Sexism? Sure, if it's Short

Those diamond store ads always bothered me. Whether it's the sentiment that "Every kiss begins with K" or that "A diamond is forever", it's just a joy to see the idea that most women prefer something glittery and brag-able than anything real or meaningful from another human being. Basically, only sparkling diamonds can stave the gnawing hunger of the she-beast, and any attempts at a connection are only valuable if you put a ring on it. Beyonce knew what she was talking about.

In some perverse way, I like commercials. The tiny snippets in between show breaks aren't my opportunity to run to the fridge, they're a chance to get a look into how companies think I think, not to sound ridiculous. But come on. Most marketing campaigns are completely transparent, and seeing the strings in the system makes me feel like some secret superhero. Or someone with too much time on her hands. So I loved this article from Cracked about TV ads that hate women. Those Yoplait ads were always grating. I also love the series of More Commercials I Can't Stand over at Appetite for Equal Rights, which is entertaining while simultaneously being terribly depressing.

So what is it about commercials that makes them so prone to sexism? Is it just that there are so many commercials out there? Are commercials a chance for people to say what they really want to say, offensive as it may be? Is it sexism that sells?

I think commercials are trying so hard to address one certain crowd that they rely on stereotypes to reach what they consider their target audience. So if I'm trying to sell laundry soap I look at the complicated mathy numbers (I'm a creative writing major, not a scientist) , and the numbers tell me that women make up a large portion of my laundry-soap-buyers are women. So I make commercials about women, for women, that will convince those women that buy laundry soap to buy my laundry soap. So it makes sense logically to target a specific audience in some commercials, but do we really need to make the lines so distinct? Do only women do laundry? If women buy the laundry soap, maybe it's women paying attention to the commercials, and maybe they don't really like being shown as a boring mom who has to do all the chores. I know I can't identify with that, and I'm as much a laundry soap purchaser as anyone.