General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: It is not about the swimsuit issue it is about basic respect for women [View all]KitSileya
(4,035 posts)(That was sarcasm, by the way.)
These images are part of a typical way of presenting women. They are how we see women presented all the time. It is what our culture has decided to think of as normal representations of women. Objects to be looked at - like the two examples you posted. Are these women doing anything but be half naked? No. Contrast them with the two pictures of men you posted - one is leading his men in a heroic stand against invaders, and the other is performing heroic feats with his motor cycle. I don't think you could have posted better examples that support my point.
Now, none have said that they want to take the SI SI cover to court - or even legislate against it. But you claimed that we couldn't do anything about feelings, and I stated that there was, and that we do. Another way we can do something about it, is to stop consuming it. To stop sharing these pictures. Stop buying things based on the ads that use these pictures. You don't think boycotts work? Let's see what Governor Brewer does in Arizona to see whether they work. And we can state that we find them wrong. We can, when the opportunity arises, state to friends, family, co-workers, that we find those kinds of pictures give young girls and boys the wrong image of how women should look and act.
As for your jab about my teaching job, you don't think I already do that? I wouldn't be preparing my students for real life if I didn't teach them how to analyze an ad. That way we teach them to see the manipulation of ads, commercials, even political speeches (we teach them rhetoric and poetic analysis too - they'd do a fine job on your post, I think.) But if you think that our classes can outweigh the 250 ad images any person is bombarded with every day, you are very ignorant.
What we see have a profound effect on how we perceive things. Does that sound contradictory? Let me give you an example. In tv series and movies, the average crowd scene, presented as equal representation of genders, includes 17% women. A crowd with 17% women is considered equal representation. A crowd with double that number of women, is seen as a group where the majority is women. How many women do you think we have in Congress right now? In STEM fields? If you said 17-18%, you would be right, but I am not giving you a gold star. We see Congress gathered, and we think that women have equal representation - that is how it works. The same goes for talking, too, by the way. When a teacher in a class gives girls 30% of the speaking turns, the class, both boys and girls, perceive it as girls being given more than half the speaking opportunities. So we teach teachers not to fall into that trap.
And the trap when it comes to women in ads and commercials? Well, men are still the majority of the owners of magazines, tv channels, ad companies - we try to tell men how these pictures make us feel. How they effect young girls and boys. We argue on message boards, and we push back against the push back we get, even on democratic message boards.
If you do not think that we can change the world for the better, what are you doing here?