chapter nine

Kilbourne got me to think about women in advertising. I agree with many of Kilbourne's opinions. Young women are used as objects, and no real intimacy is ever displayed. I don't think real intimacy should be on display. Why isn't sex something that America keeps private? Is that even possible? Media's representation of sex is fleeting, careless, pure fantasy, and void of all committment.
Sheesh. Kilbourne throws some reality at us. Models in "sexy" advertisments really don't even look at eachother. They don't. That is crazy. No human personality is ever shown. We see an image of a "perfect" body and interaction that is purely physical between sex objects. They look upset, or confused. They make sex seem rough, temporal, and only self gratifying. I hope that is not what sex is all about. Sex isn't about two people sharing themselves, it isn't about love, or committment. It's gross & self-centered.
Television is something I don't spend to much time watching. I don't have time for it, and I don't make time for it (with the exception of the olympics). And I thought I was unaffected by these kinds of advertisments, but I am obviously affected in that I am partially desensitized by these images. I don't think about the long term effects. I have not truly understood how sex is viewed as a result of advertising. I've never even thought about some of this.
I can think of a couple of companies that advertise clothing in a postive way, in ways that I enjoy. The Gap for instance, colorful people are portrayed having fun with eachother. It seems wholesome. The "perfect" body image is still present, but this model has personality, looks happy, and seems to be having fun!
http://www.gap.com/asp/shops/gap/sjp.asp?wdid=2678&tlocation=20&inst=1
In these ads the models don't look at eachtoher. They look very serious, bored, dark, and fake. There seems to be no emotion. It's just all about sex.
http://www.candies.com/ - this girl just got out of highschool
http://www.guess.com/Advertising/ - click on the vanity fair link
http://www.vuitton.com/ - it's just dark
http://www.maximonline.com/girls_of_maxim/ - yeah, what else do we expect from maxim?