A Moment of Silence

One line of Bordo’s text in particular struck a chord within me and caused me to think more critically about the effect of advertisement in my life. The quote is as follows, “The Jezebels and geishas are still with us; and, although black male models and toddlers are allowed to have locks and “naturals,” straight hair-straighter nowadays than I ever thought it was possible for anyone’s hair to be-seems almost mandatory for young black women” (160). I have had chemically straightened hair since the approximate age of 10. My mother has had chemically straightened hair since she was 10 years of age. And just about all the black females I know have chemically straightened hair. None of us can imagine our hair being any other way for two reasons. One, that our hair is so naturally coarse that it is far easier to manage when straightened. Two, we all realize that the retro age has passed and afros are still out of style. Were I not so conscientious of television ads and their portrayals of the ideal, maybe I’d be sporting an afro to class instead of some more Caucasian hair style.

It seems as though the reading for this blog was hand tailored to parallel my life. A quote by Goffman echoes yet another social struggle in which I have found myself. “Selective mating then enters to ensure that very nearly every couple will exhibit a height difference in the expected direction, transforming what would otherwise be statistical tendency into a near certitude (28). This quote refers to the tendeny for males to be taller than females in heterosexual realationships. If my classmates have not noticed already, I am rather tall. Not only do I rank above the average female height of approximately 5’6”, I outshine the male’s average, 5’10”, at a whopping 5’11”-- 6’ on the days I’m feeling confident. When I was young I found my height to be very exciting; however, as I aged and began to tower over the midget boys my age, the novelty wore off. Background information aside though, I’ve continued to defy the stereotypical height arrangement for couples. I’ve been taller than each boy I’ve dated in the past, going shorter and shorter, as the years pass, with my current boy friend ranking in at an all time low of 5’6”, right at my chin. Perhaps I'm trying to make amends for my straightened hair.

While I definitely think that the post modern visual context of advertisements is very different from the images portrayed in years past, I don’t think the advertisement industry has quite managed to tear itself away from sexism. A subtle and slightly confusing example of such a similarity is the Heineken advertisement played last class. I was offended at the portrayal of a female robot with the expressed purpose of producing,via birth canal, and serving perfectly chilled Heineken beer from a Draughtkeg to her targeted male audience. This is just one example of the sneaky tactics used in modern times to inject female subservience and sex appeal into commercials. The designers thought they’d throw me off track with the hip techno music in the background, their “innovative” new beer , the sexy fashion sense of the robot and the shiny colors but I’m too smart for that, for their modern sales schemes- which is exactly why I still chemically straighten my hair. Let us have a moment of silence for my pride...