Blog post 2

I chose the quote that states "Men basically don't live in a world in which their bodies are routinely scrutinized..."
I disagree with this quote, in most ads men are depicted with their shirts off and extremely muscular. Average every-day men are supposed to be held to this standard to be considered "sexy" just as women are supposed to  wear scantily clad outfits and be overly thin to be considered "sexy."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQb_-OY7Z0E

This ad is a very good example of how men's bodies are scrutinized. David Beckham stands in his underwear and poses and this is considered sexy. Men have to live up to the standards people like David Beckham set and if they do not live up to these standards they are scrutinized.

Blog #2

“At the same time that we allow our children to be sexualized, we refuse to educate them about sex. The United States is the only developed nation in the world that doesnʼt teach sex education in the schools. And our children pay a very high price – we have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and the highest rates of sexually transmitted illnesses by far in the developed world."”

I agree with the above for many reasons. If we started teaching our kids about sex and sexual transmitted diseases at an earlier age then the rates would go down. Teenagers would have a better feel about sex, and know how to stay protected bristol-palin-candies-foundation-teen-pregnancy-baby-psa-590khz4710.jpg . This ad stood out to me because it is true. Over thousands of Teenage girls each year get Pregnant at a young age. If our schools taught kids about sex maybe there wouldn't be as many teen pregnancies. There would be no downfall in teaching our kids about sexual diseases , it would be the right thing to do.

Blog Post 2 - Cereal Bondage Bears

Blog Post #2
Steven Wolters
15 February 2012


“When bondage is used to sell [various products], we can say that pornography has become mainstream.”

I Agree.

Declare Yourself's "Only You Can Silence Yourself" American Voting Campaign (Ft Jessica Alba)

In a culture where "sex sells" is distinguished as an effective advertising strategy, I believe the bondage theme is one less preferred. However, the lone fact that such marketing exists is enough to convince me that pornography has indeed become mainstream. Of course not in it's rawest display, but more of a "softcore" version. Nonetheless, pornography is pornography in it's overall explicity.

American Apparel's "Burnout: Meet Jennifer" Fashion Advertisment 

Take into account my favorite example of mainstream pornography amongst teenagers; the R&B / Hip-Hop genre. Not only are many artists' lyrics full of passionate romance, desire, and sexual innuendo's (if not a literal sense), but there is a growing trend of these artists being the most preferred among their competitors. Lady Gaga is a prime example of an artist that successfully sold enough pornographic imagery to win a multitude of awards through a massive fan-base. That's only the beginning of what's accompanied by a marvel of revealing photography and music videos.

Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" Album Photography

Aside from the music industry, advertising pornagraphy in a milder form can be viewed as a harmless attempt to simply have more appeal on it's audience. Most of these ads come in suggestive themes coupled with condoms and sexual enhancement pills. Increasingly, the participating marketing campaigns reveal less clothes in hotter situations that clearly illustrate a sex scene. 



Weetabix's "Alpen Cereal - Sweet. But not too sweet." Advertisement

(Unknown Source)

Cereal Bondage Bears?

Black Coffee Erotica?

What's next?

BLOG #2

I choose the statement “At the same time that we allow our children to be sexualized, we refuse to educate them about sex. The United States is the only developed nation in the world that doesnʼt teach sex education in the schools. And our children pay a very high price – we have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and the highest rates of sexually transmitted illnesses by far in the developed world.” I strongly agree with this statement. A teenagers reality is a reflection of media and all media is selling is sex. Schools scarcely educate teens about sex. We continue to argue whether we should have sex education in our schools and how much of it we teach. But we never argue about how ads and media have publicized on sex. We use sex to advertise everything. Being young beautiful and "sexy" is what really matters. That is what kids see in all ads. Sexuality is taught to be a liberating experience. Ads teach teens one way of being sexy but there is no emphases on sex education, pregnancy and stds, hence the height of teen pregnancy. 

I think the best thing we have so far is the show teen mom on MTV (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEjiM0sESus )It's stories about moms that are product of our toxic culture, who were sexualized but uneducated about the consequences of sex. I think that media sharing these stories and making it a reality show girls can follow season after season gives girls an exact image of how their lives might change and the sacrifices and stress they could go through. I think it is a big step but its far from enough.

I chose the statement,
“On the deepest level, the obsession with thinness is about cutting girls down to size. Now one could say this more vividly than this relatively new size in womenʼs clothing, size 0 and size 00. Imagine a man going into a clothing store and asking for anything in a size zero, but our girls are taught to aspire to become nothing.”

This statement really said something to me, something I completely agree with.  When you look through Teen magazine, clothing catalouges for women, and children for that matter, you see and image, "thin equals happiness." From the time I was a young girl I can remember watching T.V. or looking through a clothing magazine and seeing these ultra thin girls jumping around with beautiful clothes, lots of friends, and absolutely no curves at all, and I would think to myself....If I looked like her I would be happy like her.  Look at how young the audience is www.shopjustice.com  I don't see the cute, average looking child in this ad. Its know wonder seven million women in America have an eating disorder.www.state.sc.us
We need to educate young girls about the effects these unhealthy choices have on there bodies, and teach them to be resilient.

