Apparently Sex Still Sells

“You have got to be kidding me,” I exclaim aloud, even though I am running on a treadmill and do not expect a response from any of the other runners around me.  I just saw the latest Hardee’s commercial, supposedly advertising their Memphis BBQ burger, though it seemed more like the commercial was advertising the two women than any item of food.  I guess the old adage that sex sells is still pertinent, at least in the minds of this marketing company.

For those who have not seen the commercial, it begins with two teenage-looking boys selling food at what appears to be a fair.  We observe them as their jaw drops, then the camera pans to two women dressed in bathing suit tops and shorts who are grilling meat.  Their separate pieces combine in their attempt to flip the meat, causing a fight, which ultimately leads to them seductively eating together.  

Following their previous commercials, this one objectifies women’s bodies in an effort to sell burgers as exclusively for sexual consumption targeted presumably for heterosexual male viewers, likely their key demographic customers.  Women’s bodies are the focus of the camera during the commercial, and the viewer is unsure of the advertised product until the very end.  Key shots during the commercial include single body parts of the women, in particular their stomachs, breasts, and butts, and few shots include their entire body and face, projecting the image that these women are their sexualized body parts.  The fact that two men are not the central characters in this commercial is not an accident, as homophobic fears would likely decrease rather than increase sales.  And since the commercials continue to objectify women’s bodies and sexuality in their advertisement of burgers, it seems the approach has been effective.  Though I feel a bit more than confused about how these two objectified women are related to a burger …

Distinct from previous commercials is the use of two women to advertise this product.  Although objectified women have been used to sell burgers in the past, this commercial represents the first use of implied same-sex sexual behavior to advertise a new burger.  This approach objectifies not only women’s bodies and sexualities but also the experience of lesbian women.  It completely invalidates the actual experience of lesbian women by commodifying the same-sex sexual behavior as solely for the pleasure and consumption of the presumable heterosexual male viewers.  The sexual interaction is for these viewers, not for themselves, as viewers can perceive the performance on the commercial as for their own benefit.  Thus, the commercial devalues the relationship between the two women in and of itself because it serves as solely for the heterosexual male viewers’ pleasure.  This commodification is problematic in a world where women’s bodies are not their own, since now their sexuality is not their own either.

So I am left with the question: how do we become a society that values women and all women’s experience for what they are rather than as a means to sell products?

written by Allie Minieri

The Inescapable “Truth”

            The other day I was out shopping for a birthday card for a friend of mine, and was saddened to find that there were only five classes of cards available for women over the age of 18: (1) sweet and sentimental, (2) cards with half naked men on them, (3) cards with fart jokes, (4) cards with cute animals on them, and by far the biggest category was (5) cards telling the birthday women that she is becoming uglier as she ages.  I am particularly sensitive to number five as it has become increasingly obvious as I near my 30^th birthday that I have only sagging breasts, wrinkles, and invisibility to look forward to in my coming years.  And lest I forget, the greeting card companies will be there to remind me each year.

            Equating the aging process with decreased beauty has become so programmed into U.S. society, particularly in the media: if you read a fashion columnist write about a beautiful celebrity over the age of forty the woman’s very existence in a fashion blog has to be qualified.  For instance, a recent picture of Demi Moore complimenting her appearance in Yahoo’s 2 Hot 2 Handle photo gallery contained the following quote, “Can you believe Demi Moore is 50?! Neither can we.”  Or another recent picture of Marg Helgenberger that said, “Former ‘CSI’ and ‘China Beach’ star Marg Helgenberger is flawless for 54.”  Women in their forties are subjected to the same scrutiny.  A recent photo of Jennifer Aniston in a bikini carried the caption, “the woman is in her mid-40s and looks just as fabulous as she did a decade ago.”  You won’t read the ages of younger actresses that make it into this photo gallery series as the creators only think it is relevant to mention age when the beautiful woman is of a certain age.  Additionally, the probability you will find women over the age of 50 in the 2 Hot 2 Handle gallery is low as it is typically inundated with the smiling faces of younger stars in their 20s and 30s.  Apparently we are to be amazed when a woman is deemed beautiful after the age of 50.  Can you believe she’s 50 and is still beautiful?!  Or my personal favorite, “She puts women half her age to shame.”  Again, we are to marvel at the fact that a woman can possibly be more beautiful than a woman younger than herself as youth is always the most beautiful and the most valued. 
  
