Women, if you are lucky, you too could look like a piece of Chex Mix:

NEW! You desire these kitchen counters and cupboards like you desire that “dream” woman’s curves.  I know you do.  (Thanks Sarah N!)

I also have to ask: Above her head it reads “Studio White — Featuring Curves.”  Could this be a race joke?  You know, black women are curvy, so a white woman’s curves is a special feature?  I don’t know.  I may be reading too much into it.

Clearly this ad is making a connection between being “tough” and doing blue-collar work. The implication is that desk jobs are not “tough.”

Here’s what’s really fascinating about this: I found the ad in a magazine called Entrepreneur, a magazine clearly aimed at an upper-middle or upper class audience who do desk jobs. Since I find it unlikely they’re trying to actually alienate the readers of the ad, I’m guessing the point is to let these desk workers gain some “toughness” by buying a Ford truck.

Newsweek had an article today wondering if girl’s Halloween costumes might be too risque. I wasn’t surprised (I remember being shocked when I saw young girls dressed up as Spice Girls in 1998) so I decided to look around the Internet to find other questionable costumes. Not surprisingly, Halloween costumes are markers of not only gender and heterosexuality, but of race and class as well.

And look at how race is marked with some of the children’s costume models (2 cats, and a dancer):

Anyway, happy Halloween!

Dehumanizing women; women as toys, useful only for fucking; women as interchangeable:

By the way, on the back it says: “Isn’t that why women have more than one hole?”

Here it is in a pillowcase:

Different take, same message:

Trivialization of rape:

Glamorization of violent sex and the priviliging of men’s sexual pleasure:

Trivialization of relationship violence:

This last one says: “I like my women like my chicken, battered.”

“Pornography: The Secret History of Civilization” (2005) is useful for showing that non-procreational sex and sexual enjoyment are not “modern,” and that using and enjoying sexually explicit images isn’t new, either. I liked the first two episodes in the series, especially the second one, which shows how many explicit images there are in religious buildings and texts from the Middle Ages in Europe. Be warned, you need to watch these before showing them to be sure you can get away with it with your audience–for many students, even the artwork and religious drawings would probably lead to outrage today (which can be an interesting discussion in and of itself).

“Fenceline” addresses institutional racism, environmental pollution, and activism by looking at residents in a town in Louisiana and the divisions that arise between blacks and whites about the possibility of toxic waste contamination. It could be useful for discussing environmental issues or looking at why two groups in the same community could come to such different conclusions about what is going on.

Power as cleaning products (note the appropriation of Rosie the Riveter):

Power as a flippy skirt and cute glasses (the text: “That flippy skirt backs up your girl power, do your glasses?”):

Power as beauty:

NEW! Nuvaring is a flexible ring that women place around their cervix once a month (image found here).  It slowly releases hormones that prevent ovulation.  “Let Freedom Ring!”

ALSO NEW! Need to compete with those men in their “power ties,” have some “power panties”:

NEW! (July ’10): Robb S. sent in another use of Rosie the Riveter by a “green” housecleaning service called Maid to Clean. No, seriously; Rose the Riveter, the icon of women’s contribution to the World War II war industry, was “maid to clean”:

I found this article in a parenting magazine. It suggests ways for dads to help their kids learn skills; all of these methods are sports-related. The kids shown are both boys and girls, but I think it’s interesting that since it’s advice for dads, everything has to be put in terms of sports; I don’t think you’d see similar advice for moms. I suppose it is good that the article assumes that men do household chores, though.

Here are some examples: Laundry-Basket Rebound (practice tossing laundry into a basket), Toddler Free Throw (for unpacking groceries), Bowling for Brainpower.