"You can't be what you can't see" -Mirian Wright Edelman

      For decades for centuries Since the beginning of time, women have been prisoners of war, held captive and tortured, stripped of their self worth and robbed form their ownership of their true identities. Bell Hooks describes something similar to this in The Oppositional Gaze, when she describes how slave owners deprived their slaves from using their own gaze. As such, advertisers have blinded women from having their own "gaze" or reflection of themselves, so bad that it does not exist anymore; for their reflection now represents a males perception. And what exactly is the male perception? Berger explains the male perception of a woman as merely an object; an object of desire or sexual pleasure. Women have been painted by advertisers to portray not only objects of sexual desire, but also as maids. A woman's sole responsibility is to look beautiful and serve her man. It has been a vicious cycle; where advertisers not only try to sell their products but they have implanted objective meanings to what it is to be a woman. And the cycle will keep spinning so long as women accept it.

       We have been brainwashed so much that we have lost our identities. Although there seems to be no cure for this, i believe that the cure can be found within the disease. The same way ads took us from Rosie the Riveter, during WWII to house wife bare foot and pregnant after the war, to pretty house wife, bare foot and pregnant, to the now; beautiful sexual perfect beings for men; we have the same power to shut them down using anti advertising ads as well as educating young girls and boys. Alternative media has already been launching its war against racist and sexist ads. A perfect example of this is misrepresentation.org. A web site designed to educate girls and boys of all ages on sexism in advertising. The have also created a short film as well as a curriculum and a blog. Their mission is to "shift peoples consciousness, inspire individual and community action, intimately transform culture so everyone, regardless of gender, can fulfill their potential." This campaign is drawing much attention, not only to the general population but to celebrities, which i think is a key aspect to change. Creating awareness is the most valuable concept of change. Katie Couric said "The media can be used as an instrument of change: it can maintain the status quo and reflect the views of the society or it can hopefully, awaken people and change minds. I think it depends on who's the piloting the plane."

     Somewhere somehow, feminism lost its fuel. Sadly, advertisers did it again, representing feminist as cruel, angry, man hating lesbians; which is obviously NOT true. Women are now afraid of calling themselves feminist and for this reason, the fight is a fight which lost its soul. Every woman should be a feminist, why not? Are they afraid that men see them in a light that they do not want them too?? (sarcasm) It is shocking as to why women put up with this, some argue that women must like being treated as such, because they still buy the products and still try to mimic that unrealistic body frame and have no qualms with it. However, It is documented throughout history a how the ideology of one man can start a revolution and blindside an entire nation; Hitler and slavery itself are great examples of this. However, no one really has been paying too much attention to women and their over sexualized imagery.

      We must realise who has the power and who is at the top of this hierarchy. Is it really the top advertising executives? Or is it the consumers? The advertising companies need us to need them and their products, however they are not forcing us to do so. We need to advertise against advertising and if & when we hit a wall, break through it and keep going. We [women] are the puppeteers and they are the puppets. They want our money but we do not have to give it to them, we do not have to buy their make up, their clothes, watch their commercials, etc. We have the buying power. We no longer have to accept or expect the unacceptable. Now with social media surrounding our daily lives, we see a lot more of celebrities and models in the raw, which is often not very flattering. Although some may say this is a positive movement which will relieve pressures from women trying to "perfect" themselves, I will argue that this may be a hinder to women in progressing away from sexist consumerism. Women have the anxiety of having to look a certain way every minute of the day and force them into buying more products.

http://nymag.com/news/features/46011/index1.html

    The way men and women are starting to view sexism and sexist ads is slowly shifting into a new direction. People are becoming aware and women are angry once again. Movement is starting to take place. Advertisers are getting informed and in the past have tried to make women feel better by over sexualising men. Making them appear in ads showing their bodies. However, it's only making men more stronger and muscular yet women appear thinner and weaker, so the male still dominates. This is not the answer. We need to continue to educate and create educational classes, such as women and gender studies, mandatory. We must continue to push campaigns such as the one Miss Representation is pushing. As the CEO of Paley Center for Media said "We have enormous power. Eighty-six percent of the purchasing power in this country is in the pockets of women. Well, let's us it."