Extra Post on the Media

So ever since enrolling in this class I feel as though my eyes have been opened. I see the world way differently now than I ever did before, and notice things I would not have noticed before. One this I noticed was the common pedestrian crossing sign found everywhere. Here we see two figures crossing. I say figures because at first glance we automatically know there are two women here. How? Because both are wearing skirts and have purses. There are many versions of this sign, the one below is of a man and woman, both distinguishable by their attire, the man in pants and the woman in a dress, and either a purse or briefcase/book looking item. Sometimes for children crossing the girl’s are in skirts with pig tails, etc. These signs, though common and pretty much blend in with society enforce the secret education Christensen talks about. Gender roles are established through clothing, and these signs say that men don’t wear skirts and women don’t wear pants, same goes for restroom door signs where the woman has a skirt. It is perfectly ok for women to wear pants and men to wear skirts.



Another thing I noticed is a new billboard for Coca Cola in my hometown. The ad below shows a cool bottle of Coke on it’s side sitting in ice. This image always struck me whenever I saw it, like I had seen it before. And then one day while driving by it I realized it resembles a generic picture of some half naked woman laying seductively in a magazine, in this case Megan Fox. The curves of the bottle parallel the curves of the woman especially the legs, so in a way, Coke is marketing their beverage through sex, or at least through some sort of visual device which can subconsciously lead the mind to sexual images. This again ties into Christensen due to how the media is all about making the sale to everyone and establishing the status quo.

I’ll leave you with this to ponder about and this media/ Christensen rant with a song by No Doubt called “Just a Girl.” The song is about gender inequality and is really powerful. Enjoy!