Today
Today in class when we went on our "field trip" for a groups presentation, there was a lot of discussion on the topic of if feminism is even present in our media, and if it is, what is it really representing? Are even the creators of feminist film having a hidden, possibly subconscious, agenda? In a sense, I understand the complexity of this topic, because I feel that it would be extremely difficult to present yourself in a true feminist image. However, what I must say, is that without this form of media, what would our country be like? We all enjoy commercials in between our sitcoms or news broadcast. All of those commercials, even those trying to inspire a message (ie anti-smoking campaign), are selling something. All, without the presence of a woman, will have a product or idea to sell. The advertising world we live in not only decorates our streets and fills our magazines (no matter what magazine you read), but markets for the financing and economic support of millions in this country. Think if there were no hair products on this earth except for a hair brush. Imagine the millions of people from the corporate office, to the advertisers, to the grocery store stockers, to the hair dressers, to the manufacturers, to the truck drivers, to those that do the grunt work to make the product, those in the factories that make the cans they go into. Without the hair products we all use today, thousands would be jobless, our economy would have much less to work off of, making our country less of an economic and political power that is required to go about international functions. And thats just hair products. Think if we apply that to all the places that women are objectified. Women aren't even the only ones that bodies are broken into pieces for visual pleasure. Take the Hot Bod commercials
Women aren't the only thing that are pieced together for our enjoyment. Men have equal pressures of body image as we do. Again, it's not to say that either should have support to continue this way, but without this media we would not be able to have a prosperous world we do today. Whether you're someone to say it out loud or not, we all need money to survive, we all want money to improve the quality of life. These commercials and images, while possibly not putting men or women in the best light, are almost a necessity. As mentioned by one of the class members, you cannot have media involving human beings that are put in front of the camera, without some kinda of visual pleasure. Even the most bundled woman or man will have some beauty to be seen. So what does that limit us to? Dogs? Stick figures? Entertainment and consumerism are two huge factors in the society we live in today, and neither are a negative.