1. Douglas makes quite a few comments in regards to her critiques of the advertising industry and its creation of “endless images of women.” What might be considered “womanly” in the images she values? She tends to portray this underlying assumption that women need to be “real.” Women are far from the way that the media sculpts them to be – and that is a something that everyone needs to understand. It seems as if every advertisment she discusses has this sense of luxury to it. The media portrays this idea of beauty being associated with a wealthy, luxurious lifestyle, which is probably what attracts so many women to it. They buy into this idea easily, as they do not want to be the ones who are not looking their best, no matter what the price. “Americans are becoming increasingly self-abosrbed, [wrote Lasch], but not becuase they were conceited. On the contrary, Americans were desperately insecure, consumed by self-doubt and self-loathing and totally obessed with competing with otherpeople for approval and acclaim.” In addition to taking advantage of the insecurity of women in America, the media also sculpted an idea of what feminism and women’s liberation should be. This was played off to the media’s benefit, sending off the notion that self-indulgence is worth the money, and so says every advertisment that Douglas discusses. The media targets insecure women and tries to sell them into a life of security, luxury, and beauty. The images that Douglas values are strong, secure women. Not necessarily as skinny as a twig, but confident – these are the images that Douglas supports, and women really need to see more of these advertisments. Confidence is what makes someone beautiful, not the new, expensive facial cream.
2. Douglas’s project is defined by words that portray positive or negative ideas. The media is obviously responsible for a large part of the meaning of women’s bodies. They sell sex, beauty, and other sterotypes through products, and sculpt a consumer in terms of what they buy. The media makes women out to be helpless and lacking greatly in confidence. However, women do not need to buy into this idea – but unfortunately, most do; it is that idea of needing to fit in, and have constant approval from friends, family, and men. “Even when we are fully able to deconstruct these pseudoscientific sales pitches which would make any self-respecting snake oil salesment blush there we are, a part of us still wanting to believe that we can look younger and that it’s desireable to do so.” The idea that the advertisments “confront our ideal selves” allow us to bask in the glory of a perfect life; the media sells this image of a perfect self, and women buy into it. Douglas uses key terms to provide her readers with the idea of feminism and how the media portrays it. Words like “performance,” “precision,” and “control” are used repeatedly in the advertisments that Douglas discusesses. Cosmetics are considered a “defense.” Companies refer to their products as “systems.” These are all examples of the bold words used to sell products and images to women.
