The Reification Of Race

Toothpaste and tampons designed with your skin color "in mind." MultiCult Classics says:

OK, Pantene offers products designed with Black women in mind. But Crest, Always and Tampax?

Also, apparently the black that is beautiful is light-skinned, with supposedly "European" facial features. See also: black models that don't look black.

UPDATE: In the comments, Brian asked what I mean by "reification." Thanks for the question, Brian! I mean "treating an abstraction as if it were real." And, yep, race isn't real. See racial categories as a historical artifact and check out this great website by the American Anthropological Association.

As I re-read... the contradiction between the two last paragraphs (black models that look white and there's no such thing as black and white) is awesomely reflective of the reality of its race and its simultaneous non-reality!

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Soap Dispenser Allows You To Finger A Hot Chick

That's Italian, no?

Found here thanks to Andrew.


Also in women as things: the bitchcruiser and sinks and urinals.

Weird Tampon Ad from Australia

Here's the website.

Might be good for a discussion of hygiene and women's bodies or the history of feminine hygiene products and the way we think about menstruation.

Thanks, Patrick C.!

Advertising during war: Girls in slacks hail tampax

While tampons have been around since the 19th century (see the Museum of Menstruation for more history), they really took off in the U.S. in the 1940s. One of the reasons for this was a targeted campaign by Tampax that took advantage of women's new labor participation during WWII. These newspaper ads from that time period show the ways tampons were marketed to women who were not only working, but wearing pants on the job.

These ads would make for a great class discussion on gender and the homefront during war (not to mention a discussion of women's work and bodies)-- particularly on how gender relations and practices can change (temporarily or permanently) during wartime.


I found these at the amazing database of old ads that Gwen posted about. Thanks again for the link Martin W.!

Shave Or Men Will Never Find It

So apparently when women don't shave their body hair becomes a dense and impenetrable forest in which men will be utterly lost. I wonder what they're looking for... if it's what I think it is, it's a pretty underhanded threat. At least the brave explorers don't look disgusted.


Found here via copyranter.

Wear Make-Up Or You Will Die Alone

Found here.

Make-Up And Beauty Regimes For Men

Thus far in American history, the fact that men have escaped an onslaught of advertising for beauty products is a triumph of gender ideology over capitalism. Companies, after all, could double their market if they could convince men that they, too, were unsightly without make-up.

If a company were to try to market make-up and beauty regimes to men, however, their smartest move might be to masculinize make-up. And, this is, indeed, what some companies are doing. Here are some products. Their design is interesting, but their names are the most fun. Some of them are subtle, others not so much.

Studio Five Sport and Sun Tone Enhancer (or, as the ladies say, blush):

MensGroom Time Fighter (we call it anti-aging cream):



Male Species Power Face Mask (when you need a power face to go with your power tie):

4VOO Distinct Man Confidence Corrector (because you're going to need confidence when you go on your mission):

Ener-C After Shave Mission Balm (Is the shave itself a mission or are you going on a mission after you shave? And, is it impossible?):



Ken Men Battle Scars Healing Anti-Inflammatory Repair Cream (I guess you need this post mission):

Studio 5ive Double Stroke Cream Mascara (get it?):

Ken Men Cream Me Face Base (oh come on!):




Ken Men Blo-Job Bronzing Powder (you've got to be kidding!):

Also interesting is the Aveda marketing for hair and skin products aimed at men.


The products are called Pure-formance:



Notice the scruffiness of the men in the images, the dark blue-grey-black colors, and the use of nature. Below you can see the design of the products: brown, orange, grey, and sage colors with angular shapes (on a blue background, of course).



The first two paragraphs of text:

It's a biological fact: men are different. Their scalps are thicker than women's and on average produce twice the level of oil. This can make men more prone to sensitivity, dryness, itchiness, irritation and redness.

The Aveda Men collection is tailored to men's essential need for high-performance scalp and hair management that's easy to use.

So men are different than women. This is simply biology. They are more: "thicker" and "twice." And, of course, no matter what it is, it must be "high-performance."


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Gaultier Perfume Bottles Shaped Like Bodies

The first two are from the Gaultier Classique line. The third image is called Le Male. The final image is Fleur Du Male. You can see other examples of the women's line here.

Thanks, Melissa C.!

Consumption as Activism: Tampax and Always

Here is a link to a website sponsored by Tampax and Always about their work with the UN to give pads to girls in Africa, supposedly because these girls miss school each month because they don't have pads to wear.

Here is a t-shirt you can buy to support the program. It says "Use your period for good":

The t-shirt costs $21.99. Of this, $1 goes toward the program.

This brings up all kinds of issues--for instance, where does the other $20.99 go? To Tampax and Always? What do these companies stand to gain from this? Positive publicity or lifelong customer loyalty in Africa?

It could also be used as part of a discussion about consumption and activism--the idea we have now that you can just buy something if you want to fix a social problem. If you pick up any fashion magazine, there will be a page or an article in it telling readers they can change the world by buying some product--nevermind that only a tiny part of the purchase price goes to the charity.

For other examples of shopping as activism, look here, here, and here.

"Wildflowers And Shame"

This one's a treat:

Nair Hair-Removal Products for Teens

Nair (a cream hair-removal product) is now targeting teen girls. The Nair Pretty website treats shaving for the first time much like the first period--talk to your mom or older sisters! We know it can be scary! And of course what makes it scary is all the cuts and nicks you can get from a razor. And guess what? There's an easy solution!

I especially like that Nair Pretty is supposedly formulated especially "for the skin of teenage girls."

Dentistry

I'm sort of obsessed with the recent escalation in the standards for "good" teeth. I saw a film from the 80s the other day where Keifer Sutherland had yellow teeth. Yellow teeth! I am so well-adjusted to the new bleaching practices that I was genuinely disgusted. I'm not proud. Adding to all this bleaching are new technologies like veneers and invisible braces and whoknowswhat. As each becomes more and more common, it becomes more and more unusual to have less-than-perfect teeth and the pressure to undergo these cosmetic procedures becomes less about being extraordinary and more about being ordinary. Anyway, I found this in the New York Times (see source in image):


Any guesses as to who it is in society that is disproportionately cavity-stricken?

Or... anyone interested in critiquing the line graphs? That is a really rapid change between '99-'02 and '03-'04 and there are a lot of years strangely lumped together. Could it be an artifact of bundling?

Beauty Products as the Solution to Stress

Sexy Women as Rewards for Consuming the Right Product

I'll leave it up to you to decide if "testees" is a pun.

Asserting Masculinity

Sunsilk Shampoo Ads from Glamour Magazine

Before...


















...and after.


Good for showing how gender is inscribed into product packaging, how packages become symbols of ideal femininity, and the normalization of cosmetic surgery as a way to achieve that ideal.