Sunday, January 22, 2012

Capitalism and Advertisements

I found it interesting how in a Capitalist society women can be seen as irrational and emotional. Women are also seen as dependents since they depend on men for the family wage. A great example of the degradation of women due to capitalism is advertisements. In most cleaning advertisements a women is seen smiling and ready to clean up the mess that has been left for her. These kinds of advertisements mock women since they exhibit them as the workers who have to deal with these problems and display how it is their job and their duty to clean the house.
One cleaning advertisement that especially mocks women and the empowerment of women is one that exhibits Rosie the Riveter in the advertisement and then stating in large bold letters, "GET THE POWER," and in small letters, "The Power to Clean Anything." Rosie the Riveter was one of the greatest symbols of the empowerment of women and had represented that a women was just as capable at doing a man's job when the men were at war. She stood in a time when women began to realize that they were strong capable beings and could do more than just keep the house tidy and raise the children.  However, this advertisement exhibited her as nothing more than a maid who, while using Clorox products, could clean anything. It dwindles her image all the way down from a  symbol of empowerment, respect, strength, and beauty to nothing more than a cleaner. This advertisement also mocks women by exhibiting that they will, "GET THE POWER," it presents a sense of empowerment for women. However, it cleverly exhibits in the smaller letters below that the only power they will be holding is the power to clean their household. This displays a lack of respect for women in this day and age and simply continues to exploit the belief that a woman's role is the caretaker of the household and that her job is to purchase the most powerful cleaning products to make sure her house is presentable.

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