    Messages to Women Don’t Apply to Men

          I have noticed this trend is creating a generation of women who are being told that the worst thing they can do is look old.  Take the blogs written about Lindsey Lohan, for example.  Countless bloggers have written about her alleged drug and alcohol abuse; however, it seems to me that by far her worst crime was to dare to look older than her 26 years.  I recently came across this post on Pinterest (see attached picture):

Nevermind the fact that three older men are being shown to grow more handsome with age, as only men can do, but the only woman pictured, Ms. Lohan, is supposed to be perceived as becoming older, and thus more ugly, as the result of alleged lifestyle choices.  If she was in her 50s we would not be seeing this post because her ‘ugliness’ would then be expected.  As a young woman, Ms. Lohan, and young women across the country, have to learn that constant surveillance and prevention is needed to prevent such aged ‘horror’ from happening.

Hiding Signs of Aging

            I can vividly remember my 8^th grade health teacher telling all of the girls in my class about the importance of moisturizers and sun block to prevent wrinkles.  She stressed that we needed to begin incorporating this into our daily routine so we would not look old as we aged.  With her beautifully smooth porcelain skin, I held onto her every word and began moisturizing shortly afterwards.  I have done so every day since in my personal war against the ugliness of age.  It was not until very recently that I have begun to question my participation in this process.  It began as a result of small comments from others around me.  My 17 year old niece telling me that we could be mistaken for sisters if I was wearing large sunglasses (presumably to hide the smile lines under my eyes).  My hairdresser discouraging me from a short hair cut because I would look like a soccer mom, when I am apparently too young to look that “old.”  As I agreed with my hairdresser and went with a longer haircut, I immediately felt the burden of letting not only myself down but my gender as well.  I had allowed the fear of looking older dictate my decision, and fear that if I am letting this fear rule my life at the age of 29, what will I do when I am older? 

              As a graduate student studying ageism in older women, I began to realize that discrimination towards women based on their age begins in our 20s.  This form of ageism is unique to women, as women are uniquely judged and criticized for their appearance, as it relates to their age.  We must deserve such punishment since we lack men’s ability to grow more handsome and distinguished as we age. 

Challenging and Embracing the Aging Process

            Unfortunately, beauty and youth are intricately connected to both each other and to value in our society.  The more beautiful you are as a woman, the more visible and valuable you are.  The younger you are as a woman, the more beautiful and valuable you can be.  The risks associated with daring to look old as a woman can be immeasurable.  Just look at the discussions regarding Hillary Clinton’s “aging” appearance.  There was a huge media to-do over her decision to speak in Asia last May wearing little makeup, glasses, and without perfectly coiffed hair.  In fact, Dr. 90210 made the following statement, “It’s bad enough that our Secretary of State continues to avoid the necessary cosmetic procedures that are easily available to all citizens, young and old, rich and poor, of this great nation.  She goes about in public with her natural breasts, her wrinkles, and her facial sagging.  But this, this is unconscionable.  She could be setting an example for young women everywhere.  Instead, she stoops to embracing her, and I get hives even saying this, natural state.  After a woman reaches a certain age, plastic surgery should be mandatory, and no older woman should be seen in public without hair and make-up done. This is exactly why we are slipping in world esteem.”

            Well I, for one, certainly applaud Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s decision to embrace her “natural state” and hope that I have the unconscionable attitude to follow in her footsteps as I age and dare to go in public with my natural breasts, wrinkles, and facial sagging.  

written by Ruth Walker

Regaining My Hopefulness

I decided to pursue graduate school in part to become involved in research and advocacy efforts related to preventing men’s violence against women.  So much progress has been achieved in this area over the past few decades, I thought, “How hard can it be?”  Little did I know untangling the mess of male socialization and the ways it contributes to our rape culture would be so difficult. 

