I am attempting to make some changes in my life. At my age, cynicism tends to set in. You know, thoughts like "I've tried this before" or "what's the use?" pepper my world view. But I have found it is harder to give up on possibilities than it is to believe in them.
Another thought: Walking through Macy's today, I was accosted by lifesized picture advertisements hawking some new fragrance for Estee Lauder. They were artistic photos of women--one very, very young--half clothed in suggestively opened dress shirts. Eroticism oozed from the poses, which in and of itself does not offend me. But I read a commentor on my daughter's blog today who was puzzled by someone who wore a Tshirt blazened with MAN WHORE to a children's tourist site. I likewise was concerned about children like the eight year old boy shopping with grandma for school clothes or the ten year old little girl who is cutting through the department store with her mom to get to the mall and a book store. There was no channel changer or on-off switch, no way to close the magazine, and no way to avoid the EL display on that particular floor. As a composition teacher, I emphasize the importance of audience. I wonder to whom EL is attempting to appeal and if their marketers have forgotten that their displays appear in stores where families shop. Of course, I don't understand fragrance ads on TV with all their meaningful pauses either. Maybe I am just not an ideal consumer.
It is not a really big deal. But so many small changes in society have the effect of desensitizing us. I believe what I most resent is that media and advertisements and social mores are being refashioned by people, some nebulous group, who not only do not care about my opinion but also flat out refuse to consider what I think. They recreate the world in their images and I have to go along or drop out?
1 comment:
I agree on the Estee Lauder ads in stores, but hopefully kids would look at it from a more innocent view point. We are on our way to the beach and will probably see people of all ages in various states of undress in swimsuits, but that should seem along the lines of what I hope innocent kids would think of when seeing ads like that. I have ad concerns though. We watch lots of sports on tv around here, partly because I know there won't be somebody getting their sex on or gruesome violence or dead people stacked up like on the History Channel. But those Viagra and Cialas commercials that run at every commercial break during sports are going to be tough to explain to a child one day. Why someone would need to go to the doctor if something happens for more than four hours... That explanation would be more sexually graphic than just about anything. I can't believe I keep hearing that on national tv in primetime over and over. Oh well, off to the beach, hopefully there won't be too much thong or European speedo action.
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