Module 6 - Part 1, Canvas Discussion Board Assignment 1

Due April 3

"I Am Woman"

"I am woman / hear me roar!
In Numbers too big to ignore."
- Helen Ready (1972)

"I can rub and scrub till this old house
Is shinin' like a dime.
Feed the baby, grease the car and
Powder my face at the same time.
Get all dressed up, go out and swing
Till four a.m. and then
Lay down at five, jump up at six
And start all over again.
'Cause I'm a woman
Double U O M A N."
- Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller (1962)

By Women, For Women?

While standing in the checkout line at my grocery store, I've long been fascinated by "Women's Magazines." They seem to be divided into two categories, the homemaker focus and the "liberated" woman focus.

Jean Kilborne makes an interesting comment about content and advertising in these media: "Nowhere is this more obvious than in most women's and girls' magazines, where there is a very fine line, if any, between advertising and editorial content. Most of these magazines gladly provide a climate in which ads for diet and beauty products will be looked at with interest, even with desperation. And they suffer consequences from advertisers if they fail to provide such a climate."

So go consume a "Woman's Magazine." Take a look at the content (the articles) and take a look at the advertising. We're not in a position to say whether the ads influenced the content, but we can look for similarities and differences.

Are there articles that reinforce the messages in the ads? Do the articles contradict the ads' messages?

Post your impressions on the Canvas Discussion Board and don't forget to mention which magazine you've consumed.

Module 6 - Part 2, Canvas Discussion Board Assignment 1

Due April 6

I Am Woman and I Need Help

"You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere

Take a look at the ads in the previous assignment's "Women's Magazines." Which of the four specific "needs" are your ads going to meet? What is their solution? Do you think it will work?

Module 6 - Part 2, Canvas Discussion Board Assignment 2

Due April 10

"I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay.
I sleep all night. I work all day.
...
I cut down trees. I skip and jump.
I like to press wild flowers.
I put on women's clothing
And hang around in bars."
- Monty Python

Most of the women's magazines have ads for products focused on the physical appearance of women. Or, the ads for products NOT focused on the physical appearance of women, use the physical appearance of women to sell the products. Or the ads reinforce the hearth / home connection.

And the articles seem to focus on the "internal" issues of health, beauty, and making one's family happy.

It doesn't look like they've "Come A Long Way, Baby" at all.

But are men's magazines any better?

Go consume a "Men's Magazine." Take a look at the content (the articles) and take a look at the advertising. Are there articles that reinforce the messages in the ads? Do the articles contradict the ads' messages? Are the ads in men's magazines focused on the same issues?

Which "problems" are these ads going to solve?

Module 6 - Part 4, Canvas Discussion Board Assignment

Due April 13

"All in all you're just another brick in the wall"

"We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone!
All in all it's just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall."
- Roger Waters (1979)

It's time to wrap up Module 6 with some serious thinking.

Re-read Jean Kilbourne's chapter from "Deadly Persuasion" in the Module 6 readings. She makes a scathing indictment of the advertising industry, arguing that many social, political, and physical problems in our country are a direct result of ads.

"Human beings used to be influenced primarily by the stories of our particular tribe or community, not by stories that are mass-produced and market-driven. As George Gerbner, one of the world's most respected researchers on the influence of the media, said, "For the first time in human history, most of the stories about people, life, and values are told not by parents, schools, churches, or others in the community who have something to tell, but by a group of distant conglomerates that have something to sell." The stories that most influence our children these days are the stories told by advertisers."

Then re-read McLaughlin's essay "The Cunning of the Hand." He uses the writings of Madison Avenue executives to outline his thesis on the deception of advertising.

Now think back to your earlier Canvas Discussion Board responses. Do you really have free will when it comes to purchasing decisions?

Given what you now know about advertising and its manipulative powers, how much of your purchasing decision is really yours, and what steps can YOU take to limit the influence of advertising?