ENG101 Yücel's Blog

'The Merchants of Cool' by Frontline

2007-12-02T11:34:00.000-08:00

"Has the video changed the way you think yourself and the choices you make? In terms of Adorno and Fiske’s theories has anything changed?"

The documentary 'The Merchants of Cool' shows us how five media conglomerates (e.g., Viacom, Sony, News Corp.) investigates the trends of teenagers, take these to the next level, then present it back to kids. They learn the new trend, and improve it again and again... This interaction becomes a vicious cycle or an autocatalytic feedback process, carrying the teens to extremes, and teens' money to the corporations.

When I watched the film, it really got me thinking. I thought how I tend to care someone's looks and take their looks as a valid criterion of evaluating that person. I used to fancy myself unaffected by the media. However, although I was aware of the influence of the media on others, I was completely oblivious to its effect on me. I noticed that I was minding appearances not as much as the majority, but to a certain degree.

I was shocked. An unnoticed influence on me was supposed to be a problem, so I expected to find a solution. The first answer that came up in my mind was to leave appearances aside completely. It was more difficult than it sounded. When I came to think of it, most of our clothes were made for their looks rather than their practicality. Why does almost everyone wear jeans? Why do most teenagers wear sneakers? To fully resist the influence, one has to stop wearing these and start wearing some God-knows-what. Maybe some primitive clothes just able to protect from heat, rain and cold. Then, I thought whatever it would be; it would be something weird for others. Therefore, resisting to influence would ultimately mean being totally ostracized. For a greater cause, this can be considered a small fee. However, I couldn't dare to declare open war.

Bitter at the defeat of my line of thought, I'm trying to forget about it...

Barbie as a symbol of oppression

2007-11-25T23:09:00.000-08:00

Barbie® is a young woman with a "perfect" body. She is independent; she can make a living on her own. She can be a businesswoman, a Nascar racer or a pro bowler. She is, also, an ideal American. She joins the army, Marine Corps or USAF. She celebrates the 4th of July, drinks Coca Cola®. She can be an American Indian, a pilgrim or a civil war nurse. Each of these traits makes Barbie® more of a symbol of oppression.

Barbie® is the image of the physically perfect woman that is created by the media. She is even thinner than the models, has longer legs, bigger breasts and hips. She is blonde and always with her make-up on. If with all this sex-appeal, she were a star of adult entertainment, she would be less harmful. Because she, also, has little feet, small hands, a nice smile, the pink theme, fluffy pets and because she is a doll, little girls can easily relate with her. Therefore, the first group of traits, which could be connected to a porn star, finds lands to be imposed on the little girls. Companies do this because they want those girls to grow up to be consumers when they are teenagers and adults. They will have learned what is beautiful, sexy or cool and they will spend on things like clothes, make-up, cosmetics, gyms, magic diet formulas, and plastic surgery operations. They will buy and get these things so that they can become the sex object that the media tells them to become.

Barbie® portrays the strong, free woman of the modern day. She can be a secretary or a businesswoman. However, fashion is at least as important as success, if not more. Look at the description of Career Girl #954 outfit, at http://www.barbiecollector.com/showcase/product.aspx?id=1002167&t=vintage:

Barbie® doll looked both fashionable and ready to meet the challenge of a hectic day in the business world! This two-piece black and white tweed suit featured a fitted jacket with wide collar and four-button closure, and a slim skirt. Accenting the ensemble was a sleeveless red cotton shell, matching hat with velvet ribbon band and red satin rose accent, long black tricot gloves, and black open-toe pumps.

The women that have grown up under such influence like this would probably become businesswomen that get promotions because of their looks. Another group of jobs that a Barbie® can have is those like astronauts or Nascar racers. These are so far-fetched caricatures that they lose their meaning in terms of freedom. Lastly about occupations, you cannot see Barbie® as an engineer, a scientist or a mathematician. The closest she can get to being a doctor is either being a vet, or a nurse next to Dr. Ken #793. The reason is just as Teen Talk Barbie® says: "Math class is tough!" or "Will we ever have enough clothes?". As these phrases by Barbie® herself show, girls are not supposed to understand science or maths, they are just supposed to look good in nice clothes.

My last point about Barbie® is beyond gender. To males or females, she can be the example of how an American should be. Although this could be nice for American kids, Barbie® is a popular toy in many countries throughout the world, e.g. Turkey. A Turkish or Spanish girl should not be raised with American ideas, especially when those ideas are of the 'American Dream'. A Brazilian girl will look at Barbie® and think why she was not born in the U.S., why she is not blonde, why her family does not celebrate the 4th of July. She will decide she is unlucky to be born Brazilian, creating an identity problem that will live with her afterwards.

Barbie® with her appearance, her different occupations and her American way of living creates a false standard for girls all around the globe. This standard (together with the media's influence) carve the base for their oppressed adulthood. As Mattel says at http://www.mattel.com/our_toys/ot_barb.asp:

More than a doll.™
From fashion selection to vintage collection, she's everything!
From urban teen to fantasy queen, she's every girl!
From surf and sand to fairyland, she's everywhere!
With more than $3 billion at retail, Barbie® is the #1 girl's brand worldwide.
For every girl. From every world.
Barbie®

'Killing Us Softly' by Jean Kilbourne

2007-11-07T05:46:00.000-08:00

In the film ‘Killing Us Softly’, Jean Kilbourne argues that advertisements show or imply a certain ideal woman who is thin, “polished”, silent, passive and submissive. She tells that this figure wounds the self-esteem of women and young girls, reduces the woman to a sex object, and paves the path to violence to women.

I agree with her argument because the objectification of woman is really occurring. In modern times, most of humane values have been deteriorating. Instead, monetary values rise. That is why ads are degrading women and "killing them softly". Ads, or people who prepare those ads, do this because it is easy money they earn through the primitive sex drive of men. Let's take the First Neogum Lava commercial for an example. The product has nothing to do with men, women or sexuality. However, the commercial includes scenes of Azra Akın riding a mechanical gum like rodeo and her sitting on a chair with water pouring down on her (referring to the chair dance scene from the movie 'Flashdance', which tells the story of a strip club dancer). These scenes make the commercial able to tap into male consumers' subconscious so that they can distinguish this brand from the others. The commercial may be successful from that point of view; but, while doing that, it demeans women by showing Miss World 2002, supposedly a prosperous woman, as an object. (Furthermore, beauty contests themselves are the climax of the "male gaze" with girls competing for it.)

The film shows the audience that ads can truly affect women by creating this ideal woman. For example, when women see that figure, their understanding of power is altered. Instead of independence and self-sufficiency, beauty and appreciation by men becomes the "definition of power" for them.

Although Kilbourne's humorous approach made me laugh at some parts, the situation is grave. Especially, parts like "Put some weight on", "Great hair never dies" or "Fetish: Apply generously to your neck so he can smell the scent as you shake your head "no"." are very worrisome. These ads trivialize issues like anorexia, death, and sexual assault. These may seem products of some sick minds; but if the society is continuously exposed to this, the cases of murder and rape would eventually become unimportant for the society.

As a result of globalization, similar kinds of ads are spreading through the whole world. Kilbourne's opinion about American culture and American ads is, more or less, valid for Turkey. It has been quite some time since the ordinary Turkish housewives started doing aerobics, spending a fortune on cosmetics and clothing, just to look like that woman on TV. Today, young girls are always on diets, an increasing number of boys goes to gyms for body-building.