I was reminded of the ways male socialization contributes to our rape culture when news of the gang of boys from the football team who raped a young woman while she was passed out in Steubenville, Ohio was released.  Despite referring to the girl as “dead,” some boys proceeded to rape her while others watched, not questioning the action at all.  Although similar situations are unfortunately common, this particular story made it to the news only because some of the boys who watched also taped the situation, recording the rape and the conversation among the boys in the room.

The recording also indicates that other boys, however, questioned the behavior.  Some challenged their peers by saying, “That’s not so funny” and one even asked, “What if that was your daughter?”  Clearly, some boys in this high school are willing to challenge the rape culture. 

Hearing about the boys who challenged their peers inspires me to want to understand more about the men who are willing to speak out against their socialization and challenge their friends who engage in rape-supportive behaviors.  In fact, I am currently working on a research project to understand what motivates these men to become social justice allies who work to prevent men’s violence against women.  I become more convinced every day that increasingly more men are becoming aware of the male socialization that contributes to the current rape culture and are unwilling to participate in it, some even actively working against it.  These men are slowly creating a critical mass who speak out against men’s violence against women and encourage their friend’s to do the same.  Hearing their stories can provide us with a deeper understanding of their experience to engage even more men in the process.  Maybe my initial hopefulness about preventing men’s violence against women was not so wrong…

written by Allie Minieri

Fat Shaming

On February 11^th, Neil Cavuto’s Your World on Fox News focused on Adele and Kelly Clarkson’s bodies during the 2013 Grammys.  After public criticisms laced with blatant fat shaming, including Twitter posts like “Can Adele lose some weight please? It’s not healthy. And little kids might follow,” Cavuto invited nutritionist Karen Gilbert to give an “expert” opinion.  I’ll start by saying that while I found Cavuto interruptive, I have to hand it to them* for occasionally calling Gilbert out.  And Gilbert needed some calling out given their* clear message: Adele and Clarkson’s bodies are problematic and could negatively influence our youth into becoming “overweight” like them. 

Gilbert juxtaposed both performers’ hard working and disciplined lifestyles with their “fatter than normal” bodies.  What exactly does this imply?  Well, for starters, that it’s surprising or uncommon that fat or fatter-bodied individuals could also be successful.  Indeed, research has demonstrated that we, as a society, stigmatize fat bodies and characterize them as lazy, unattractive, unsuccessful and undisciplined as well as hinder access to education and work opportunities.  This pervasive characterization adds insult to injury when coupled with the moralizing and fear mongering headlines about fat bodies that they certainly result to negative health ramifications, and if you just exercise hard enough and eat less you too can be a “normal” weight.  Aside from this taking into account other, more nuanced explanations of health disparities and diverse body types, this, of course, is ironic, given that the average size for American females is between a 12 to 14 – the approximate size that Adele, a successful performer and recipient of numerous awards proudly wears. 

However, I do not want to focus the fact that Adele is indeed the “average” or “normal” among societal comparison.  That’d be defeating the purpose of this blog and merely revamping Gilbert’s stance.  Instead, I think it is more important to note that she is generally happy with her body or finds it “normal” and appropriate for herself.  Gilbert noted that they’d* recommend to Adele and Clarkson to lose 10-15 pounds if they wanted to lose weight.  The operative word here is if.  While this might not be the case for Clarkson, Adele has unabashedly stymied body-focused criticisms.  Indeed, in 2012, Adele noted that she’d only lose weight if it affected her health or sex life – both of which have not been the case.  Sex AND body positive?  Adele, you’re a real role model!  But Gilbert doesn't think so.  Instead, they* express concern over Adele (and Clarkson’s) potential effect on our youth, noting that seeing the likes of Adele might encourage young kids that they could be overweight like her. 

Initially supporting the notion that any individual above the medicalized BMI standard of 25 is overweight, Gilbert seemingly changed opinions when Cavuto questioned whether Gilbert might be too thin.  Indeed, Gilbert quickly responded to this that everyone has a “different profile.”  In other words, if your fat-bodied, a medicalized standard should be used to deem you healthy or unhealthy, but if you’re thin-bodied, then each individual should be considered as unique and viewed for their personal health. 

