I need that necklace! How advertisers make me feel lonely…

“Save Money. Live Better” (Walmart) “Open Happiness” (Coca Cola) “The Happiest Place on Earth” (DisneyLand)

         As a fish swims in water, we in the western cultures of the United States and Canada swim in water made up of advertising.

         In light of Black Friday recently passing and the Christmas countdown on full swing, buying gifts for friends and loved ones is at the forefront of our minds.

         Sut Jhally, founder and Executive Director of the Media Education Foundation once said, “To not be influenced by advertising would be to live outside of culture. No human being lives outside of culture.[1]”

         Now, advertising in and of itself is not bad. For example, advertising is an important way to disseminate information. However, one problems lies with the fact that the cultural advertising climate that we live in has been deduced to a scientific art in order to make us feel lonely and empty. In the 1962 Time article about David Ogivly, “the most sought after wizard into today’s advertising industry,” stated,

“Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.” [2]

         Keeping in mind that Christmas is coming I thought discussing this topic may resonate not only with myself but hopefully others as well. After reflecting on the Ogivly quote, you may feel content that advertisers are working hard to determine exactly what you want. As for me, I feel unsettled. After doing more reading, I realized there was a deeper issue and it struck a chord with me.

         The western culture that I and hundreds of millions live in, is a culture that values consumerism and individualism. Why is valuing consumerism and individualism a problem, one may ask?

         The answer lies in the fact that people need meaningful social interactions with other people; this fact is greatly supported by anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists.

         As social media expert Jean Kilbourne points out, a consumerist culture becomes problematic because we can create relationships with products or activities. First, relationships with products or activities are not fulfilling in the same way as having an engaging friend whom you can confide in. Kilbourne continues by saying that feeling loyal to or passionate about a product is dangerous when the product is potentially addictive, because an addict does feel as though they have a relationship with their product. An individualistic culture can be problematic because autonomy and whatever a person wants to do (recall the popular expressions “to each person their own” or “what I do is my business”) is often valued over social responsibility to each other.

         What can occur, and is occurring in our culture, is a feeling of emptiness when consumerism and individualism are regarded as highly prized values.[3] For the consumer to feel empty is the best scenario for the advertiser. The emptier or more incomplete I feel, the quicker I am to search for something to fill my void - whether that is food when I’m hungry, cute work-out gear when I want to look sexy and athletic, a glass of wine when I need to de-stress etc. Buying the latest product or consuming more should fill the void of whatever I am feeling, and living in an individualistic culture encourages me to “do what I need to do” to feel better.

         Furthermore as Kilbourne states,

“Advertising creates longings for products, and exploits real human desires”[4]

         All people are hard-wired to yearn for intimate relationships (romantic or platonic) that will last. What advertising does is create a climate in which we are promised lasting relationships with products; when a friend fails, product x will be around to never disappoint. It is important to note that what is being played on is our deep emotions. Do you feel sadness, disappointment, anger, frustration, hurt or jealousy? Don’t worry this shampoo will last forever and never leave you feeling let down again. Do you feel happy, joyful or revitalized? By purchasing this diamond necklace you can feel it intimately close to your skin and therefore happy forever; diamonds last forever right? Each emotion portrayed in an ad, explicit or implicit, is used for selling purposes.

         As the advertising guru, Ogivly states,

“There isn’t any significant difference between the various brands of whiskey, or cigarettes or beer. They are all about the same. And so are the cake mixes and the detergents, and the margarines… The manufacturer who dedicates his advertising to building the most sharply defined personality for his brand will get the largest share of the market at the highest profit.”[5] 

 So where does that leave us? As I stated at the beginning of the article, Black Friday has recently passed and Christmas is on the horizon; buying gifts for loved ones is inevitably on our minds. However, some are going into this Christmas season with heartaches, hurting or loss. Whether we end up purchasing the beautiful diamond necklace or amazing pair of booties, we need to remember it is our friends and families who are going to fulfill our desire to be in relationship with others. No matter what the advertisers try to make me believe, I know what will truly make me feel satisfied and content.

