Mediating Hillary Rodham Clinton

In the article "Mediating Hillary Rodham Clinton," there were some interesting points about how the media portrays her, and how these portrayals have changed over the years. It begins by speaking about how she started out being a strong, independent feminist. The article proved this point by naming various things on television networks that showed this side of HRC. It focused on how she was a lawyer, and an honor student in college that gave the first student commencement address. I thought it was interesting how the article had quotes from her old school friends saying that she one day might become president, since she almost became the democratic nominee this year. The second side of HRC that the article showed was being a "good mother." Being the First Lady, she was there to take care of her children, and to help the children of America. She tried to impose a health plan that would work for us. The last side of her that they showed was a "stand by your man" woman. When her husband confessed to having an affair, HRC stood by her husband and did not turn away from him. I think it is interesting that this view of her made her political standpoint stronger and only made America think better of her. This stand that she took made her seem like a better woman for it.

Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt

The article "Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt" really brought out a lot of valid points that are predominate in the advertising world. I agree with most of what they say about the sexual objectifying of women. Most advertising today really focuses on the sexual aspects of human beings. This objectifying leads to violence in our world and really influences those who are responsible for creating that violence. I thought this article was very insightful and found a lot of different things that make me more informed about what occurs in the advertising world. 

One thing that I was really shocked about was the court case with the 3 year old child. I can't believe that that would even happen. A 3 year old can obviously not be a sexual abuser to someone who could just pick the child up. I doubt that that child would even know what it was doing. Honestly, who could even think that? It almost makes me sick.

This article relates to my paper in that it talked about ways that women (and men) can be objectified in advertisement. From looking at different body positions, you can tell a lot about what the advertiser is trying to convey. It is interesting how often advertisers sexualize what they are trying to sell. I also agree with what the article said how things can never fulfill your sexual desires and that things cannot provide emotional satisfaction. My paper does not relate to this article however, because there is not really any violence prevalent in my advertisement. There is not really any way that violence or sexual acts could be construed from the ad I picked.

I found this article to be extremely informative and I think it could really help me have more ideas to write about in this paper. 

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"After all, he has to come out and prove himself all over again tomorrow. You're only as good as your last game (or your last purchase). "

This quote really struck me as true. When it comes to men, they always seem to have to prove themselves each day. In everything that they do, they are always trying to one-up their "opponent" whether this is a friend, a coworker, a schoolmate, or someone they just randomly meet. It seems to me like everything with men is a competition and there is no settling. This quote from Center of Attention: The Gender of Sports Media  really seems to hit the nail on the head. In applying to advertising, men are always posed as the dominant figure and have to be the ones that are the focus of attention in most situations. Men are consistently trying to prove that they are the best in all that they do and I think that this statement really just sums up the majority of what I observe to be true with men. 

"Do you like what you see?...Men must never seem as if they are asking this question and may display their beauty only if it is an unavoidable side effect of other 'business'." 

This statement from the article Beauty (Re)Discovers The Male Body is one that I disagree with for several reasons. Most men that I know care a great deal about what they look like and how they are presented to the public. The people that I know think it is important to look presentable and to make sure that people notice them. Granted, most men do not really think about fashion or if things match, but this does not mean that it applies to all men. There are always going to be people, on both ends of the spectrum that do not care if people "like what they see." I think that this statement is only somewhat true. 

“Center of Attention: The Gender of Sorts Media.” Introduction. Rereading America. 6th edition. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2004. 1-15.

Bordo, Susan. “Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body.” Ways of Reading. 8th ed. Eds. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky,Boston: Bedford/St. 168-Martin’s, 2008. 188-205.