NEW: Here’s an actual yogurt ad that makes it clear that a) yogurt is for women and b) yogurt somehow makes women feel more like “themselves.” Thanks, 73man!
Were you aware there is a sub-genre of romance novels focusing specifically on pregnant women? I wasn’t.
I like the titles–Innocent Wife, Baby of Shame…so scandalous! Here’s a link to the image.
I am not, at this very moment, entirely certain of how you could use these in a sociology course–I guess in a discussion of how we think of pregnant women’s bodies (are they beautiful or not?), how we feel about pregnant women have sex or of men being attracted to pregnant women who aren’t their wives (I bet a good number of people would find it kind of creepy), or whether we still think there is such a thing as a “baby of shame.” It’s interesting that the women are pregnant but still very skinny everywhere but in their “baby bump,” as the tabloids call it these days. This might be a starting point for a discussion of changing ideas of pregnancy–that the amount of weight you’re “supposed” to gain has decreased, that pregnant women ideally say thin everywhere else, and that they’re supposed to lose the weight immediately. Or you could contrast pregnancy with just being “fat”–can you imagine a similar sub-genre of romance novels with large, non-pregnant (or even pregnant) women?
Whether or not they’re useful, I know that they’re funny. Secret Baby, Convenient Wife? Awesome!
This is an ad (found here) for House of Dereon’s collection for girls. House of Dereon is the fashion label created by Beyonce Knowles and her mother.
The girl standing on the right is wearing high heels which seem to actually be her size. They are not, thankfully, for sale on the website. This might be interesting to add to a discussion of the adultification of girls or the Miley Cyrus scandal.
I use this set of engagement ring ads, though any set would do, to illustrate the way in which ads have to sell much more than just the product. To sell an engagement ring, these ads also are selling: monogamy and the pair bond; marriage as the proper way to cement that bond; love, and love as a basis for marriage; the need for a symbol of commitment and a ring (a diamond ring specifically, apparently platinum preferably) as that symbol; men’s role as financial provider and decider (in that he buys the ring and proposes); the importance of the proposal (it needs to be a surprise and an event in itself); the importance of an expensive ring (i.e., “Does he know how much I really love him?”); and… what else?
Text: “When you can truly be yourselves. Your love has just gone Platinum.”
Text: “Tacori: A symbol of unending love”
Text: “Never compromise… when asking someone to spend the rest of their life with you.”
Text: “Platinum. For a lifetime of love. Platinum’s purity endows it with a natural white luster which allows the true radiance of your diamond to shine. As uncommon as true love, platinum is 35 times rarer than gold. Like the bond between you, platinum will hold your diamond securely now and for always.”
She asks: “Does he know how much I really love him?”
Under the image: “With love comes questions. The right diamond shouldn’t be one of them.”
Text: “For one moment the world is spinning around her.”
Here’s an ad for earrings that has the same message about love:
This video, produced by Mother Jones, shows Pastor Rod Parsley arguing that America was founded to destroy Islam and has a divine mandate to do so. It is interesting on at least two levels:
First, as a response to the Reverend Wright story, it reminds us that Wright is not the only preacher who says outrageous things, and Obama is not the only politician to get “spiritual guidance” from a controversial figure. In which case, the question might be: Which outrageous preachers are most likely to be targeted as problematic? And by who?
Second, the video could be used to demonstrate how a person can be made to appear frightening or evil through editing. In this case, the move to slow motion, the use of black-and-white, the strategic stills.
In many ways, this video, produced by the left, uses many of the same tactics as the anti-Reverend Wright clips on Fox News and elsewhere. For comparison, The Daily Show put together a montage of coverage that appears in the clip below (at about 6 minutes, 51 seconds) that uses choice words (“fiery”), tone of voice, and fast motion:
Thanks to Joe DeM. for tipping us off to the Mother Jones video!
Erik sent us this Hungarian commercial attempting to promote bike riding by suggesting that it will make you horny and sexy, even if you’re on in years.
Translation from Erik:
at 33 sec – Woman: “What do you think of a cup of tea?” Man: “It would be pleasing.”
at the end – Woman says to her husband, while cutting the head of the rose: “You should cycle more as well, Rezső”
Sociological Images encourages people to exercise and develop their sociological imaginations with discussions of compelling visuals that span the breadth of sociological inquiry. Read more…