Blog #2

     I don't agree with this ad : “Men basically donʼt live in a world in which their bodies are routinely scrutinized, criticized, and judged; whereas women and girls do. This doesnʼt mean that there arenʼt stereotypes that harm men; there are plenty of stereotypes that harm men, but they tend to be less personal, less related to the body. Men, in general, donʼt experience the emphasis on appearance that women can never escape.”


     I believe that men now a days have become also well aware of the advertisement that are forcing many of them to become physically active and attractive. As it is seen in this Abrecrombie & Fitch Male Ad. Males are also being used as sex symbols to attract male consumers but through possible female consumers. Women could see this add and believe that their significant other should start working out to look as good as the model in the ad. She can then start persuading her significant half to acquire the body of the model to look as good as him. Its clear that the model is also being used to attract the summer line of clothing but he is also being referred as "SUMMER hotter than other" meaning some men look better in these jeans than others but only if you can look as good as him. Therefore I believe that men are equally thrashed by advertisements to encourage them to be better looking in regards to their appearances and become far better than their average no six pack neighbor next door.

blog #2

I strongly disagree with the quote, "Men basically don’t live in a world in which their bodies are routinely scrutinized, criticized, and judged; whereas women and girls do. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t stereotypes that harm men; there are plenty of stereotypes that harm men, but they tend to be less personal, less related to the body. Men, in general, don’t experience the emphasis on appearance that women can never escape.” because if you ever look at any ad with a man’s shirt off you won't see a skinny or even medium size bodies. A lot of the ads that I see with men in it are extremely toned and have abnormal bodies in the sense that many guys don't have that picture perfect body. By saying that men don’t have to have the emphasis on experience really doesn't have any backing because I personally know a lot of men that always want to have the perfect body you see in the magazines and in movies but are highly unlikely to achieve it.

“When bondage is used to sell [various products], we can say that pornography has become mainstream.” I would definitely agree with this quote, certain advertisements use almost blatant pornography to advertise their particular product. This objectification of women not only negatively impacts women, it also negatively impacts men. With women, and girls these kinds of ads make them much more critical of their own bodies, and makes them feel like they are required to expose themselves more to be socially acceptable. With men and boys being exposed to these sexually focused images throughout daily life causes an overly sexual mentality that is now thought of as the norm. The expression "guys only have one thing on their mind" eluding to concept that men only think about sex, is commonly used to warn girls about  "the true intentions" of guys. I feel like males have sex on there mind more often, because they are constantly being bombarded with images designed to sexual stimulate them.

Blog assignment 2

I agree with the ad: "when bondage is used to sell (various products), we can say that pornography has become mainstream." This ad is very true, I think the most influential media advertisement today is pornography. Because when women's pictures are display in the front cover of a magazine either nude, or half nude. The consequences are, there would be a lot of males that cannot resist the temptation of buying the magazine, especially if the woman's picture on the front cover of the magazine is pretty. Pictures of women are used to sell magazines to Cd's. I think the porn industry is making a lot of money just by using women to sell their products.

Blog Assignment #2 (Due Wednesday, 2/15)

Choose one of the following quotes from Jean Kilbourne (Killing Us Softly 4) and comment on it (whether you agree or disagree). Why do you agree or disagree with her claim? What kind of advertising can you think of/find that helps illustrate your position? 

Choose one or two ads (obviously, they need to be the kind you can link to in an online environment) that will help strengthen the point you're making and link them in your post (just use the "Link" button underlined in blue, above).
You should comment on the ad(s), explaining why/how these images help contribute to your belief/claim.


***There's no one "right way" to do this; you should respond to Kilbourne and explain you response, post the ad(s), and explain how they illustrate/mirror your response to Kilbourne. If you do this, you're good to go.

Quotes:

1. “Women’s bodies are still turned into objects, into things… and turning a human being into a thing is almost always the first step towards justifying violence towards that person.”

2. “Men basically donʼt live in a world in which their bodies are routinely scrutinized, criticized, and judged; whereas women and girls do. This doesnʼt mean that there arenʼt stereotypes that harm men; there are plenty of stereotypes that harm men, but they tend to be less personal, less related to the body. Men, in general, donʼt experience the emphasis on appearance that women can never escape.”

3. “At the same time that we allow our children to be sexualized, we refuse to educate them about sex. The United States is the only developed nation in the world that doesnʼt teach sex education in the schools. And our children pay a very high price – we have the highest rates of teen pregnancy and the highest rates of sexually transmitted illnesses by far in the developed world.”

