Literature Review Questions

I am nervous about not finding enough information to support my hypotheses. There is so much information that needs to be put into one paper, I am afraid I will forget to reference or cite some sources.

Questions to ask:

1. What is the easiest way to organize all your sources?
2. How do you reference websites? I can't find it anywhere on apa.org or owl.

Victoria's Secret- what to think?

The other day I was watching television and a Victoria's Secret commercial came on. I am always shocked at how they film these. Of course the women are all wearing lingerie and the music is usually dramatic. Often times, the commercials have no one talking in them; there are a few times though, and those usually consist of Heidi Klum, a supermodel with an international accent, or just a random woman with a british accent. The commercials emphasize the women's breast, legs, and body overall. The women are usually wearing heels and in a sexy position with wind blowing in their hair. If you have never seen a Victoria's Secret commercial, which I am sure you have, please click on the links I have below.

Since when did it become okay to show women in lingerie? If it is not okay to wear lingerie in the public, it should not be okay to show lingerie explicitly on T.V. Victoria Secret commercials make women want to look sexy. There was a commercial they had where throughout the commercial, they had someone saying "baby baby baby" over and over again (video is available on the bottom). Also, the Victoria Secret's fashion show is the only fashion show I know of that is advertised on regular television. This makes it available to everyone to watch. Why aren't other fashion shows advertised like this? I know Project Runway holds a fierce fashion show, but that is only available on cable; it is less accessible to the public. How is it that women in lingerie (being sexually objectified) can be shown to the public?

Victoria's Secret commercials not only attract the attention of females, they attract the attention of men as well. All the males in my life know what Victorias Secret is, but they have no idea what Betsey Johnson is. Betsey Johnson is a famous designer who creates clothing (dresses, swimwear, lingerie, shoes, etc.) for young women. I was reading an article the other day and someone at the University of MN conducted a study about bags and how they can impact how shoppers feel. The results suggested that women can feel sexy just holding a Victoria's Secret bag.

What is this world coming to?

Victoria's Secret Commercials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToERznfI30o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Rzltk03M0

How NO Television for 72 Hours Affected Me

When I was first told about this 72 hours of no T.V. watching assignment, I was perfectly content. I don't watch television on a regular basis anyway, so this assignment would make no difference to my life.

Even though I was confident the T.V. ban wouldn't affect my life, when Justin reminded us that the ban was taking place this week, I became nervous. What if my husband watches television while I am doing my homework and I accidentally look? What if I become so bored at work that I accidentally go on Youtube and watch some videos? I realized that although I don't watch T.V. for news and entertainment, I did use the internet for those things quite often. Therefore, this ban would affect me in many ways I never thought of.

Wednesday and Thursday were easy days for me. I was too busy with school and work to even think about television or videos of any sort. The only difficulty I encountered was with the election results. I was curious as to who won the race for Ramsey County sheriff because I had a close connection with Bob Fletcher; I was also interested in who won the governor's race. I couldn't watch the television for results, so I had to rely on the internet, because I had no newspaper. It was awkward looking for the 2010 results online. I looked up the results on the Secretary of State website by county, city, precinct, etc. and it was confusing. I just wanted an overall simple answer. The website also stated that all results were unofficial until certified by the State Canvassing Board, which confused me even more. I don't know much about politics- either they win or they don't. I searched for Bob Fletcher and discovered that he was losing to Matt Bostrom by quite a lot. I didn't find out about the close tie between Emmer and Dayton until Wednesday morning when I was listening to the radio on the way to work. I didn't try to get the election results any other way. I supposed I could have talked to others about the election, but no one seemed interested.

Friday was the most difficult day for me to abstain from using the television or watching videos. After a long week of school and work, I just wanted to sit down and enjoy a movie, but that was forbidden. I purposely worked later than normal so I didn't have to come home so early. When I did get home, I just spent more time cooking and cleaning than normal. After that, I surfed the internet. I was on Facebook and E-Bay for quite some time. I was so tempted to log onto Netflix and watch a romantic comedy. Netflix and Youtube were only a few letters and clicks away, but I held out. I had a headache anyway so I just went to bed to put away all my miseries.

Access to news, information, and entertainment is so readily accessible. It comes in so many forms and we like to use whichever one is most convenient. For me, the computer is my most convenient tool. I use the computer for everything! I am with a computer for at least 5 hours a day! Computers are everywhere and more personal than the television. They are usually limited to an individual user, unlike a television where two to three people can share and watch with you at the same time. Not only that, with internet access, the videos you view are time efficient because you can forward them exactly to the section you want to view, not like T.V. where you have to wait for your news to come on and the commercials are at least 2 minutes long. Internet access is very hard for me to refrain from. It can do everything that radio, television, and print can do.

