I have only seen it a few times, but I think it is so adorable. So I felt compelled to share the commercial and my opinion with the world! Plus I have a Toyota and I love it.
Enjoy!
Breasts have been completely objectified. March 27, 2007
Here are a few pictures that came up when I typed in breasts. I can’t believe how much female anatomy has been objectified. No wonder women are considered objects, in a world that takes their body parts and puts them on display to mock and stare at. I get really irritated when it comes to the objectification of women. Haven’t people figured there is so much more to women than hair and boobs? I just think it sends out some really bad messages to both men and women.
Women are seeing these images and comparing themselves to perfect bodies and objects. And men are constantly viewing women as objects… Objects are easier to subordinate, abuse, hurt and use than women… and yet the media keeps on telling us that is what we are. Just objects.
So basically, anything and everything can be sexualized in today’s society. It seems like everything is about sex in the media, on the street and in our homes… it is everywhere!
EverQuest ever too much? March 26, 2007
I am particularly drawn by this week’s topic, not because I am a gamer, but in fact the opposite, I am not. I really don’t know very much about gaming, except the typical… “video games are a waste of time and way too violent for young children.” Little did I know there is so much more to it. Gaming has “penetrated mass media” and thus requires deeper analysis.
In particular I and the media often look at gaming as just that, a game, but it seems there is more to games… Stories, characters, conflict, competition, social interaction and networking. I think as technology has improved gaming has become more socially interactive.
The EQ article focused on the complex social networks that developed among players. I think that is an important distinction, not the characters, but the players. The game encourages and almost forces players into interdependent relationships in order to succeed. This made me consider that perhaps there were valuable components to gaming.
If you think about sports, running around after a ball… some could argue this is a waste of time. But then the rebuttal to that is the players learning to work together, interact, overcome conflict and be entertained. Could one describe gaming in the same way? Yes to some extent.
I would however, argue that gaming in a virtual world removes one from the face-to-face social interaction that is disintegrating primarily as a result of the internet. Friends online are good, but are “Real Life” friends being eliminated?
I think gaming, just as anything in life requires balance. My boyfriend (an avid gamer) goes to school until about 4pm five days a week and from about 4pm – 9pm he is gaming at a LAN in Calgary. This seems like a lot to me. He does not play EQ… but does know people that do.
Now I often find myself in awe of the fact that he spends so much time there, but he says he likes to go there because he gets to play the computer games he likes with other people online. Furthermore, he goes to one particular gaming place, because he has become friends with the other players who go there. So for me, this is evidence to what Jakobsson and Taylor discuss about groupings and interaction that takes place during gaming.
Gaming does have some limitations to a form of social interaction that primarily occurs starring at a screen in a virtual world… I asked my boyfriend about EQ, and he immediately stated “it ruins lives”. I became intrigued after the readings had just swayed my perspectives a little towards the positive… He explained in gamer talk “you become consumed by the beast” and play for hours on end to build up a character. Perhaps some players allow their online lives to consume their “offline lives”.
Well, this was also evidenced in the guild requirement from the article:
“You must play more EQ than you spend time sleeping. We need people who are dedicated and like to play a LOT. Our raid time is generally 4-12 PST in the evening. If you can’t make it for that, Fu isn’t the right place for you.”
This is a little extreme… And no different than someone who spends 8 hours a day watching television losing their social life…
What do I think?
I am looking forward to our class discussion on Wednesday because this is a topic that demands attention.
Personally, I don’t think gaming is as bad as I thought. It is simply another medium of social interaction.
Boobs, boobs they’re everywhere. March 26, 2007
Do we all have a little Booberexia?
Well I have to say I don’t usually think about my boobs, until now! But I do think about other things. The things on my body that I feel ‘don’t meet the standards’. Well the standards are freaking everywhere for us to compare ourselves to.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Well it seems that our perfectly fine, milk carrying breasts are okay, but we fix them anyways. They are not medically diseased or damaged, just not big enough or perky enough. They just don’t look like the air-brushed boobs in Maxim, so we have to go get them cut open, stuffed and sewed back up. In hopes that they will reflect an image into the mirror we will be happy with.
But where does it end? So you get the boobs “fixed” will you be happy or just have to buy new bras? I mean honestly it will never stop because we are inundated with pornographic images everywhere in our culture so we will constantly feel inferior.
To split or not to split? March 26, 2007
The answer is generally no (in formal writing it is probably good to avoid using the split infinitive).
The split infinitive is a grammatical construction in which a word or phrase, usually an adverb or adverbial phrase, occurs between the marker to and the bare infinitive (uninflected) form of a verb. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
A famous split infinitive is: “TO BOLDLY GO WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE”
Boldly (the adverb) splits to go (the full infinitive).
Anna Nicole No More March 22, 2007
I am so sick of the constant media coverage of Anna Nicole’s ‘mystery death’. There are all these hold ups and prolonged investigations… that I am really starting to think is just for mass media.
