marketing towards women
The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf is the talk of lip at the moment! Despite it pretty much being required reading for Feminism 101, I only got around to reading The Beauty Myth this past weekend. There have been arguments that feminism and feminist theory is too deeply welled in academia, and that it can [...]
Books for budding feminists: Naomi Wolf, the beauty myth
The book that made me realise that I was a feminist was “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf. It is essentially about the ways in which images of beauty are used against both men and women to make us feel more vulnerable. The book has chapters focusing on different aspects of life, work, religion, culture, [...]
sexist advertising: show us some boob and we’ll buy anything
Sex sells. I’m not denying that, but it shouldn’t have to be used to sell everything. Anyone with even an online advertising degree would agree. There was a time when advertisements for socks didn’t include a mostly nude woman lying in a provocative pose just to guarantee sales. Now it seems that the advertising world [...]
are men’s magazines fostering rapist attitudes towards women?
Men’s magazines aren’t generally known for fostering positive attitudes towards women, if at all. However, a recent study conducted by psychologists in the UK has revealed that most participants in the study could not readily distinguish comments made in popular men’s magazines from quotes from interviews with convicted rapists. Men between the ages of 18 [...]
h&m’s computer-generated models: what kind of message does this send?
The bodies of most of the models H&M features on its website are computer-generated and “completely virtual,” the company has admitted. H&M designs a body that can better display clothes made for humans than humans can, then “dresses” it by drawing on its clothes, and digitally pastes on the heads of real women in post-production. [...]
botox to go: the new christmas present?
Christmas can prompt pretty ridiculous purchases (tis the silly season, after all). Even so, the concept of syringes and permanent marker on flabby body parts are not exactly festive imagery. Given that plastic surgery and anti-aging processes are actually pretty gory, what’s with their creeping into the market as a new Christmassy gift possibility? The [...]
You’re IT, girl
You want your celebrities to have some brain power, right? Or at least have decent taste. Wear some Ray Bans, for instance, and a floral dress. Hold a Penguin Classic for when the need to read strikes, or carry some vinyl LPs in their second hand bike baskets… Well, the ‘famous tides’ turn all the [...]
faces, fakes and photoshop
My favourite subject at school? Photoshop. Okay, that may be a little misleading, but in between maths and basic geography, I got pretty good at enhancing digital photographs. It wasn’t that I took a class in it, per se. It’s just that over two digital graphics subjects and a work experience placement in the pictorial [...]
Being sucked in by advertising
Despite being fully aware of the advertising industry and the clothing industry’s ways of manipulating the consumer, I am still sucked into certain advertising and clothing industry campaigns. For goodness sake, I just got an email from ASOS about 20% off and I clicked straight over without hesitating, just in case I found something, even [...]
Gap-toothed is the new black
The fashion industry is bored with its own air-brushed perfectionism. Now, gap-toothed models are all the rage, moving away from traditional ideals of beauty to celebrate the authentic and quirky. Open up a recent issue of Vogue, and you’re likely to see Georgia May Jagger, the full-lipped, goddess-haired daughter of Mick, flashing her gap-toothed smile. [...]
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