The text:
Drink it in. Pop star? Not exactly. Milk is more my move. Some studies suggest that teens who choose milk tend to be leaner and the protein helps build muscle. So, shut up and drink. Body by milk.
Here is a link to an MSNBC segment on the Lebron James/Gisele Bundchen Vogue cover. Thanks, Carmela Z.!
Here we have buying bottled water--a product criticized for its environmental impacts--portrayed as a form of humanitarianism. Also, in smaller text the ad sneaks in a plug for a movie: "Ethos is a proud supporter of 'Running the Sahara.' In theaters this spring." I presume Matt Damon stars in it. Why can't celebrities just donate their own money instead of trying to get us to buy something expensive just so a tiny bit of it goes to a charity?
And in the tiniest print down at the bottom you learn that 5 cents from every purchase is donated to the Ethos Water Fund. The Impulsive Buy says Ethos costs $1.85 a bottle (I found that price listed elsewhere as well). Also, Ethos is owned by Starbucks.
You might want to pair this image with this, this, and this.
Thanks to an anonymous poster who suggested we seek these out and put them up.
See our other post about America's Next Top Model.
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How do we feel about this campaign, by Keep A Child Alive, to encourage people to donate money to Africa on the basis that we are all African? (Apparently we only care about ourselves, so if we suggest that Africa is ourselves, then we'll donate?)
Dp Americans, many of whom are white people with privilege based in race, class, and nation, get to claim Africa as theirs? Do white people now get to have blackness too? Is this insulting? Some people think so. Here is a larger version of the poster with Gwyneth Paltrow (scroll down for a response):
I borrowed this image from Blackademic.
I thought these might be useful for making explicit some current cultural trends--I think things like the focus on pregnant celebrities' bodies are more obviously absurd when they're made so apparent.
Making fun of our obsession with celebrity pregnancies:
What the male version of a teen mag might look like:
This is Julia Roberts winning the Oscar for best actress. It was 2001. Notice that, despite the fact that she won for her portrayal of a very highly sexualized woman, she isn't a stick figure. In fact, relative to the twigs of today, she is actually kind of thick and has pretty big arms. Could a woman could go to the Oscars looking like this today and not get called fat in the tabloids?
This post is dedicated to my pregnant friends. You should buy this t-shirt.
In class this week my students and I are talking about the triple threat of production, consumption, and reproduction that characterizes modern capitalism. I use the cultural imperative that women have and raise babies (reproduction) and be beautiful and sexy while doing it (consumption), all of which is paid for by someone who is busy earning money at a job (production). Below are some of the images I use.
Be beautiful while pregnant (images from A Pea in the Pod and covergirls Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera):
Running in high heels while in the third trimester? Why, of course!
Get your body back as soon as possible (as demonstrated by Gwen Stefani and Tori Spelling):
If you're not sure how, buy some books (all the better)!
Resort to suspicious drugs if you need to:
Or get a Mommy Makeover. Extensive cosmetic surgery, that is:
Recommended by Parenting Magazine!
The 30-second (or so) videos below have been interspersed with MTV's regular programming as part of Black History Month. MTV got Cornel West to be their superstar academic and expert on the Black American experience. The videos serve as the occasion for some interesting questions:
First, how do we evaluate the use of Black musicians, actors, and personalities by MTV? Is "representation" enough? Or does contemporary representation look uncomfortably like the representation of the past? (If you haven't seen it, watch Spike Lee's Bamboozled.)
Second, what does it mean that Cornel West signed on with MTV with what is, in effect, a mutual endorsement? Do we approve of Cornel West using his significant influence and importance in this way? Is this good from a reformist perspective? Problematic from a radical perspective? Did he "sell out"?
Third, how effective are these spots? I know little about the audience of MTV, but I imagine there are a lot of people who do not know who Cornel West is and are not inclined to offer him immediate respect. Cornel is idiosyncratic. Does your average MTV viewer see a gap-toothed, afro-wearing guy with odd mannerisms called "Professor" (which, we know, could mean anything) as authoritative? Or a buffoon?
Further, what do we think of the spots themselves? Is their content helpful? Do they teach us anything? Do we like what they teach us? Or is it just more empty lip-service to Black Americans?
Watch and tell us what you think (click here for a link to all the clips):
Above are photos of Jennifer Love Hewitt that have been showing up everywhere since they were taken in December. They were used as evidence that she has gotten fat.
Here is a video from youtube called "Is Jennifer Love Hewitt Fat?" It starts out with pictures of her in formal dresses, then moves on to the bikini pictures and splices in shots of her eating, then shows the bikini pics again...and again...and again. Then toward the end it shows her bikini pictures next to the Hanes ads she's in, where she obviously looks a lot thinner. Then they show several ridiculing images people have made of Jennifer Love Hewitt since the bikini photos came out, showing her incredibly obese.
Here is a video of Jennifer Love Hewitt responding. I couldn't figure out how to embed it, sorry.
And here is a video from youtube of Janice Dickenson, a former model, defending Jennifer Love Hewitt...by calling Tyra Banks fat.
These could be used lots of different ways. Obviously you could discuss the pressure on female celebrities to be super thin, and the scrutiny every part of their bodies gets. But you could also look at the discourse going on here. Jennifer Love Hewitt responded by saying "A size 2 is not fat!" Janice Dickinson defends her by comparing her to a woman who supposedly is fat. So the ultimate message isn't necessarily that women shouldn't have to be thin, but that this particular woman isn't fat. That could lead to a useful discussion on empowerment--what's the difference between empowering an individual woman ("I'm not fat!") and empowering women as a group ("We need to fight against this idea that only one body shape is acceptable")? Is the discourse we find here really liberating to women in general, or just to those who are a size 2 or smaller?
Most female celebrities, when photographed in an unflattering manner, disappear for a month and then reappear in transformed bodies that have been starved and exercised until they are worthy of display; they are then welcomed back with open arms and their transformation is praised. It might also be interesting to use Hewitt's responses in a discussion of how difficult it is to try to resist hegemonic ideals of beauty--how do you defend yourself and respond to mainstream ideals when you're one of very few people even trying to do it?