Dr. Phil is having a show on Anna Nicole today and his ‘experts’ are ET and Insider hosts. Come on! He is asking about the investigation to people who are playing it up for ratings every day. Furthermore, as I watched the first few minutes I actually became outraged. This is so ridiculous, someone died and that is awful… just leave it alone.
Now they are analyzing what she was thinking and who the father might have been… but really who’s business is it?
Dr. Phil was criticizing her mother at the funeral for shovelling 52 piles of dirt on the grave… Are you kidding? Why does this matter. It doesn’t. I thought Dr. Phil was supposed to help people with relationships… not solve murder mysteries!
Reading to much into things… March 19, 2007
Did anyone read those articles about Friends and Smallville? Although I do see the merrit in analyzing things I feel that those ‘investigations’ into the homosexual relationships on Friends and Smallville is more like taking an idea and reading into something to make it support your idea.
These shows are just superficial comedy and drama television, not carrying deep underlying meaning. I mean Joey and Chandler are gay? Sure the show played with connotations of homosexuality for humor, but I don’t think we should read too deeply into these things.
Although there may be some interesting ideas, I have to say Friends is just a comedy and that is about all the ‘deep interpretation’ I can give it.
I am officially stressed… March 18, 2007
Wow! I have been waking up dreaming about introduction paragraphs for all the papers I am writing. School is so busy right now. I just read another blog talking about stress and how good it feels to just let it out. So this is what I am doing…
I am finding that blogging is really like keeping a journal to just let out your emotions. I am have not really had a diary or journal in a long time. In fact I think my last entry was “____ said he liked me today and I got to stay up late to watch Full House tonight”. I have nothing against it, I just never really had the time or motivation.
I am finding my blog is just a place to chill and write and I am really enjoying it. The only thing that’s different is people read this diary and even make comments… I think it is great to go on a rant and have someone give you their perspective. It’s enlightening.
Segregation Island March 18, 2007
I remember when I saw the first advertisement for the new race-divided Survivor. I was appalled and with good reason. I anticipated that there would be public uproar when the show started, so I watched 1 or 2 shows so I would be able to contribute to the uproar. Problem was that I didn’t even hear a little roar and in watching the show to fight it, I actually ended up contributing to ratings. A real catch 22, when it comes to the media. You watch to fight against it, but in doing so you keep the show going and everyone just acts like the world is hunky-dory and does nothing.
It is no longer ‘survival of the fittest’ but ‘survival of the fittest race’. This show is taking steps back from individual equality. Yes, we are definitely not equal yet. The caucasian race still seems to dominate at the world scale, but we are moving towards integration and equality. Separating us by race in mainstream television is irresponsible and inappropriate. Pitting the ethnicities against one another sort of emulates a mini world war on our own television screens.
Even if the teams become integrated, only one person wins and that person represents their race. So the other three races are losers and the winner gets bragging rights because of the color of his skin?
I mean what’s next, Canadian Survivor, Aboriginals, Maritimers, Prairies and Frenchies all competing for the title of the best race or culture or whatever??? This type of media is inhibiting all movements towards social respect and equality.
This was not a social experiment, this was a move to get people to pick sides and create controversy. I am offended by this blatant segregation of the four “main cultures”. Not only are these cultures being stereotyped throughout the show, but now the world comes down to four types of people? Picking ‘the main four’ completely disregards the vast cultural diversity that exists within our world.
What really strikes me is that when it comes to divisions by race it is noticed, but what about “boys against girls” which is everywhere in our culture. Having groups compete to demonstrate their greatness will only evoke social problems. This world is divided by race, gender and class; so in some ways the media is simply representing society. However, since the media is so influential to our daily lives there is a grand responsibility on its shoulders to make accurate and unbiased representations about people and perhaps contribute to changing these inequalities
The other article about race and ethnicity in the movies raises some interesting notions as well. I think all races are portrayed in stereotypical ways that do not accurately or respectfully represent that culture as a whole. I think any movie or television show in the media can be dissected to find underlying racism and/or sexism. Because these things are so embedded in our real lives, they are also entrenched in our mass media.
The question is, is it the media’s racial and sexual portrayals that affect our culture or is it our culture that needs to demand changes in the workplace, government, education and the media?
Perhaps if the media could portray us all as equals, we could start to see it as a possibility in real life? I think that may be a little too idealistic and also scary to give such a huge responsibility to TV and movies!
Representing for their race…
Go Dove. March 11, 2007
I have to note that the Dove Real Beauty ads are a marketing campaign that I actually think are doing some good. They are using real people to represent their products and making real people feel a little better about themselves. They are not setting these unattainable standards with size 4 models airbrushed to be size 2. Go Dove.
I think this is the direction more advertisers need to move towards if we want to start teaching girls that they are beautiful just the way they are and boys need to see that this is what real girls look like. Those gals in Maxim don’t exist anywhere else except on those magazine pages.
Here’s an example of a Dove commercial revealing the truth about advertising:
One more…
PS: When I was at the store, this is the first time I purchased a product solely because of its advertising. Between Dove and all those others – I chose Dove.
