Sociological Images: Seeing Is Believing

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.

Kudos

Thanks for the support, Samedidog!

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.

Speaks For Itself

Via: NY Times Blog

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.

Masculinity and Class: Ford Trucks

Clearly this ad is making a connection between being "tough" and doing blue-collar work. The implication is that desk jobs are not "tough."

Here's what's really fascinating about this: I found the ad in a magazine called Entrepreneur, a magazine clearly aimed at an upper-middle or upper class audience who do desk jobs. Since I find it unlikely they're trying to actually alienate the readers of the ad, I'm guessing the point is to let these desk workers gain some "toughness" by buying a Ford truck.

Halloween costumes

Newsweek had an article today wondering if girl's Halloween costumes might be too risky. I wasn't surprised (I remember being shocked when I saw young girls dressed up as Spice Girls in 1998) so I decided to look around the Internet to find other questionable costumes. Not surprisingly, Halloween costumes are markers of not only gender and heterosexuality, but of race and class as well.

Let's take children's "occupational" costumes, for example. Here are some for girls: The French maid, nurse, and cheerleader costumes were the most prevalent.

And what about occupations for boys?

And look at how race is marked with some of the children's costume models (2 cats, and a dancer):

And note how the intersections of race, militarization, sexuality and gender are also displayed in this costume. The first is a children's costume, and the second is for teenagers. Both costumes are called "Major Flirt."

And now let's move on to teenage costumes. Here are some particularly popular ones for teen girls-- sexy devils and sexy angels.

And some teen girl "occupation" costumes (prisoner, referee, navy):

And of course there are teen bunnies-- "Hunny Bunny Teen" and "Classic Playboy Bunny":

And what do teen boys get to dress up as? Scary clowns, murdering maniacs, and pimps.

The costumes for couples are also pretty telling-- marked by heteronormative stereotypes. The first is a "Pimp and Kristy" costume, the second is a cop costume, and finally a costume of a brick layer and a woman dressed as a home, where the woman is literally displayed as the object, as the object of a man's action.

Anyway, happy Halloween!

Voting Rights Section Chief John Tanner

This is John Tanner, the Department of Justice Voting Rights Chief, talking to a Latino citizens group. He argues that minorities won't be hurt by voter ID rules because they die before they get old, unlike white people.

I don't know which is worse--the way he just says this casually, or the fact that it's actually true, due to horrible inequities in income and access to health care in the U.S.