2 examples of media gendered sexism

While reading through one of my favourite websites http://about-face.org/ I came across these two examples of media gendered thinking. Both of them annoy me in different ways. They BOTH go to show the struggles that we and the young people we live and work with face in terms of maintaining our awareness of the manipulation that we are subject to daily.


Please have a read and discuss widely.

What We Think:
Svedka has come out with a new wave of "R. U. Bot Or Not?" ads, including a TV commercial. The Svedka Bot is a woman who has been broken down to the most "essential" physical features. She is branded with SVEDKA down her leg. As an animatronic woman, she is designed to serve and she has no needs of her own. Her singular body type leaves no worries of men having to put up with a woman who falls outside the body ideal of 2033 (and today). The "R. U. Bot or Not" tagline has three levels of meaning. First, it asks if women have achieved the body type of the Svedka Bot. Second, it asks if women have been claimed by men who have bought them a (Svedka) drink. Lastly, if men can purchase a Svedka Bot in 2033, the ad also asks if women have literally been purchased by men. (by Juliet Weintraub)

THE NEXT BIT OF MEDIA IS THIS:

The New York Times offers an image of a man and woman in the thick of the recent protests in Egypt, the man has his arms around the woman. The caption begins, “A protester consoled a woman during a demonstration.” What we want to know is WHY wasn't the caption something like " 2 Protesters celebrate during demonstaration. Certainly the woman didnt just accidently end up in the middle of thousands of people. ANYWAY go here to read more and see the picture.