Discover Wisconsin- Audition Tape- Beverly Thompson

Female Chauvinist Pigs

The explanation that Levy provides in the discussion on what female viewers and readers got out of raunch culture and how girls just want to be “one of the guys” I feel is true to a certain degree. I think the biggest issue in women taking on this new female chauvinism is the fact that they want to mask their insecurities by pretending to be okay with raunch culture, rather than comparing themselves to the women in it.

Joe Francis and the Girls Gone Wild group has simply mastered the art of peer pressure. The success in the GGW business has come from their ability to convince girls, minus the ever-so willing ones, in public places, surrounded by their peers, that this is what they want to do. Had the girl in the black bikini not become surrounded by people on the beach, undoubtedly GGW would have received no footage. Now that the GGW empire has been created, however, it’s much easier to receive immediate voluntary footage. It’s sad to see that we have come from a world where porn and such was a “back alley” deal for women to secretly make money to a world where porn is a center stage deal for women to earn themselves a trucker hat.

The Gay and Lesbian Niche Market

Given that the statistics provided in the reading on the average annual income were researched in the early 1990's, I don't think they would have been so accurate but maybe even a bit modest. During this time, homosexuality was still on the cusp of breaking through conservative backlash, which inevitably caused many people to "stay in the closet" out of fear. I would be interested in knowing what the difference would have been in average annual income had the majority of the gay population been accounted for. This, along with the other reasons provided, I think is was led to the discredit of these types of statistics.

In the reading it is stated that, "characteristically, consumer culture offers redress for the disenfranchisement of those who have traditionally been cast as "other" on the basis of their identities." Despite this fact, would marketers even have acknowledged this group had they not become a rather large proportion of the population and proved to exceed the national salary averages?

Levy Reading

"Proving that you are hot, worth of lust, and-necessarily-that you seek to provoke lust is still exclusively women's work," states Levy. This is exemplified through the incidences that were given in the reading. Even on television sitcoms, you see loads of pretty, skinny actresses paired up with their not-so-attractive counterparts. Two shows that come to mind are Modern Family and King of Queens. Why is it okay for the male actor to be portrayed as sloppy and still be liked while for women to be equally enjoyed, they must be model-like in appearance? Would the ratings still be as high if the female actress was replaced by somebody with equal the personality but not be as physically attractive?

I personally feel that if you feel more confident wearing makeup and figure fitting clothing, then all the power to you, but in today's society, it has been taken way too far. Would celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian be as popular as they are without their sex tapes? Thinking back to scenes from the movie Mean Girls, I remember one of the little sisters of a main character imitating hip thrusting moves in a music video and in another scene, lifts up her shirt along with girls in a Girls Gone Wild infomercial. Though this was just a movie, how far from real life is this? How will raunch culture affect the future generations of females?

Selling out for 11/30/10

1. I've never noticed any gay ads. Can anyone give me an example of a gay ad they have seen in mainstream media?

2. Do you think gay acceptance will continue to move forward? If the 1990's were so big for the gay community, what will the 2010's be like?

Levy "Female Chauvinist Pigs"

1. A simple question I have always wanted to ask: Why do so many women dress in such a sexual manner only to complain when men view them as sexual objects?

2. I thought the part in the article about guys yelling at girls to take their clothes off was insane yet true. How did it get to the point where guys can get away with that but girls cant? Do we live in a sexist society when it comes to raunch culture?

Becker Chapter 4

If market researchers agree that gays and lesbians are well educated with a disproportionate amount of disposable income and are extremely loyal to brands, why are there not more television ads targeted towards them? I cannot think of one television ad I have seen that has ever been specifically targeted towards this demographic. Does IKEA still have ads targeted towards gays and lesbians being broadcast?

I recall hearing about an ad that featured a gay or lesbian (couple?) that was supposed to run during the Superbowl or some other big event within the past year or so. Does anyone remember what the story line was and what the commercial was supposed to be for? Why was it pulled?