Sunday, February 22, 2009

Advertising...

We see hundreds, possibly even thousands, of advertisements each day and yet most people still think they are not effected by such things.  This week I got the pleasure to watch Still Killing Us Softly 3.  While watching this movie it was scary how the media have advertising down to an art.  It's a science...exactly who and when and what they want their product directed toward.  It's creepy when you actually think about it.  I find myself being one of those people who doesn't think much about advertisements, and usually I don't find myself paying much attention to them (or at least I don't think so...).  But the truth is advertisements probably effect us all a lot more than we think.  There was one clip of an ad that I found to be very disturbing.  It was an older Calvin Klein ad for jeans and it was supposed to resemble child pornography.  The commercial was a young girl standing in front of a camera in what looked like garage or something.  The strange man behind the camera then told the girl she should take off her pants.  It was such a horrible thing to take such a disgusting subject and horrible thing that happens to young children and make it into an advertisement for jeans.  I just couldn't believe that.  

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Men...

This week in class we discussed Barbie and her influence on young children. Barbie's impossible standards are something young girls around the world will never quite live up to... But this week in class it wasn't the Barbie discussions that raised questions for me, but the discussion of male body image. We generally think of women when we think of body image issues. Women are usually the ones with the insecurities, fears, and pressures. However, nowadays more and more men and young boys are dealing with body image issues. Pressures to stay in shape for a sport, or to look good for a girl cause many young men to have view themselves in a negative light. Wrestlers need to diet and exercise to make a certain weight class, football players need to stay at a certain weight to maintain their position, and male models are now also faced with the need to be stick think in order to book certain jobs. Negative body image is more and more becoming something men and women need to take on together. Our society as a whole will be a lot healthier when men and women, alike, are focusing on staying healthy instead of fitting into an ideal body image.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

He's just not that into you...

I just saw he's just not that into you  today and it was a pretty funny movie because for the most part it was so true... The movie was a great combination of comedy and romance filled with  many great actors.  

One of the best parts about the movie was how relatable the story line and characters were.  I can name 4 different friends of mine whose boyfriends have cheated on them, which to me would be a clear sign that he's "just not that into you", but my friends obviously don't see it that way.  I strongly feel that women should respect themselves enough to not allow someone to treat them that way.  Now, I know these things are easier said than done but it just seems to me that many young women need to start believing in themselves and realizing they will do greater things in their lives than dating a boy whose not that into them.  

Anyways, the movie was awesome but just made me think about how dating is nowadays.  The movie also brought up a good point about how the times' have changed.  It used to be phone calls or letters or face to face conversations, now it's emails, text messages, and writing on facebook walls.  I think I liked the calls and conversations better:)