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[1] Jhally, S. (1998). Advertising and the end of the world (a video). Northamptom, MA: Media Education Foundation

[2] Time Magazine (October 12, 1962) US Business: The Men on the Cover: Advertising

[3] Kilbourne, J. (1999). Can’t buy my love: How advertising changes the way we think and feel. New York, NY: First Touchstone Edition 2000

[4] Kilbourne, J. (1999). Can’t buy my love: How advertising changes the way we think and feel. New York, NY: First Touchstone Edition 2000. Quote, page 77

[5] Time Magazine (October 12, 1962) US Business: The Men on the Cover: Advertising

WARNING: We Are Being Watched as to How We Respond to the Victoria Secret Fashion Show

When you hear the words ‘Victoria Secret Fashion Show,’ what happens? Does your confidence slowly start to erode? Do you feel inspired after seeing the models strut the runway with the new lingerie? Or, maybe you cringe at the idea of hearing all the self body-shaming that occurs on social media the day before and after?

The inevitable VS Fashion Show has come and gone. Taking into consideration the different emotions and thoughts we have, here are two important issues I believe we need to address.

While I believe most of us like to feel beautiful, a desire that I consider perfectly healthy, the VS fashion show like so many other ‘celebrations’ of women treats us as though this is our only quality.

This is problematic because as the American Psychological Association states, when women consistently view other women depicted in such narrow ways we are negatively affected. Different ways we can be affected relate to sexual dysfunction, enforcing narrow attitudes, and beliefs about what femininity is, and can lead to an increase in mental health problems such as increase in depression and eating disorders, and a decrease in overall life satisfaction[1].

For me, the VS fashion show is the one of the most publicized reminders of the way that our society continues to celebrate and value women’s sexuality and physical attractiveness to the detriment of other qualities. Nevertheless, we must face the reality that in the coming years the Show ‘will go on’ and figure out ways that we can protect ourselves.

A) Be the example to others that women can be both beautiful and intelligent!

The media is a highly influential source of learning about gender norms and ideology.[2] With women like those in the VS fashion show being consistently portrayed in one dimensional ways research is able to show us that it actually socializes women to think of themselves as objects to be looked at and evaluated.[3] One recent study found that adolescent girls who viewed sexualized media internalized societal beauty ideals more often, which led to them valuing their appearance over being competent at a skill![4] While there are many ways that we can counter-act this, I believe there are some very practical and simple ways to begin.

 First, realize that while our beauty as women is not dependent on our body, much of our world continues to think so. Each of us have female friends who are skilled at things pertaining to business, athletics, academics or something else. It is important to empower and encourage other women in areas that don’t just pertain to their physique.

 Second, and this is something that we often fail to consider, younger girls especially are watching us to see how we respond to such depictions. If we want girls to grow up to feel empowered then we need to be examples and lead the way in showing how to value not just our bodies but the rest of ourselves. An interesting study has recently shown a correlation between a mother’s negative body-shaming talk and her daughter’s evaluation of her own body[5]. The study also stated that mothers have the power to help their daughters filter the cultural standards and challenge conventional ideas of what beauty is. It does not matter whether you are a mother or not because the point is that others are watching us. With research demonstrating that girls as young as 5 years old are developing serious disordered eating attitudes,[6] I think it is imperative we understand the influence we have on other girls.

 B) Realize you too can have the same confidence and power that the VS angel models exude in whatever endeavor you decide to pursue!

While casting the girls, Collection Creative Director Sophia Neophitou says, “It’s all about ‘Do they have the confidence, the power to captivate you in that moment when they are projecting themselves to one thousand people in the audience and the millions of people that are going to watch them on T.V.?’”[7]

Are they actually casting the women based on their confidence and power?

In part yes, but mostly no. Of course you want a model that is going to walk with her head held up high and project confidence. However, don’t tell us this is the main criteria right next to the “workout like a VS angel” video on the website. Months ahead of time, as many of the models confess they have strict work-out and diet plans before the casting call. Furthermore, women previously have been portrayed as submissive, and now part of the lure in watching the VS show is how the angels are so confident and assertive. However, that begs the question: What is confidence? How does a person powerfully captivate you?