We, as psychologists, are particularly conflicted given the current environment (namely, APA’s recently waged war on fat bodies) as well as our research and clinical opinions that often times pathologize body dissatisfaction, food restriction and excessive exercising among individuals who are deemed “too thin,” while we advocate for such behaviors and perceptions in those “too fat.”  Instead of quickly jumping on the medicalized notion of adiposity, I suggest that we remain critical of body standardization and fat shaming as well as demand better, more responsible research and clinical judgment that questions the social constructions and milieu surrounding the body. 

*Gender neutral pronouns for Gilbert and Cavuto were used intentionally so as not to imposed gender identification in either of them without their consent. 

+For more on this subject as well as a great read, I’d recommend The Fat Studies Reader edited by Esther Rothblum and Sondra Solovay.  

written by Jessica A. Joseph

Our Work is Never Done

The 2012 U.S. election is old news by now. Thinking back, it was like a collective loosening of tension once it was over. That night I could go to bed after the returns with a sigh of relief. Well, not just a sigh of relief. I actually felt pretty excited. This had been an exceptionally notable election for female politicians. New Hampshire had elected a delegation consisting of only women. A record number of female representatives and senators were going to Washington, one of which was the first Asian American woman and first Buddhist, one the first Hindu, and one the first openly gay senator. There were same-sex marriage victories in four states. This was not just exciting for women and the country but also personally. Many of my minority identities would finally be represented in the Senate. An exciting time indeed!

I personally found the election to be emotionally draining. In addition to the typical political mudslinging, there was an exceptional amount of misogyny. There were negative comments about female candidate’s physical appearance and quips about them in traditional gender roles. The War on Women surged onward with attacks against reproductive healthcare and rape apologism was prevalent. My enthusiasm for the election was long gone by the time it was over. Yet, here we were with a record 101 Congresswomen. The progress was overshadowed by the fact that, while the U.S. population is slightly over 50% women, female representation in our federal government was only about 19%. It was overshadowed by constant reminders that female politicians are not taken as seriously as their male counterparts. Women were not taken seriously.

While the election has wound down and the news has packed up its coverage the misogyny continues. The news coverage since the election has highlighted terrible, violent things. Things like mass shootings in which the mother of a perpetrator and several innocent children were murdered. Like the injustice for rape victims in India and Texas. Like the blocking and eventual lack of renewal of the Violence Against Women Act. More recent news alerted us that Rush Limbaugh has said yet another despicable thing by stating that abortion could be outlawed with a gunshot, alleging more violence against women. Anonymous posted the tweet, “When internet activists are getting longer prison sentences than rapists you have to wonder what kind of world we're leaving for our kids.” I have been wondering for a long time now.

Despite the progress this country has made with the election, there is still more work to be done. I don’t think us women really expected the hard work to be over anytime soon. I know my spirit is bolstered whenever there is groundbreaking progress. It hurts enough when we don’t progress but I am disheartened every time we go backwards. Women before us fought hard to get us where we are today. We need to continue fighting just as hard or harder to keep moving forward.

written by Victoria Wu

Call for SPW Campus and Section Representatives!

Undergraduate and graduate students interested in developing programs to advance the principles of the Society for the Psychology of Women and gaining leadership experience can consider applying to be a SPW Campus Representative or Section Representative/Section Leader for the 2013-2014 academic year! The application can be found at:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vOfypBgScFcF_8_nKqIMO5KM2eHtXfYqisk3e_l4yNo/viewform

Questions about what it means to be a campus representative? Check out the current listing of campus reps and the programs they are developing: http://www.apadivisions.org/division-35/leadership/campus-representatives/index.aspx

Completed applications are due by Friday, April 5th at 5pm Pacific. Good luck!

Free Membership Campaign!

Interested in issues that face a range of women in society today? Join the Society for the Psychology of Women!

SPW is hosting a free membership campaign during 2013. Membership is open to undergraduate and graduate students as well as professionals. You do not have to be a member of APA to join the division. To learn more, check out the website: http://www.apadivisions.org/division-35/index.aspx