Daily Invisible Discriminations

There was one day where I was on my way to school and one of the best things about bus rides and one of the only perks of taking the bus is most likely looking out of the window. Ironically, when the bus went pass wall, I saw this advertisement for a metro bus company. I’ve never been the type to have the words ‘feminist’ printed across my forehead, but what I saw immediately struck me. I remember then searching the advertisement on my phone and I began to realize how demeaning some advertisements could be.

This advertisement was trying to build awareness on the transport network by showcasing two women striking a “conversation” with one discussing about the transport system. One woman seemed to be knowledgeable and provides the other lady with facts regarding a change in the vehicle system, while the other lady is shown to be ignorant and superficial.  The second lady seemed disinterested to know about the transport system. Instead the initial speaker responds by saying, “Cant we just talk about shoes?”

The term 'shoes' reflects the world of materialistic desires that women often engage in and the noun creates the stereotype that women would prefer talking about fashion to general knowledge. In fact it seems as if the creator of the advertisement was framing women as superficial. It is presented in such a manner that it seemed as if women do not enjoy engaging into current issues such as transport and would rather converse about things they like. This advertisement makes the women not only appear superficial but also completely obsessed with their self-image and reputation.

Furthermore, in the small print at the bottom of this advertisement, it states, “we get it, you’re probably not talking about our bus reliability. Why would you? This statement reiterates that women don't delve into intellectual conversations. Reinstating the fact that women are ignorant. (Which is definitely not true) It is evident that through out this advertisement, it is the choice of words that subtly shape people’s minds into believing women are superficial and materialistic.

I found this advertisement as a huge example of the gender stereo – type that society labels women. I was absolutely appalled at the heavy stereotyping on women the creator of this advertisement used. To be fair, conversations on the metro buses do not seem to be very appealing. Frankly speaking, not all women like shoes and to generalize the fact that women are obsessed with them and are not intellectual just agitates me. Not only that, I know lots of men who like shoes as well, and would rather talk about shoes than buses. The fact that this advertisement had to use SUCH a stereotypical driven hook to advertise their services just stood out to me. But honestly, I personally don't think it is right to stereotype women this way.

While I was still on the bus, I quickly scrolled through more advertisements and came across this one. The second advertisement is equally disturbing as it both humiliates and demeans women. It was basically reiterating what I was previously ranting about – that women were not thought of as intelligent.

There is this girl in the advertisement that is standing in the center of the ad with an unbuttoned shirt, loose black tie and tousled hair. The picture grabs one’s attention as she is pretty and is looking out in a seductive way. It looks like a typical modeling shoot photo, that is, until you read the outrageous text across the entire poster.

This advertisement was created to promote the New Zealand Law student’s Association. The words that are slammed across the picture say “ She didn’t become a good lawyer by spending hours in the library.” Any reader of this poster could infer that this statement clearly connects with the way she is dressed, implying that she may have used her body and her looks to climb her way to the top.

Furthermore, in the small print to the left, it says“ She networked her way to the top.” There is a heavy emphasis on the word networked. Reading behind the lines, this statement reduces the intelligence of a woman and there is a slight implication that women just use their physical appearance to climb to the top. The word networking is often associated with interacting and making connections, and the way the whole scenario is set out puts a heavy emphasis on a woman having to depend on her looks and her ability to make connections to be successful. 

I thought this advertisement put a questionable light into women’s intelligence and capability. Law is thought of as a very rigorous and difficult major, but the fact that this advertisement claims that she did not work hard to earn her place and instead shows a lack of belief in a women’s intelligence relates back to the advertisement I saw on the buses. I found this advertisement mindless and insulting. I am sure the creator of the advertisement did not intend any bad intentions behind it, but neither did he think about the offense it may have caused towards women. 

Although I believe that these advertisements were demeaning and offensive towards women, it may just be an advertisement tactic that the businesses were trying to apply. Nevertheless, if business’s were to use this as a tactic they should be prepared for a lot of disagreement.

Rationale:

We are bombarded with diverse advertisements in our everyday life. Some are humorous; some interesting, while some are simply disturbing. Thus, i have chosen to analyze advertisements and how certain advertisements can paint a unintelligent picture of women. I wanted to express my thoughts in a text type that was personal yet convincing and informative, thus leading me to choose to do create an editorial. I decided to use the structure that an online editorial used, called “bitch media.” The idea of this structure is for every new advertisement or topic; there is an introduction, then a description and explanation of the advertisement, and finally a reflection. Furthermore, I used the key idea of writing in short paragraphs. The key theme I wanted to show through out the post was to show people the stereotypical idea  that people labeled women, which can appear in our everyday lives. To show my understanding of this topic, I wanted to discuss how language is often manipulated and society blindly catches on with the words and ignores the meaning behind them. I chose to analyse advertisements because they are a part of everyone’s everyday lives. The main audience I wanted to write for was the youth in society. Due to the advancement of technology, many editorials appear online and the main users of the internet are youths. The reason why i chose to write to youths is because in the modern day, trends and ideas often come from the youth in society society, thus relating back my choice in text type. One challenge I encountered was finding the correct advertisements with enough words to analyse. Ever since the world has become more modern, advertisements tend to have either short catch phrases or no words at all. However, I overcame this problem by spending a lot of time on research and finding the right advertisements with enough words.