Sorry about not posting very much this week.
I got some distressing news earlier this week and I haven't been able to post.
I will be back Monday with a new questionable ad!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Questionable Advertising Monday: Pedo Sun
This week's questionable advertising is for Roc sun screen and comes from the advertisement agency DDB in Milan, Italy.
It's not the usual questionable depiction one is used to in advertisements where ad agencies seem to have forgotten it is not still 1953. No, this one is...
apparently implying that the sun is some kind of child molester.
There is really no other way to look at it. This isn't a depiction where the sun is physically harming children or acting like some kind of bully. No, these ads depict a rather predatory looking sun offering two children toys as some kind of incentive to get closer.
But the toys alone aren't really enough to ruin this ad for me. Rather, it's the way the sun looks at the audience with a sort of knowing grin. It's just unsettling.
I suppose the ad is successful in that it depicts how a sunny day can tempt children outside regardless of the possible harm of UV rays, but I'd rather not imagine the sun then trying to play a game of "hide the pickle" afterwards.
The ad's slogan is “protect them from sun,” but god if I don't read it as "never let them outside again."
It's not the usual questionable depiction one is used to in advertisements where ad agencies seem to have forgotten it is not still 1953. No, this one is...
apparently implying that the sun is some kind of child molester.
There is really no other way to look at it. This isn't a depiction where the sun is physically harming children or acting like some kind of bully. No, these ads depict a rather predatory looking sun offering two children toys as some kind of incentive to get closer.
But the toys alone aren't really enough to ruin this ad for me. Rather, it's the way the sun looks at the audience with a sort of knowing grin. It's just unsettling.
I suppose the ad is successful in that it depicts how a sunny day can tempt children outside regardless of the possible harm of UV rays, but I'd rather not imagine the sun then trying to play a game of "hide the pickle" afterwards.
The ad's slogan is “protect them from sun,” but god if I don't read it as "never let them outside again."
Friday, September 10, 2010
Awesome Book Review Friday: Fun Home (A Family Tragicomic)
This week's book is Alison Bechdel's Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. It's a graphic novel, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a worthwhile read.
Alison Bechdel, the writer and illustrator of "Dyke's to Watch Out For," paints the story of her childhood, more specifically the relationship between herself and her father, while using her childhood home as a frame. She writes in a liner and yet non-liner fashion. Some chapters start at the beginning of one point and then end, while other are turned inside out starting at the end, returning to the beginning and then continuing on back to the end. The result is a beautiful, honest and painful autobiography.
Alison narrates the story as an adult giving new insight into her childhood relationships. It is by no means a fun or easy story to read, as there are clear and painful scars that she carries, but it is an insightful tale of a girl growing up with a closeted and abusive father and becoming a woman who comes to terms with her own sexuality.
It is an important book because it unflinchingly looks at issues many wish childhood didn't include such as sexuality, gender restraints, masturbation, abuse and suicide. Even more importantly it examins the ways we begin to realise as we grow up that our parents are people and have lives and feelings we can not comprehend. Alison Bechdel exposes her difficult childhood and it is a potent reminder that childhood isn't anything like how we depict it. That it is a difficult and scary time, but it is also the time that helped us to become who we are.
This book is a definite read, despite all the sadness it leaves you with the positive message that you will overcome all this, and you will be better for it.
Alison Bechdel, the writer and illustrator of "Dyke's to Watch Out For," paints the story of her childhood, more specifically the relationship between herself and her father, while using her childhood home as a frame. She writes in a liner and yet non-liner fashion. Some chapters start at the beginning of one point and then end, while other are turned inside out starting at the end, returning to the beginning and then continuing on back to the end. The result is a beautiful, honest and painful autobiography.
Alison narrates the story as an adult giving new insight into her childhood relationships. It is by no means a fun or easy story to read, as there are clear and painful scars that she carries, but it is an insightful tale of a girl growing up with a closeted and abusive father and becoming a woman who comes to terms with her own sexuality.