Article Review

Amanda Zimmerman and John Dahlberg’s article, The Sexual Objectification of Women in Advertising: A Contemporary Cultural Perspective, attempts to find how young women today feel about being portrayed as sexual objects in advertising. The authors summarize how advertising has changed over time for women because of the dramatic increase in the sexual objectification of women in ads, magazines, television, and other types of media. They give some brief background information about Ford and Sciglimpaglia’s 1977 survey findings where they discovered that younger, wealthier, more educated women were the most critical or bothered when it came to women being represented sexually in the media. Zimmerman and Dahlberg also reference a second survey done in 1991 by Ford, Latour, and Lundstrom indicating that “women still thought that advertisements treated them as mainly as sex objects, showed them as fundamentally dependent on men and found the portrayal of women in advertising to be offensive.” Because Zimmerman and Dahlberg were interested in discovering how current women feel about these ideas, they conducted a survey using a small convenience sample of female college students. The surveys were similar to those of Ford, Latour, and Lundstrom 1991 survey in that they used female students from a co-educational private college. “Statements taken from Ford, LaTour, and Lundstrom measures women’s attitudes toward advertising in general. All statements were measured on a 7-point Likert scale, and probed attitudes toward role portrayals of women in advertisements as well as the effects those attitudes had on company image and purchase intention.” In the end, the research concluded that “educated women’s attitudes toward advertising are significantly more accepting of sexual objectification over the past decade. Despite an increase in sexual objectification in advertising, young women have become less offended by their portrayal.” Their research showed women’s perspectives about being represented sexually changed over the years and that women actually accept this idea more than ever. In fact, the respondents viewed sexuality as power. “Sexual content dominates the media, and new feminists see female sexuality as power.”

I would have to agree that majority of women are not offended with the idea of women being portrayed as sexual objects. With sexuality all around us, it is sad, but many women have come to accept this idea. Sometimes, we don’t even notice that we are being sexually objectified. The only chance of an ad getting criticized is if it were extremely sexual, showing a lot of skin, or suggesting any sexual activity within any child’s boundaries. There are of course some women who choose not to let the media influence them, but overall we are influence by media somehow. I think many women try to dress and act like these sexual women that are being displayed in the media. I do think they look at it as power because it can make some men do certain things for them. That is why during Halloween, many women like to sexify their costumes.

Although this survey was helpful, because it was a convenience sample, the results are not as promising. Majority of the students who took this test were likely interested in media; what about those who hate media and want nothing to do with it? Their votes would not be counted in this survey at all. Not only that, but just because someone attends a private college, it doesn’t mean they are rich. Zimmerman and Dahlberg tried to recreate the same sample the prior researchers used; females who were wealthier and higher educated. However, I feel their sample may actually be quite different from Ford, LaTour, and Lundstrom's sample . There was no way to detect Zimmerman and Dahlberg's sample’s income level or education level. What if some members of their sample were actually on academic probation? There were also only 94 students surveyed; that is not a large enough sample. In order to be more precise, there has to be a larger sample and the sample has to come from many different areas and not just one college. What if these students’ views were completely different from another region? This study is helpful for knowing how a small population feels about the sexual objectification of women, but it is not a good semblance of the overall population.

Bibliography

Zimmerman, A., & Dahlberg, J. (2008). The sexual objectification of women in advertising: A contemporary cultural perspective. Journal of Advertising Research, 48(1), 71-79. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=keh&AN=31438910&site=ehost-live

Gossip Girl- Too Racy for T.V.?

Please take a look at the link below.

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1758172160/tt0397442

I remember a few years back when I found out Gossip Girl would be airing on The CW, I was curious. There had been a lot of buzz about this new show and I was excited. All I knew was that this show would be about rich girls, hot guys, and high class living. Blake Lively was also one of the main characters on the show, and because of her roles in past movies like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, I assumed it would be a friendly, girly, lovely- type series. Boy, was I wrong?

Gossip Girl ended up being a very taboo and sexual series. Many of the characters in that show had sex even before graduating high school. They didn't seem to encounter the same issues that average high school girls encountered. If any girl in high school was sleeping around as much as Serena (Blake Lively) or Blair (Leighton Meester), they would be titled a "slut" and disliked school-wide. However, these two girls were the popular girls and never disliked because of their sexual past.

