Source: Shaggylocks. "How to Please Your Man: Sexist Coffee Commercial (ca. 1960s)." Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 29 Jun. 2011. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
Source: The Daily. "Top 10 Most Sexist Commercials of All Time!." Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
The advertisements and commercials during this era targeted the intelligence of women. According to them: 1) The only sport women participated in was competitive shopping. 2) Xerox copiers are so user friendly-even a secratary can do it. 3) If they have a "dirty little secret": it's definitely baking 4) A woman driving alone could be dangerous...unless you have polyglass And finally, the apparent epidemic of burnt coffee. Women can't make a good cup of coffee to save their life. Interestingly enough, my father made the community coffee in the mornings of my household, so this commercial really surprised me. I never thought it was weird that he made the coffee, but 50 years ago it was a BIG deal.
This media portrayal of women influenced how women were treated in this period of time. Women were thought to be helpless without male help, or just kind of stupid and ditzy in general. Women are supposed to be pretty, cook good food, and stay home with the kids. Oh, and how could I forget: make good coffee.
Today's Feminine Zeitgeist:
Source: Tommy Lewis. "Carls Jr/Hardees Mile High Commercial [HD]." Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 15 Nov. 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
Source: The Representation Project. "How the Media Failed Women in 2013." Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 3 Dec. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2014.
This is the age when things get sexual. Very nastily sexual. I mean come ON. A girl in a bikini eating a cheeseburger? It seems as if our advertising is getting more primitive rather than advancing intellectually. The sentence "I'm not saying she deserved to be raped, BUT..." should never be spoken ever. NOT EVER. Now, women are not only inferior to men (especially in politics), we are just bodies. But that's not good enough either. We have to be visually perfect bodies too. If you don't fit society's perception of beauty, you will be insulted and ridiculed, even if you have good ideas. But hey, don't feel so down. Even if you were beautiful, no one would listen to your ideas anyway
What IS this garbage? How could we allow these stereotypes to continue and get even worse over the last 50 years. This is the screenshot of a video I've posted a little further down. Look at the faces of the mediator (on the left) and the other female corresponder in the middle. These are their faces right after the man on the right said "there is nothing more than a woman loves to hear than how pretty she is." Even the mediator, who is just asking questions to these two experts is showing a reaction.
How we're fighting against Today's Feminine Zeitgeist:
Source: BuzzFeedYellow. "What Men Are Really Saying When Catcalling Women." Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 7 Aug. 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
Source: CNN. "Catcall video goes viral." Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 2 Nov. 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
Source: BuzzFeedYellow. "If Women's Roles In Ads Were Played By Men." Online Video Clip. Youtube. Youtube, 15 Mar. 2014. Web. 15 Nov. 2014.
This last video is my favorite because I think it describes the point I'm trying to make. These stereotypes that are displayed in commercials are inaccurate and weird. Everyone can see that it's so weird when a man covers himself in doritos and gives his lady a come hither stare, so WHY isn't it weird when a women does it. Just to be clear, the commercials themeselves are wrong because they portray stereotypes. I am not saying it's more okay for a man to portray female roles or a female to portray a male's role. It's not even okay for Budweiser to portray their consumers as macho, football watching, truck driving good old boys. Hello? I'm a twenty-one year old woman and I happen to enjoy my Budweiser immensely. And you know what, it's not even LIGHT. My point is, there shouldn't be stereotypes in media, period. No one should be targeted for acting or not acting a certain way. Both men and women should be free to act however they choose as appropriate.
I want to show the link between media and the feminine zeitgeist over time. How does what we see on TV or the internet condone the stereotypes of women? How do these subliminal messages affect you? You can say all day that you don't believe in the sexist, patriarchal BS on TV commercials, but since commercials haven't obviously changed much over FIFTY years, I'd say someone still does. Back in the day, it was all about how women were stupid and needed a man's help to alleviate this tragic deficiency. Nowadays, commercials have taken, in my opinion, a half step backwards. We're no longer stupid, we're just sexual. Oh yes it's true: some of us have fully-functioning (sometimes brilliant) brains. Lovely. Wonderful. Moving on. Can we please start to see more accurate depictions of women (AND MEN) in our media?