest, most down to earth person we know.
ReplyDeleteI completly agree with you! I saw the commerical too and like you said it goes with the Killing me softly video how women should take but less space. It also made me think are we americans so obsessed with dieting that every commercial talks about how you can lose weight with there foods. Remember the yogart commercial with the girl and the little yellow pota dot bikni, its all about how to lose weight to look good. I agree with what you say how we are what we look like. Therefore many people feel they arent good enough to get certain jobs bc of the way they look. It can become dangerous because with all these commercials out there saying we only look good being "ittie bittie." Its such a negitive message to be sent to girls out there.
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