Posture, Gesture and Mimics in the Advertisements

Several weeks ago, we took pictures to promote a product in the roles of “woman” and “man”. Our aim is to criticize the reflection of woman in advertisements. We arranged our posture, gesture and mimics like the real ones and then observe the aims of these. When men hold a parfume bottle strongly, like he doesn’t want to give it, women hold it as they can fall it by using the least power that they can use. What is it mean? They need someone to hold it for them or maybe buy it for them…

I like the film "Mona Lisa's Smile" so much and choose it for the presentation and even if I cannot be successful on presenting it in class, I still think that it is very successful choice to show the roles that society waits women to fill in. The setting goes in 1960, after WW2, when women encouraged to leave the working areas to their husbands and be a good- “perfect” housewifes that obey their husbands. In the film we see that girl students prepare for the marriage life. They do not use their potentials and possibilities to be powerful and independent individuals in the future, because since they born they only dream to have a perfect house, perfect clothes, perfect children and perfect husband. When we come up to 2000s, we see a great development in women rights and their goals. There are lots of successful and powerful women around and they compete with lots of other men in their areas. However, understanding of being happy by finding a rich and successful husband rather than studying and being successful by own effort still supported by some parents. I believe that every women should independently sustain their own lives by working, rather than being husband- dependent individuals. Women should have physical barriers to work in some areas and some special times- like pregnancy, but they should be able to work even if they not. They should be able to resist on the unfairnesses and have power to complain. However, as we talked about in our lessons, women are encouraged to be silent and passive.  If they do not want to change this situation, no one can do it for them and education is the first step.

Perception of Beauty- Nigeria

I watched a film last summer about a fat woman that feels herself not precious as her thin cousins because of her weight. During the film, she tries to lose weight by trying various ways, but cannot be successful. She loves eating very much and cannot give up. She wants to fall in love and live happily ever after, but according to the magazines that she read, she should wear sexy and be thin. To seem sexy, she believes that she should lose weight. She sees it as the only barrier accross having the perfect guy and family. Her self confidence also gets weaker in every step that she fails. She thinks that people speak behind her and no one like her when she is with her two thin and beatiful cousins. She starts to accuse them when she cannot see any interest from the guys in the holiday. Then she met with a very handsome and rich doctor, who is from Nigeria and he likes her. However, after a while, she starts to question her happiness. She doesn’t believe that someone perfect as him can like a fat woman like her that much. She cannot trust him and leave him while he begs. Then she goes to her home and look at the dresses that she bought to wear when she lose weight. She trows all of them in the street and get in depression. Then at the end of the film, she suddenly change and decided to be happy with her own body rather than lived depressed with a dream of having a model- like one. She travels to Nigeria to visit that handsome doctor with her cousins and ask him to marry with her. In the dinner, I observe that everyone in the dinner table are fat and they are very happy. Her cousins cannot see any attention from the men. As a result of this, as we talked in the class, perception of beauty depends on the culture of the society that we are living in and it is useless to be obsessive on appereance. There are more important things in the world and if the money that people spent for their appereances and in the aim of being       “perfect” to the children who suffer from diseases and hunger in Africa, it would be better for the future of the humanity.

Adam and Eve

Through the history, women are seem as the “other” sex that is dependent to the “absolute” sex- men. Even in the earliest stories about the creation of the man and woman, we see that ‘Eve is depicted as made from what Bossuet called “a supernumerary bone” of Adam.’(Beauvoir, 2010, 101) This story shows that women are seen as the “relative beings” since the beginning of the human history. How we can accept the trueness of a story that shows women as the second sex? Women do not form the minority group in the world, they form the half (even more than a half) of the total population.  Last week I read a jerky column about the creation of men and women.  For that column, God created men and women at the same time. Then look at them and say “ I cannot create women flawless as men, but whatever I can do that much, she can make make- up.”  They wait us to laught that joke…

Perception of Perfectness

 Since we born, we are raised up by the influence of media and the society. We are imposed by the messages that tell us how we should behave to be better than others. The ideas that ads impose to us about having perfect body and being perfect, shape our perception of the perfectness. People believe that perfect nose should be small or perfect body should be thin. As a result of this, cosmetic surgery developed more than any other indusries and all around start to full with gaunt- anorexic women! This result show us the success of the techniques that the companies use to prome their products, even if they are not ethical.

Subliminal Messages in the Logos

I realize that there are subliminal messages even in the logos of the companies. It really shocked me! I have never recognized that there is an arrow in the logo of the FEDEX before. But I am sure that they have a reason to do it. Maybe the colorless arrow means nothing for me at the first sight, but can it be a sign that affects me unconsciously, while I am looking for somewhere to send my post? I am sure that most of the people would not see the arrow between the “E” and “X” letters in Fedex. But it might be a subliminal message that our brain understands for us and shows the company as our target. Why not? Then, I looked to other logos for the same aimed companies and I saw that there is also an arrow in Amazon’s logo, which combines “A” letter to “Z”. I thought, why not N but Z? Maybe, it is to give the message that “We have everything you need A to Z!” Wow. It is really impossible to not fascinate from the messages they give us unconciously even by the logos…

Effects of Ads in Our Lives

We are working on the messages in the advertisements in class hours. I really enjoy while discussing on this, because this topic is very connected to our daily lives. Ads are in everywhere. We are used to live with them. Sometimes, it gets disturbing. For example, even during the series, they use ads. The question we have to ask to ourselves might be: Why they are very desirous to advertising a product? There is an apparent answer: Because it works! We are all effected from these ads that we thing superfluous. Maybe, this is why we think Sütaş’s milk is better in quality and taste than Gür’s milk. I believe it, when I saw the milks today in the supermarket and I am sure that most of the people would believe too... Thanks to ads!