It is an important book because it unflinchingly looks at issues many wish childhood didn't include such as sexuality, gender restraints, masturbation, abuse and suicide. Even more importantly it examins the ways we begin to realise as we grow up that our parents are people and have lives and feelings we can not comprehend. Alison Bechdel exposes her difficult childhood and it is a potent reminder that childhood isn't anything like how we depict it. That it is a difficult and scary time, but it is also the time that helped us to become who we are.
This book is a definite read, despite all the sadness it leaves you with the positive message that you will overcome all this, and you will be better for it.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Will We Stand By While Ignorance Carries On?
The report about the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida planning to burn copies of the Qur’an has upset me because I see in these small minded people the same dangerous hate that Ray Bradbury in “Fahrenheit 451” and Orwell in “Nineteen Eighty-Four” warned us about. As a free country the United States enjoys the freedom of speech, but like all things actions, and speech, still comes with consequences. The freedom of speech gives you the right to speak your mind in a public it is quite literally the right to hold opinions without interference. It is the right to freedom of expression. It is not however carte blanch to extol hate without reserve or consequence.
Book burning is one of my great hates, right up there with destruction of art. It is truly the worst forms of censorship and most extreme demonstrations of ignorance that man has ever conceived. This is not the freedom of expression, but rather the repression of expression. I’m not going to go into how the Dove World Outreach Center is justifying their actions, you can check their 10 Reasons to Burn a Koran(sic) if you really want to. However, I don’t want to argue with this church or prove how wrong their reasons are. We already know that no matter the reason their actions come from a place of hatred and ignorance, expanding on the specifics won’t change anything.
No, what really needs to be discussed is how many people and religious institutions are taking this opportunity to fight hate and ignorance with love and understanding. As this small church prepares to become the figurative “firemen” of “Fahrenheit 451” larger Christian churches and Jewish temples are planning to read parts of the Qur’an this weekend to promote understanding and acceptance. I am proud that so many have responded to this act of hate with strong feelings and actions to the contrary. It gives me hope that the world takes a step closer to being a better place.
Book burning is one of my great hates, right up there with destruction of art. It is truly the worst forms of censorship and most extreme demonstrations of ignorance that man has ever conceived. This is not the freedom of expression, but rather the repression of expression. I’m not going to go into how the Dove World Outreach Center is justifying their actions, you can check their 10 Reasons to Burn a Koran(sic) if you really want to. However, I don’t want to argue with this church or prove how wrong their reasons are. We already know that no matter the reason their actions come from a place of hatred and ignorance, expanding on the specifics won’t change anything.
No, what really needs to be discussed is how many people and religious institutions are taking this opportunity to fight hate and ignorance with love and understanding. As this small church prepares to become the figurative “firemen” of “Fahrenheit 451” larger Christian churches and Jewish temples are planning to read parts of the Qur’an this weekend to promote understanding and acceptance. I am proud that so many have responded to this act of hate with strong feelings and actions to the contrary. It gives me hope that the world takes a step closer to being a better place.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Questionable Advertising Monday: Gender Status Quo
Ah, advertising. It permeates every part of almost every society, from food to politics. We can't get away from it. It also happens to be one of the greatest perpetrators of racism and sexism. Unfortunately even in the twenty-first century still many a good advertising company has created one or two questionable ads.
This week’s ad is “Growing Up Is...” for Nesquik and it comes from the McCann Erickson agency in Portugal.
It’s a rather banal ad for the Nestlé product, but it's…
Well, see for yourself.
There is nothing obviously offensive about the ad, which makes sense as it is aimed at parents, but then there's nothing contemporary about it either. At best it is a lazy attempt to portray male and female children. At worst it is another reinforcement of the same old gender roles. Not only is the imagery sexist, but in the bottom corner of each ad is a list of what “Growing Up Is…” for each sex. Girls get the usual princessy type stuff: caring for animals, kissing, and cake while boys get the usual manly type stuff: space ships, aliens, and …eating dog food? So according to this ad girls are princesses and boys are “special.”
I find it exasperating that this agency couldn’t move beyond breaking children down into their pre-assigned gender roles. Maybe they would have been better off sticking with the bunny.