Are Serena and Blair not considered sluts because they are rich? If lower-class teenage girls were having sex as much as they were, would they hold this title too or not? I think Gossip Girl is trying to make sex look high-class and natural. Blair Waldorf is a sexual beast in this series; she has a love and hate relationship with Chuck Bass. She wears sexy lingerie, secretly has sex with him, and even comes on to him.

I wouldn't mind if this show consisted of characters in college or beyond, but to be targeting high school girls, I do get nervous. In fact, when I found out my high school sister was watching Gossip Girl, I freaked. I didn't want the show to affect or confuse her values. I think media affects people in so many ways. It creates a lifestyle that people may try to imitate. It creates stereotypes or attitudes that may have never existed before. Now that I think about it, this show is even more eventful than the adult series: Sex and the City. Sex and the City does reveal actual naked body parts, but the sex scenes are less tantalizing and shown. Besides, Sex and the City is an age-appropriate show because the actresses are older and the conflicts are more realistic.

I honestly think Gossip Girl is too racy for television. It may send teenagers the wrong message and promote sexual activity which could lead to many detrimental outcomes. These young women should not be seen as sexual, rich, and powerful. This is for the most part, is fiction, and young minds may interpret it differently.

Hot, Sexy, and Kick-Butt

I was listening to the radio in the morning on my way to work sometime this week when I heard about this new movie that would be coming out in spring of 2011 titled "Sucker Punch." That title sounded familiar, so I searched for it on Youtube. It was quite nothing like I imagined. I thought this movie would fall within the same category as American Pie or Road Trip- a comedy! This movie ended up being about a young girl who enters a rehab or prison-like mental facility. There she meets other troubled girls like her and they fend off dragons, monsters, and other evil sorcerers together. I truly have no idea what this movie is about, but the graphics are very eye-catching.

Sucker Punch Movie Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR5RaZupoO4

One of the other things about this movie that caught my attention was the actresses. The main actress in this movie is a girl named Emily Browning; she starred in that Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events movie. All the previous roles she played made her sweet, innocent, and a fresh-faced beauty. Her real hair color is brown but because they dyed her hair and added tons of makeup to her in this new movie, she looks completely different. She has become a sexual, violent, and powerful object complete with a school girl uniform.

Other famous actresses in this movie are Abbie Cornish and Vanessa Hudgens. I've seen Abbie Cornish take roles in romantic films, but never like this one. Vanessa Hudgens, the high school musical starlet, has never settled for movies like Sucker Punch before either. She was a Disney star and carried the face of innocence for many years.

This movie is sexifying women. They used to play sweet, innocent, and romantic roles. Now, they are all make-up loving, strong-willed, and physically capable of defending them self from all dangers of the world. I say makeup-loving because none of their faces look naturally pretty. They look very Barbie-like, especially Emily Browning. You notice the fake eye lashes, heavy eyeshadow, thick liquid eyeliner, blush, and short skirts (skimpy outfits). Even one time during the trailer, at 1:!4, they show an eye that's getting mascara put on its lashes. This movie is somewhat promoting cosmetics.

So, why does the media portray women as hot, sexy, and kick-butt? There's a part of me that thinks women do want to be this hot, sexy, and kick-butt girl. Most women in the history of movies have been portrayed as weak and needy with an eagerness for men to help them. With this new idea of women being beautiful, independent, and strong, I think they like it. I also think having sexuality has become a power. Do you agree or disagree?

Here's another example of women playing sexy and powerful roles:

Charlie's Angels:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pireUuRxe8

Werther's Candy: The Switch From Using Males in Commercials to Using Females

Have you seen the new Werther's caramel chocolates commercials? If not, you should really take a look. I've seen Werther's commercials before, but never like this. Many past Werther's commercials featured older men and their grandsons to administer a family-like, generational feel. However, these newer commercials feature women and show no resemblance of prior ideas.

There are two different commercials and they each feature a different woman. Both women are physically appealing (not super model skinny-like, but average framed beautiful women) with upbeat personalities who are probably in their late 30s or early 40s. During the entire 30 seconds of each video, the women are explaining their experience with these new chocolates. Of course the way they vocalize their experience is delightful, positive, and ravishing. However, why am I writing about this? I am curious as to why Werther's all of a suddenly changed from using males in their advertisements to using females.