4. “On the deepest level, the obsession with thinness is about cutting girls down to size. Now one could say this more vividly than this relatively new size in womenʼs clothing, size 0 and size 00. Imagine a man going into a clothing store and asking for anything in a size zero, but our girls are taught to aspire to become nothing.”

5. “When bondage is used to sell [various products], we can say that pornography has become mainstream.”

Best-selling writer and humorous David Sedaris, in his personal essay, "Santaland Diaries" recounts his stint working as an elf named "Crumpet" at a Macy's department store.  He adopts a dry somewhat witty tone in order to depict the hustle and bustle of Christmas!

Sedaris begins by establishing a setting, he describes his "perky" elf costume he momentarily called a work uniform. This technique creates a personal and informal tone, making this a really fun and easy read.

As the writer goes on his use of sarcastic diction allows you to fully understand his point of view.  While showing a side of the holidays that many don't see.  He pokes fun at the parents who torture their children with long lines, and threats of coal in their stocking.

Finally, in the end their is a sense of irony, in that really the holidays aren't for the children but the "parents' idea of a world they cannot make work for them."

"Jesus is a brand of jeans"

"Jesus is a brand of jeans" an article written by Jean Kilbourne, published in the New Internationalist magazine. whose audience are mostly educated people who are socially aware and involved. Concerned about stuff like Human rights, their environment, politics, travel, education and the world around them. This article speaks to all people. Everyone is a victim of advertising. She uses a lot examples of advertisements to show the tactics of the ads and how they convey their message. She uses diction calling these ads tasteless and provocation using words to provoke readers saying that these ads are used with our deepest emotions in mind and we don't realize it. Her strategy was to show that it effects all of us one way or another we are all victims and fall for what these ads are selling us.

1st post

In George Orwell's essay "Shooting An Elephant", Orwell's use of the first person is effective in connecting and developing an understanding with the reader to the character. In the beginning the character describes his life and thoughts, giving the reader sympathetic feelings towards him.


The tone Orwell sets for the essay is that of shame and embarrassment, this tone is carried out throughout the essay. It begins with being ridiculed and laughed at by the natives, along with his dislike of imperialism.


Orwell's use of imagery is a powerful tool. The use of imagery assists in the reader's experience of the essay. When Orwell describes the natives and their actions towards the character and the European, he paints a picture for the reader, thus making their connection to the essay and character stronger.

Post 1



     In her article, "Jesus is a brand of Jeans", published in the: "New Internationalist Magazine". Jean Kilbourne unravels this gigantic propaganda effort by advertisers ;trying to persuade people with their ads, promising them    of transformation and transendence with their products rather than people. Her tone on her article is that she's very concerned because the advertisers are not aiming at a particular audience but the general public which is very dangerous to younger generations.

     One of her strategies to convey this so called gigantic propaganda effort by advertisers is provoking the title of her article " Jesus is a Brand of Jeans", and she also repeats it in one of the paragraphs in her article to acknowledge that advertisers are also using spiritual concepts to persuade people to sell their products. The effect of this spiritual concept by advertisers can lure customers to buying the name brand Jeans called "Jesus", thinking that it will somehow help them spiritually, but the idea is they're trying to sell customers the jeans. As Jean Kilbourne says, " When spiritual values show up in ads, it is only in order to sell us something."

     It seems that she wrote the piece to grasp the attention of the general public, and it is not intended for a particular audience. She also uses her personal experience as a smoker to convey that advertising can make people, for an example addicts feel that they are in a relationship with their substance, as Jean Kilbourne says, "they are twice seduced-by the ads and by the substances themselves." In her thesis: " In the history of the world there has never been a propaganda effort to match that of advertising in the past 50 years." really sums up her whole article about the impact that advertisement have in our modern societies and the past.

Directions for Post 1

Discussion Post 1

For this first post, you’re going to do a rhetorical analysis (a brief one) of one of the following four essays. These are on the list; you can still choose one of these for the paper itself. That said, these selections are longer and bit more complicated rhetorically than the others, which is why we’re exploring them in the discussion (and why you’ll still find a lot to explore in the paper you should choose to continue on with the selection you analyze here.

What to do:

Choose one of the following essays. Do a thorough analysis of a portion of the essay (ideally, the beginning) having read it in its entirety. Thus, you’ll have at least three paragraphs of analysis. You should explore at least two strategies (ideally, three). You should preface this analysis with a thesis statement based on the piece. This is a practice thesis, and one I can comment on in a low-stakes environment . . . before you submit a paper.

Choose one of the following: “Shooting an Elephant”, “ excerpt from “Santaland Diaries”, “Dearly Disconnected”, or “Jesus is a Brand of Jeans”.

Sample thesis below, based on "Still Needing the F Word".

Thesis: Anna Quindlen’s title, “Still Needing the F Word”, really sums up her central point. In it, Quindlen argues that, as a culture, we are in fact not beyond or “post” feminism, and thus we need to embrace not only the term but the social, political, and economic realities that feminism acknowledges.