Archive: 2008

The U.S. population is becoming less and less overwhelmingly white. Projections suggest that, by 2050, whites will compromise less than half of the population. This trend, according to the New York Times today, is being driven by our kids. Below, a map shows the percentage of non-white children in each state of the Union.

Among other things interesting to me about this discussion is the tendency to compare the proportion of the population that is “white” with the proportion of the population that is “not white.” This reinforces the notion that white is somehow pure and important, and everything else is just… something else. While some say that we will no longer be a “white nation” (for better or worse) when whites are outnumbered by non-whites, whites will still be the majority insofar as the non-white group is comprised of an incredibly diverse group of people by race, ethnicity, and immigration-status.

Here at Sociological Images, we’re interested in how our standards of beauty are based on a European (that is, light-skinned and straight-haired) ideal. See here and here for examples. A reader pointed out that Syesha Mercado, a contestant on American Idol, has been progressively de-ethnicized.

Here is a photo of Syesha from early in the competition:

Here is a photo of her from this week (end of April):

Am I the only one who thinks she looked prettier before?

However, the stylists have thus far let the white kid keep his dreads:

Thanks for pointing this out, pj!

Andrea G. in Switzerland snapped these pictures of an ad campaign for TerraSuisse natural agriculture. Their tagline translates as “TerraSuisse guarantees natural Swiss agriculture.” They might be useful for a discussion of doing gender (West and colleagues) or gender as performativity (Butler). As Andrea S. noted, it’s obvious instantly that the bird is supposed to be female and the chipmunk male by their pose alone.

Posed like a chick:

Posed like a dude:

They might, also, be a nice contrast to this one for which a gender is not immediately apparent (to me…but who knows in Switzerland):

Thanks Andrea!

Miguel E. sent us these interesting images and text. They may help illustrate the notion of polysemy and the importance of how our interpretation of images is influenced by copy.

You may have seen this Hillary Clinton nutcracker around, but did you know they are selling it at the super popular Urban Outfitters?

Analiese M. said that when she “ran across this item in Urban Outfitters online store… [she] emptied [her] shopping cart.” Awesome, Analiese!

NEW: A commenter on this post, Ana, says she found this on the Urban Outfitters store also:

Note: It also comes in George W. Bush, but not Barack Obama.

More sexism and racism in the 2008 elections: sexist anti-Hillary propaganda, comparing sexism and racism, and “How do we beat the bitch?”

Julie C. caught this assumptive KFC ad:

As Julie says: “Because, of course, only moms cook…” Thanks Julie C!

Also in women are responsible for cooking and cleaning: a commercial montage, Italian dye ad with a twist, women love to clean, homes of the future, what’s for dinner, honey?, liberation through quick meals, and my husband’s an ass.

Alicia T. sent us this promotional material for “Psycho Teddy.” I can’t tell if it’s an actual stuffed bear, a cartoon character (see video below from youtube and purchase the ring tone if you so desire), or both.

Text:

We’re letting our Pulse members in on the latest craze… he’s cute, he’s cuddly, he’s a great dancer, but he is also insane… don’t call him at a bad time, or you may trigger a psychotic episode!Apart from that, he really is a very sociable, well traveled, well connected Teddy, who is storming up the charts and fast becoming the world’s favorite bear.

I think he goes psycho about 1/3rd of the way in. Enjoy![youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9jjM74-Nx0[/youtube]Thanks Alicia T!Also in mental illness: kipnapping ads get pulled after protests.

I thought these two images were interesting because they are using sexualized images of men in a magazine called Metropolitan Home. It struck me at first because it’s pretty unusual to find sexualized male bodies used in ads targeting a general audience that might include straight men. Then I started thinking–maybe the fact that it’s in an interior design magazine means advertisers assume the readership is mostly female or, if male, gay, so there is little fear of offending straight men with these types of ads.

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