Questions for a second reading.

1. In this essay Bordo uses her middle aged humor to help her piece flow. She makes her points, for example on page 174 she states her excitment for the ad that portrays “the body parts we love to squeeze”. Her essay is informal, its as if you are talking to your moms funny single best friend. Shes older and respectable but then she has a funny side to her. Bordo uses this strategy to flow with this sort of essay. Because the subject matter she is speaking of is sort of “overexposed” she makes you feel comfertable reading it by breaking the mood or acting as a friend to the reader. The reader then pays closer attention and becomes more involved with the writing.

2. The sub sections act as chapters in a book do. They give you a title, an idea for what the reading is to be and it draws the reader to become interested. The loudest of the subsections I believe is the first two or three that intrigue the reader with plenty of rude humor and naked pictures of men. Each subsection touches on mens desires as well. Men obviously care about how they look and it is more prevelent these days whether one is gay, one asks his wife “Honey, what do I wear?” or they want to look big and tough. The final two subsections are the meat of the essay, the main drift.

3. Her argument about finally being introduced to male culture in this society by being introduced to the advertising of nude men is a great example over differen”subject positions”. She now finds herself interacting as males do when they see a woman with little clothes on for an ad for Coca Cola or something. She speaks of the different looks and positions that models give us. The lean and look away look gives the consumer the idea that the model is the object and we control them. The rock hard stare at the consumer is a staring contest between the product and the consumer…made so the product wins because pictures dont blink. The only thing these ads do for me is realize that the guys in the pictures do look cool, but they are made to look that way just to sell the product. After reading this essay I look at the ads and dont feel much because the entire argument is that we are supposed to interpret the photos as “masculine”, the arent really that way. The lean is just a cool stance that any one can do. The stare is just an intimidating glare that anyone can do.

4.

Ads- Question 2

In this ad we see a woman playing pool either at a bar or this mans fancy home. This represents the womans power…she looks dominant with the pool cue in her hand while putting some chalk at the tip. The phrase “Live it to the Limit” emphasizes that if you wear these pants you will push life to the limits and that is exciting. Then also notice the mans face…he is interested in this woman because of her dominant behavior, this is different because it is characteristically a male feature. The womans behind is also tight and cute, but at the bottom it says “A fit for every-body” therefore it lends out to overweight or not as fit people as well.

Here we have a male looking out over a balcony into the ocean looking extremely pensive and sophisticated in his dashing sweate, wristwatch and hat. The most intruiging part of this ad is the American flag border. The company is pressing Nationalism, if you are an American, Gant clothes is a respectable company for your attire. The phrase “Authentic American Clothes since 1949″ gives them their sense of legitimacy in the American clothing industry. They attempt to add in a sense of pride into their fabric.

Ads- Question 1

In the first ad thereis no sexuality, there are men and women in each drawing and they are all extremely formal in their attire. They resemble wholesome young adults of America. Also with each photo not only does Kotex give you a reason why to wear their “napkin” but they also give advise about proper hosting, train-dinner talk and introductions. This represents the olden days, the 40s and 50s when everyone wished to be wholesome and clean cut. To be in the know about a proper lifestyle is to be in the know about the proper tampons. The second ad shows a spread out model blurred below the waist with a night gown on and a bit of her breast showing. The writing below states “Be a Beautiful Story”, now the interest in tampons is not due to a proper lifestyle but rather to be beautiful. And to “Be Sure” you are beautiful you have to use Kotex. This is during a time of rebellion, the 60s or 70s when this model took this shoot the kids were freeing their minds, and this ad represents the sexual aspect of this time period.

Questions for a Second Reading

1. Douglas’s interpretation of the “perfect woman” has a toned butt and thighs. These women are knowledgable about manly things like old movies that were predominantly watched by men or they partake and know about sports. Their body is desireable to the eye and they use enough makeup to cover up all things undesireable to their peers. Women with bags under their eyes, with wrinkles and a bit of fat around their bodies but stay healthy or those women that Douglas commends. It was interesting when she noted that a womans face, her original face, tells the story of her life. The bags under her eyes remind her of the sleepless nights in college or with her new born baby. These are the women she admires and surrounds herself with because they work to make themselves happy, not their peers.

2. One important phrase she uses is deconstruction. She relates it to the deconstruction of ads in magazines. To break down the ads and the articles so that the reader can digest the meaning of what is trying to be sold. Is it really just a cream that will cleanse your face and avoid wrinkles? Or is it the media banging into your head that having a clean, wrinkleless face is the norm and is what you have to do? Another interesting tactic she uses with her words is when she describes different types of advertisements. With creams there is “building construction”, “high-tech approach”, “science and technology approach” or the “star wars approach”. Each of these in a way relates an idea of predominantly male occupations and interests to womanly cleansers.

Pictures

In this photo we see two muslim women covered from head to toe. These women may possibly desire to be toned and have perfect butts but due to religious and cultural constrants are forced to cover their entire bodies.

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2119/images/20040924002810301.jpg

Janet Reno is in no way attractive, she is not a typical beauty described by Douglas in her essay

http://www.network23.com/hub/msfine/reno.gif