Welcome!

Hello fellow bloggers and welcome! I am excited to journey through this quest of questions and hope you will join me in dissecting and discovering the intricate facets of American culture. Does media influence our identities? Has advertising played a major role in determining the status of women in our culture?
I don’t know, let’s find out.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Confessions of a Frustrated Woman

Wise words from Cher Horowitz:
Do you prefer
"fashion victim" or "ensembly challenged"?

Do you remember good ol’ Cher from the ultimate 1995 chick flick Clueless?
She and her fashion cronies took over 90’s pop culture and we have never been the same.


Of course, before this productive film there were other “chick flicks” and influential females like Molly Ringwald in 1984’s “Sixteen Candles”. While Molly made girls want to cut their hair and dye it red, Cher made them want to like totally go to the mall and spend daddy’s money on like clothes and stuff.

I say this so there is no confusion.
I am not against shopping and dressing however you want. I buy clothes, I wear cool things (I think), and at times I like shoes and purses. When I dress (most of the times) I do so in the hopes that I look okay- mighty fine when the occasion calls for it. What I am questioning here is the OBSESSION. The NEED, not desire, for women to look like they just stepped out of a
Macy’s Ad.

How do women bond with each other?
Shop!
What do women do when they need a pick me up?
Shop!
And what do women overspend and kill their credit over? You know it,
Shop!

These are stereotypical statements that don’t hold true for many women.

But it’s a stereotype for a reason.

My inspiration to start this blog came from a movie poster on the side of a bus stop.

I looked. I wondered. I laughed. I disbelieved. I shook my head. I laughed again nervously. I asked aloud to no one in particular, “Seriously?”

Yes.


Coming out this February in a theater near you, “Confessions of a Shopaholic”. Burn your brain cells and decrease your self-confidence in a little over two hours!
The movies slogan is, “All she ever wanted was a little credit”- how clever. How amazingly witty. They played with words. I haven’t seen the film but based on the trailer, that’s as good as it gets. Unless you think “you speak Prada?” is just as
smart.


Some one might say, "Hey Cris, shut up because this is based on a best selling novel!"


To that person I have nothing to say. But I would give the same vacant/OMG I- can't-think-because-I'm-a-girl expression that is shown on the movie poster.

Whether you know it or not, this is what is happening in our brains ladies:
The Result of watching Confessions.
This is what girls of all ages are watching. The women who can’t afford Gucci so instead buy knockoffs and lower their gaze when they see somebody staring at
it. These are women who put designer sunglasses on their over-charged credit card and sigh when a new pair comes into fashion the next month.

And what about the young ones? Is this what they have to aspire to?

So a movie like Confessions is appealing because the girl has fallen into the same financial hole many women find themselves in and she needs to rise above. Will she succeed? Obviously, it’s a feel good crap movie meant to dazzle your eyes with lots of pink and quick quips that make you laugh-out-loud- “yeah I totally relate”.

No! You can not relate! It’s a movie. A fantasy. An
evil scheme? Well someone has got to keep this economy going.

My friends, the situation is getting ugly. And the ugliness is oozing out of our collective belief that fashion (which is superficial, fickle and costly) is the life purpose to aim for. Ultimately the labels we brand ourselves with serve as the band-aid with which we cover our insecurities.

But like a band-aid, they can only be worn for so long until they must be peeled off and reveal what lies underneath.

What will you see when the bandage comes off?





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