Archive: 2008

My friend Jason is giving a talk on the constitutional limits of video surveillance (thank goodness someone is) at the 2008 California Police Chiefs Association Conference. In case you’re still trying to convince your students that jobs are gendered, that there is an imperative to marry, that heteronormativity is in place, and that women are expected to conform to emphasized femininity… check this out:

The conference website has a page for “Spouse Events”. The spouse is implicitly a woman, and a rather girly one at that. The “gift set” (for which they “spare no expense”) is from “…Victoria’s Secret… [and includes an] engraved picture frame, lipstick case, spirits and sweets all in a tote.” A tote! Spouses also get “special outings,” “hospitality,” and a “whirlwind of memories.” She gets to choose from number of feminine pasttimes, including the spa, shopping, antiquing, and dance, or she can get a taste of what the big boys do (for “action adventure types” only).

This is an ad for Gwen Stefani’s L.A.M.B. line’s cologne. The text next to her face says, “I want you all over me.” I’ll leave it to you to decide if the look of ecstasy on her face and the droplets showering her body imply she’s being sprayed with anything other than water.

I found this ad in Entertainment Weekly.

This is Julia Roberts winning the Oscar for best actress. It was 2001. Notice that, despite the fact that she won for her portrayal of a very highly sexualized woman, she isn’t a stick figure. In fact, relative to the twigs of today, she is actually kind of thick and has pretty big arms. Could a woman could go to the Oscars looking like this today and not get called fat in the tabloids?

Warning: It’s a Hustler cover. May not be safe for your workplace (you see a woman’s legs sticking out of a meat grinder).

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This post is dedicated to Gary Sandefur and all my other long lost UW karaoke kids.

If you teach methods, you might find these figures will add a little pizzazz to your discussions of how to present findings. They may not all be exactly, perfectly, like totally accurate. :)

Nelly – Air Force Ones:

Beck – Where It’s At:

The Beatles – All You Need Is Love:

Aqua – Barbie Girl:

Prince – When Doves Cry:

Various Artists – Don’t Cry For Me Argentina (why not Sinead O’Connor?)

Simon and Garfunkel – 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

Notorious B.I.G. – Mo Money Mo Problems:

Kelis – Milkshake:

Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive:

Beastie Boys – Three MC’s and One DJ:

Naughty By Nature – O.P.P.:

50 Cent – In Da Club:

All these and more can be found here and here.

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Susanne T. sent me this image. She is in Latvia and walks by a furniture store every day that has this set of kitchen cabinets visible from the street.

This post is dedicated to my pregnant friends. You should buy this t-shirt.

In class this week my students and I are talking about the triple threat of production, consumption, and reproduction that characterizes modern capitalism. I use the cultural imperative that women have and raise babies (reproduction) and be beautiful and sexy while doing it (consumption), all of which is paid for by someone who is busy earning money at a job (production). Below are some of the images I use.

Be beautiful while pregnant (images from A Pea in the Pod and covergirls Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera):

Running in high heels while in the third trimester? Why, of course!

Get your body back as soon as possible (as demonstrated by Gwen Stefani and Tori Spelling):

If you’re not sure how, buy some books (all the better)!

Resort to suspicious drugs if you need to:

Or get a Mommy Makeover. Extensive cosmetic surgery, that is:

Recommended by Parenting Magazine!

This is a nice short clip by Media Watch pointing out how women seem to be constantly “on their backs” in the mass media:

Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.