This is an image that graces the cover of a new documentary about intersex individuals called Black and White.
In general, though, I think it's a really powerful image that refuses to accept that women who are not young, with a teenage girl's body, and a submissive attitude are somehow offensive.
Woman as Monster
just in time for the holidays
Courtesy of feministing.com and the SWS listserv.
These are pretty disturbing for a number of reasons. Maybe it is just my wish that they aren't real, but I' m skeptical about whether they really exist. They don't appear to be photoshopped, but even though they're linked all over the internet, I couldn't find the actual place/s that sell them. And while I was searching around I found this mouse pad. Note that the size of the mini skirt is really very disturbingly small.
And I also found a lot of people who want to buy that pencil sharpener. And one person who thinks that this knife holder is "far more offensive" than the pencil sharpener.
What do you think? Oh, and the knife holder is available multiple places including here.
I'll award some kind of prize to whoever can find where the pencil sharpener and pen holder are sold.
Beauty Before...
Dorotha pointed me to this interview with Dennis and Elizabeth Kucinich on the Early Show. If you fast forward about halfway through, the journalists starts talking about how beautiful Elizabeth is, at which Dennis tells her that that's inappropriate and that his wife is a very accomplished woman who deserves attention for more than her looks, when the journalist turns to his wife, she just can't let it go.
When Liberal Agendas Go Awry
Yan from Samdiddog sent me this bizarre ad for this bizarre product. This ad uses a mini-skirt clad hottie to sell smoothies on the go. The product is eco-friendly and in favor of healthy life-style choices, but apparently feminist got left off the list. Check out the picture below and more on the product here.
Food Consumption
Here is a site with some really powerful images of differences in weekly food consumption around the world. There are pictures of 16 families from different parts of the world surrounded by what they eat in a week and the amount it costs. Very useful for discussing global inequality and food. It's a combined project from Time and CNN.
French Orangina Ad: Sexy Animals and Erupting Orangina Bottles
Orangina - Naturellement Pulpeuse
Uploaded by julien_mcfly
Make what you will of this. The sexual availability of the female...um...wildlife, all of whom are sexy and sexualized and dancing with the one male, the bottles of Orangina erupting from between the female zebras' legs, and the female octopus squeezing Orangina out of her boobs...there's a lot to work with.
Gah.
Agenda Setting
This is an interesting example of the way in which powerful media companies control what gets out there. MTV refused to show ads, made by the Media Foundation to promote Buy Nothing Day, on its station. They stated that the ad "goes further than we are willing to accept on our channels."
The ads are here. Thanks to AdBusters for this tip.
The Nanny Chain
I LOVE this image. It's a fashion spread.
Question:
Who's taking care of those little tow-headed boys behind the white picket fence when both mommy and daddy go to work?
I use this picture to talk about the way in which middle- and upper-class women are "getting equal" with men by transferring their caretaking responsibilities to less privileged women... who are, as in this ad, invisible.
So, Where Do Our Tax Dollars Go?
One of my favorite questions to ask in (especially) Introduction to Sociology classes is: In an ideal world, for what reason does the U.S. government exist? That is, what is a state for? For protection from other states? To protect private property? To maximize happiness? To pool and then redistribute resources for the collective good? It's something most of them have never thought about. After a discussion, I show them this:
This is where our federal tax dollars go. Students are horrified by the military spending, but completely stumped by the interest on the debt. Most of them have no idea that our debt has any consequences at all.
The pie chart is from http://www.nationalpriorities.org/. You can go every year and update your chart here.
Kudos
Jump on over to our new friends, lmw and scatterplot, who have generously offered to spread the word. And thanks, too, to slanteyefortheroundeye for linking to our individual racisms post.
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?
Capitalism Good, Communism Bad
Government propaganda films from the 1940s and 50s that trumpet the virtues of capitalism and warn about the dangers of communism.
The (Fe)Male Gaze
This "delightful" quiz in Us magazine asks viewers, segregated by sex, to judge women's breasts and what they do with them. Don't miss the fact that 56% of men and 31% of women prefer Heidi Montag with breast implants.
What, exactly, a reader is supposed to do with this information is a mystery to me. But there must be a use for this in some class somewhere.
Individual Racism Alive And Well
Here are some jaw-droppingly horrible pictures from various race-themed parties that I collected earlier this year thanks to good reporting and students who are unwise enough to put their pictures on the internet.
Pictures from a "South of the Border" party at Santa Clara University in California:
Indeed, that IS a pregnant woman, cleaning ladies, and a slutty gang member.
A party in honor of Martin Luther King Day at Tarleton State University in Texas:
boys and girls toy commercials
Posted on the SWS list:
Girl's commericals for the Rose Petal Cottage are here and here.
Boy's commercials for Tonka trucks are here, here, and here (click "watch video"). Gwen also posted one here.
Also, check out the Tonka "play tips" for moms and dads here and the "parenting tips for parents of boys" here.
shock and awe: war as entertainment
As a result of my dissertation research, I receive a lot of military emails and mail. Today I got an email called "shock and awe" with this text:
Raw photos and movies of explosions, fierce battles, inspirational footage and more, uploaded by members and military personnel.I don't think this website needs a lot of commentary. Note the "miltary.com: enterainment" logo in the upper left and the various kinds of entertainment offered-- tattoos, video games, books etc.
And take a look at the most popular videos: "Iraqi Cadets Can't Do Jumping Jacks" with the tag line "Oh boy we're going to be in Iraq for a while..." and "the BN Disciplinator" (with a lot going on race and gender wise). The "Disciplinator" is hard to watch but really, you have to at least get through the first couple minutes.
Dodge La Femme
The Dodge La Femme (1955 and 1956):
Here are some pictures of some restored La Femme's:
Check out the pink rosebud patterned upholstery:
It even came with matching accessories!
An umbrella and raincoat:
A compact:
A coin purse:
I think showing this car would be interesting in comparison with the contemporary marketing of feminine guns (see Gwen's post here). The guns look surprisingly like the car.
It would also be interesting, I think, to do a discussion about whether and how they market cars to women today. They do, of course, but the ideal femininity has changed and so, therefore, have the cars. Women, though, haven't changed very much. One of the reasons that the La Femme didn't sell was because women were, frankly, offended.
Embedding Ideas of the Female Body in Products: Chex Mix
Less fat = curves to show off = comparing Chex Mix to women's ideal bodies.
Kudos
Here's To Public Sociology!
Sociological Images was mentioned in a Baltimore Sun article today! The reporter found us because of our post about the Anna Rexia costume. I also linked to us today in my blog for the Huffington Post. Both the article and the blog post discuss the politics of Halloween costumes, especially the Anna Rexia costume. And, for images, Wendy and Richard offered some great ones here and here on our blog.
2007 Tonka Truck Ad: "Built for Boyhood"
The 2007-2008 campaign for Tonka trucks is "built for boyhood." You can see the ad at the Hasbro website. Click on the "watch video" tab. Notice all the messages about boys: they're just "built different," they get dirty, and they cause messes.
Sexuality, Health and Parenting: Gardasil
Notice that Gardasil is now trying to make a connection between its product and being a good parent--you are protecting your daughter by getting them this vaccination. Interesting way to counter the criticisms of the product.
Race and Beauty
Notice that this product line is called African Pride, and yet the model is light-skinned, has straight hair, and more typically "white" facial features.
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