Most social psychologists would argue that confidence can be learned, and that essentially YOU can fake it until YOU make it. Or in this case, fake it till you feel confident. If you stand tall, smile, look people in the eye, and raise your voice while you speak you will not only feel confident but will be powerfully captivating to the person you are talking too. Therefore going back to the appeal of watching the confident models, I would say that it does not matter that they are confident because the original problem is that they still are celebrated in terms of their bodies.  

 Bottom Line:

What we invest our energy into will influence us. Whether you decided to watch the VS fashion show or not this year, just remember to keep a critical mind. If watching the VS fashion show made you feel bad, next year do something that makes you feel good. Read a book or learn something new! Empower yourself in a way that does not mean you have to focus on your body.

 Remember that (a) your beauty should never be the sole focus of who you are and (b) you can learn to become a confident, beautiful and intelligent woman in whatever you decide to do – be it engineer, designer or home-maker. We, as women, are so much more than our physical beauty and we need to keep reminding each other of that!

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[1] American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2010). Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report-full.pdf  

[2] Behm-Morawitz, E., & Mastro, D. (2009). The effects of the sexualization of female video game characters on gender stereotyping and female self-concept. Sex Roles, 61(11-12), 808-823. doi:10.1007/s11199-009-9683-8 

[3] Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women's lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology Of Women Quarterly, 21(2), 173-206. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x 

[4] Vandenbosch, L., & Eggermont, S. (2014b). The role of television in adolescents’ sexual attitudes: Exploring the explanatory value of the three-step self-objectification process. Poetics, 45, 19-35.doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2014.06.002

[5] Polak, E. L. (2014). Mother-daughter conversations about appearance: Body image development through joint projects (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). UBC: Vancouver.

[6] Rome, E. S. (2012). Eating disorders in children and adolescents. Current Problems in Pediatric and Adolescent Health Care, 42(2), 28-44. doi:10.1016/j.cppeds.2011.08.003

[7] Sophia Neophitou, (2013) Casting the 2013 Victoria Secret Fashion Show (Victoria Secret). Retrieved from http://vsallaccess.victoriassecret.com/2013/11/07/casting-the-2013-victorias-secret-fashion-show/

Objectify Me... For The Artistic Expression. Actually Don't.

The 2015 Pirelli Calendar has just been released. It was shot by legendary photographer Steven Meisel who recently said in a press release, “In my opinion, these are the key aesthetic models of today’s world. They represent the stereotypes that the fashion and star system impose upon us right now.”[1] Well Mr. Meisel, I agree with you completely there – the fashion and star/celebrity system is yet again imposing this narrow stereotype of what beauty and feminism is.

He goes on to say, “… Since I wanted to limit the use of clothes and accessories and since I had absolute creative freedom, I found it very exciting to play with the colours, the makeup, and the materials. It was a very rewarding experience.”

I am not against an artistic expression of beauty. I think playing with colours, make-up and materials can create powerful images. However, Mr. Meisel, the poses that you have shot these models in, is another beautiful illustration of how women are continuously sexually objectified. Women are dependably depicted in the media in ways that exclusively value their sexual and physical attractiveness.

Why is this so harmful?

Research tells us that the effect of living in a culture that sexually objectifies the woman’s body has negative impacts for both the woman and man who are viewing the sexually objectified picture.[2] When women consistently see images of other women sexually objectified it socializes them to think about themselves in terms of objects to be looked at and evaluated![3] Other studies have shown that after men view sexualized images of women they rate them as less capable intellectually and physically and score lower in egalitarian beliefs about men and women.[4]

Artistic expression is a beautiful thing. However, artistic expression that consistently portrays women in a one-dimensional narrow way is not beautiful, because the over all impact on the audience is detrimental.

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[1] Wilson, J. 2014, The Pirelli Calendar 2015 Just Keeps Getting Hotter (NSFW Photos). The Huffington Post. Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/18/pirelli-calendar-2015_n_6177344.html

[2] Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women's lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology Of Women Quarterly, 21(2), 173-206. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x

[3] Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women's lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology Of Women Quarterly, 21(2), 173-206. doi:10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x

[4] Behm-Morawitz, E., & Mastro, D. (2009). The effects of the sexualization of female video game characters on gender stereotyping and female self-concept. Sex Roles, 61(11-12), 808-823. doi:10.1007/s11199-009-9683-8