This week’s ad is “Growing Up Is...” for Nesquik and it comes from the McCann Erickson agency in Portugal.
It’s a rather banal ad for the Nestlé product, but it's…
Well, see for yourself.
There is nothing obviously offensive about the ad, which makes sense as it is aimed at parents, but then there's nothing contemporary about it either. At best it is a lazy attempt to portray male and female children. At worst it is another reinforcement of the same old gender roles. Not only is the imagery sexist, but in the bottom corner of each ad is a list of what “Growing Up Is…” for each sex. Girls get the usual princessy type stuff: caring for animals, kissing, and cake while boys get the usual manly type stuff: space ships, aliens, and …eating dog food? So according to this ad girls are princesses and boys are “special.”
I find it exasperating that this agency couldn’t move beyond breaking children down into their pre-assigned gender roles. Maybe they would have been better off sticking with the bunny.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Awesome Book Review Friday: Pink Brain, Blue Brain
Because a little literature can go a long way I will be posting a review of an awesome book every Friday.
This week's book is "Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps And What We Can Do About It" by neuroscientist Lise Eliot.
It's a non-fiction book that explores, and disproves, the science of proving gender exists naturally. The chapters are separated by childhood development, starting at birth and finishing at teenage hood.
It would have been enough for Eliot to simply disprove the studies or expose the misinformation, but she takes it a step further. At the end of every chapter is a break-down of how you as a parent or teacher can actually work to help children develop without the constraints of genderization.
My favorite example of this is in the beginning chapters of the book where Eliot exposes the myth that gender can be effected through superficial means, such as toys or clothes. She gives the example of giving dolls to boys and trucks to girls. She points out that this method is doomed from the start because it doesn't address the real problem. Worst it often leads parents to believe that gender is natural.
Instead of simply swapping genderized items, Eliot suggests that parents should first focus on what each sex lacks due to gender constraints. For example she points out that girls rarely get to develop their spacial abilities while boys rarely get to develop their nurturing abilities. If a parent really wanted to help their children overcome gender barriers they would instead give their girls building toys, like Lego or K'Nex, and allow their boys to care for a small animal.
At times with Eliot's scientific approach to the source material the chapters can seem overwhelming. However, it is well worth giving this book a read through. I found that while I may not always understand the studies she discuses in the chapters, there is more than enough information and instruction at the end of each chapter to make up for it.
If you are a parent, teacher, gender studies student, or you just care about breaking gender barriers, Lise Eliot's "Pink Brain, Blue Brain" is read worth picking up.
This week's book is "Pink Brain, Blue Brain: How Small Differences Grow Into Troublesome Gaps And What We Can Do About It" by neuroscientist Lise Eliot.
It's a non-fiction book that explores, and disproves, the science of proving gender exists naturally. The chapters are separated by childhood development, starting at birth and finishing at teenage hood.
It would have been enough for Eliot to simply disprove the studies or expose the misinformation, but she takes it a step further. At the end of every chapter is a break-down of how you as a parent or teacher can actually work to help children develop without the constraints of genderization.
My favorite example of this is in the beginning chapters of the book where Eliot exposes the myth that gender can be effected through superficial means, such as toys or clothes. She gives the example of giving dolls to boys and trucks to girls. She points out that this method is doomed from the start because it doesn't address the real problem. Worst it often leads parents to believe that gender is natural.
Instead of simply swapping genderized items, Eliot suggests that parents should first focus on what each sex lacks due to gender constraints. For example she points out that girls rarely get to develop their spacial abilities while boys rarely get to develop their nurturing abilities. If a parent really wanted to help their children overcome gender barriers they would instead give their girls building toys, like Lego or K'Nex, and allow their boys to care for a small animal.
At times with Eliot's scientific approach to the source material the chapters can seem overwhelming. However, it is well worth giving this book a read through. I found that while I may not always understand the studies she discuses in the chapters, there is more than enough information and instruction at the end of each chapter to make up for it.
If you are a parent, teacher, gender studies student, or you just care about breaking gender barriers, Lise Eliot's "Pink Brain, Blue Brain" is read worth picking up.
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