marriage/family

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!

Thanks to Jason for sending it along!

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:

From the website of The Maid Brigade, a housecleaning service offering “green” cleaning services.

Who hires house cleaners (or as they put it, “who needs a maid?”)?

Who cleans houses?

When I went through the whole site I was able to find one picture of a white, non-Hispanic-appearing woman cleaning and one picture of a somewhat dark-skinned homeowner, but the overwhelming pattern is what you see here.

And no, there were no male maids. Do you really even have to ask?

Anyway, it’s an interesting example of class, the commodification of housework, and the ways that class and race separate women, such that upper-middle-class white women often free themselves from the second shift of housework by hiring other poorer, often non-white women to do it.

NEW! (Jan. ’10): Sara L. sent us another example:

This article on modesty was in Women’s Care, a free magazine that showed up in my mailbox yesterday.

I assume the way the girl is posed and the look on her face are supposed to imply immodesty. Her clothes don’t strike me as at all problematic (I mean, are peace signs sexy?), so if it’s supposed to be an image of the “comeback” of modesty, the pose and look are extra creepy.

Some quotes from the 1-page article:

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Victoria’s Secret executives who have long asked, ‘What is sexy?’ are now trying to figure out, ‘What’s too sexy?’…The revamping of the company’s product lines follows a drop in sales. Questions to chat about: Is modesty making a comeback or is the decrease in Victoria’s Secret’s sales the results of a sluggish economy?

Where can mothers find modest clothing for females from little girls to teens?

Again we see the assumption that caring for kids is women’s work–it’s not parents who are looking for clothing for their kids, it’s mothers.

In addition to the cut and length of clothing, the article discusses “slogan” tees that say things like “So many boys, so little time.” There is no mention whatsoever of boys’ slogan tees, which are also often offensive or at least questionable. We only need to worry about modesty in reference to girls, apparently.

Jennifer E.-B. sent in these three images.

The text on the website for this men’s t-shirt:

What goes into being a Dad? You’ll find 100% leadership, 100% guidance, 100% sacrifice, and 24/7 dedication. These Christian Dad Facts and more are printed on this inspirational tribute. A loving gift, comfy 100% cotton tee is machine washable and made in the USA.

The “ingredients” on the t-shirt include dedication, love, wisdom, and leadership. The “serving size” is “2 helpings of advice.”

The website for this women’s shirt says:

Ever wonder what makes up a Mom? Well, there’s 100% sugar, 100% sacrifice, 100% caring, and 24/7 comforting. These Christian Mom Facts and more are printed on this inspirational tribute. A sweet gift, comfy 100% cotton tee is machine washable and made in the USA.

The “ingredients” include comforting, love, wisdom, total compassion, sugar, sacrifice, and caring. The “serving size” is 5 hugs per day.

Then there is this child’s t-shirt that says “Daddy did my hair”:

As Jennifer points out,

I think it brings up a lot of unspoken norms about parental responsibility and ability. First, it indicates that it is the norm for mommy to do the daughter’s hair, but out of the norm for daddy to do it–we don’t see t-shirts saying mommy did my hair, right? (I searched and didn’t find any.) Because that’s just taken for granted. But if Dad does it, it is something to be noticed (and maybe he even gets praised for doing something that is a routine job for mom). Second, the implication is that dads cannot do their daughter’s hair “correctly.” So there is an expectation that if dad does the hair it will be a mess. Think about what this says about men–we certainly think they are capable of doing all kinds of very complex tasks at work–but we don’t think they can comb hair or put in a ponytail??? Third, I think the shirt serves the purpose of justifying the girl’s looks for the mom. In other words, no moms want others to think they would do such a poor job on the girl’s hair. They want others to know that it looks like this because daddy did it. Moms feel pressure to have their kids look great (and behave well) all the time, no matter how hectic the day is. And, of course, the shirt is for a girl, not a boy. No one really cares how a boy’s hair looks.

Thanks, Jennifer!

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.

I found this ad for an umbilical cord blood storage company in the April 2008 issue of Healthy Las Vegas.

It provides a list of all kinds of very scary-sounding diseases as reasons you should pay to store your baby’s blood cord. It’s another example of scaring parents into buying expensive products to protect their kids–and, obviously, if you won’t spend the money to store your baby’s umbilical cord blood for years, you aren’t a very good parent.

I went to the company’s website. Under the heading “You Only Get One Chance to Bank Cord Blood” it says:

Banking a baby’s cord blood could prove invaluable should you ever need it. You only have one chance to collect this vital fluid and minutes after your baby is born. This sample has the potential to not only help the baby in the future, but also to blood relatives such as parents and siblings. It offers a powerful medical resource in fighting devastating chronic and acute diseases. Think of it as an investment in your family’s future.

It costs $1,850 for the kit to collect the blood from a single birth, plus $95 a year, or $1600 for 18 years, to store it.

Just for fun I looked up the prevalence of some of the diseases listed in the ad. Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome occurs in about 1 out of every 380,000 people. For amyloidosis, it’s about 1 in 100,000. Less than 1 in 200,000 people have Wolman disease (these are all NIH estimates).

To put this in perspective, according to some calculations, a male African American child has about a 1 in 20 lifetime chance of being killed by gunfire. I don’t know what it is for white kids, but I bet that, risk-wise, you’d be better off buying your kid a bullet-proof vest than banking their cord blood.