Old Werther's Original Caramel Commercials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byEmdbLo1PA

New Werther's Original Caramel Commercials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32CgDn7B3xw&NR=1

Werther's Caramel Chocolates Commercials:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk-LfLD2OPk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOaxgoeWbj4


Why did they decide to use women to showcase these new chocolates? Is it because they wanted to release themselves from the "traditional" look they have always possessed and try a new twist? Because there were two commercials for this new product and both of them were made with women, I question why they even had two commercials. The scenarios and messages were similar. Isn't one commercial enough? If they are going to create two commercials, why not have one be a man and one be a woman? How does having only women advertise this product make these commercials more entertaining or persuasive? I looked at other Werther's caramel chocolate commercials for other countries and they were made with women also.

Seeing these commercials just strengthened my curiosity about women in the media. Maybe these commercials were just a coincidence. Maybe this is a one time thing for Werther's and their future commercials will use grandpas and grandsons again. Who knows? In doing my research on women in the media, I hope to answer these questions.

Halloween Costumes for Women: Sexy or Conservative?

Now that Halloween is just around the corner, I've started my hunt for the perfect character to dress up as- Snow White. At first, I wanted to be Jasmine from Aladdin because we both have tan skin and long dark hair, but then I realized she had a gaping belly. Because of that, I changed my mind and picked sweet, safe, and covered up Snow White instead.

After searching for 20 minutes online for Snow White costumes, I came to the conclusion that her costumes were either too sexy or too expensive. On the website, Buycostumes.com, they had 12 Snow White costumes, but only three of them were conservative, while the other nine were very revealing and sexy. Not only that, the three conservative outfits were the most expensive ones! Are they purposely making the sexy costumes cheaper so women would buy them instead of the conservative costumes?

Many of the costumes were titled "sexy." For example, there was "Sexy Snow White costume" or "Sultry Gypsy." What ever happened to just being simple? Is this the way women should dress or maybe want to dress? Short skirts, high platforms, and knee-high tights? Even though I didn't pick Jasmine so that I could avoid wearing revealing clothes, I came upon the same problem anyway with Snow White.

What are the Halloween costume options for women nowadays? Over the years, I have seen an increase in sexy costumes for women. I've noticed a costume company titled "Leg Avenue" that creates many sexy costumes for women. If you go to a Halloween Express or Spirited store, you will see this brand throughout the store. Their costumes are usually wrapped in a plastic container of some sort with a sexy picture of a girl in the costume. It is almost impossible to find a regular costume in these Halloween stores nowadays and even if you did find one, it is likely that it will cost more than the sexy costume.

SO what does this mean for a mother like me who wants to dress up and take her kid out on Halloween night? Do we choose to be sexy or do we choose to conservative? What are we supposed to be like and why? Who made these decisions? Those are some questions to ask yourself.

I don't know about you, but for Halloween night, I'm wearing a jacket, jeans, and tennis shoes.

Please click on the websites below to see some of the costumes I saw.

• http://www.buycostumes.com/Classic-Snow-White-Adult-Costume/38994/ProductDetail.aspx
• http://www.3wishes.com/fairy.asp
• http://www.legavenue.com/en/women/costumes/fairy-tales/83642/

Thank you for reading this post!

Proposal

Feminism and media representations

For my research project, I have decided to focus on feminism and how it is projected in the media. Feminism from my point of view, has anything and everything to do with women and the roles and ideas they occupy in the society. Feminism deals with the idealistic ways women should act and behave.

Over the years, I have noticed that women are appearing more and more in ads. In fact, they seem to be appearing in ads even more than men are. Why is this? Aren't men viewed as the epitome of all living things? Is it because women are more attractive than men? Is it because women have a certain aura about them? Do women have a natural selling ability? In doing this research, I hope to find the answers to those questions.

Sometimes the media portrays women in positive lights, while other times they may be negative. Because of this constant label change and stereotyping of women, I want to research how women have been portrayed in the media throughout history up to now. I have a desire to know if the wave of women being displayed as sex symbols has minimized. I also want to uncover if women are playing new roles in advertisements. These new roles would consist of managerial positions, tough, and independent roles that men occupy. Do women have a chance at taking over commercials like Oxi-Clean and Shamwow which are advertised my men with demanding personas? I want to discover what the media pathway for women in the future will look like.

Not only do I want to discover the different ways women have been portrayed in history and compare it to how they are portrayed now, I would like to learn how women feel about the way they are portrayed. Do they accept that they are being portrayed as sex objects? Do they accept that they are never portrayed as a strong, independent, and highly paid individual? How do women want to be portrayed?

In doing this research project, I hope to uncover the answers to all of the above questions. Answering these questions will aid me in finding out what the future of women in media holds. It will give me an idea of what women expect from the media and how they would like to be portrayed. This information will be beneficial to women everywhere who want a change in the way women are being represented.