Advertisements and Culture

In the early 2000’s, Olay came out with an ad that highlighted the important roles of a woman: “wife”, “mother”, and “shoe aficionado”.  These words were strategically placed next to a seemingly glowing and happy woman who held up her wedding band in pride. The close up shot of the woman allows the audience to place emphasis on her face and to really feel like Olay has had a significant impact in her life, along with shoes, of course. While the ad may be seemingly effective, it draws on stereotypes that are prevalent in society today. According to this advertisement, the only things that women value in life are the roles of being a wife and a mother and meaningless things such as shoes. It indirectly states that women do not have greater ambitions in life than being those things. It places very low standards on women. At first, I assumed that this ad was in the late 1950’s because that was a time where being a wife and  a mother were the only important things for a woman and they did not hold stable jobs or aspire to be something greater than that. It was shocking to find out that it was actually from 2002 because that proves that those sexist and stereotypical thoughts have carried on in society today. Although it would be assumed that this ad aims to empower women, I would argue that women are actually ignored and marginalized. The target audience is the woman who is a housewife and who has free time to take care of herself. In that sense, it ignores all the women who are not those things. It places a generalization on women everywhere and actually insults the women who hold stable careers and aspire to be more things. By placing the wedding band in the picture, it shows that the woman values the fact that she is a wife. In my opinion, that is empowering men because it shows that a women values a man in her life and that men are one of the “important roles” that a woman plays. Overall, this ad seems effective and friendly when someone first looks at it. But right as you look closely and examine it more, it is clear that this ad takes all of those existing stereotypes of women and plugs it into their in order to sell more. 

Celebrities in Jail: Logos, Pathos, Ethos

Editorial

Do Celebrities get Special Treatment in Jail?

Amirah Abualeez

Robert Downy Jr, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and many other celebrities have served time in jail due to things such as drunk driving or drug possession. It is not unusual to hear that a famous person has spent time in jail, and then got out the next day. Many people start questioning the justice system and accuse it of giving special treatment to celebrities and people in high positions. In Pitkin County, Colorado, inmates are comfortable with a gym, a dayroom, and balanced meals. When people celebrities read this, they automatically assume that Charlie Sheen spends time in this jail because it is “comfortable”. The reality is that, there are many inmates in that jail who are not. When it comes to the justice system, the fancy and expensive attorneys cannot do much when it comes to the actual jail stay. Celebrities do in fact get special treatment, but special does not necessarily mean better.

To begin, it is crucial to distinguish between a jail and a prison. A jail is usually an open space where the inmates have activities and can interact with one another. A prison is a closed off cell and the inmate has little interaction with others. Prisons are usually for more serious crimes such as murder and jails are for less serious crimes such as drunk driving, which is where most of these celebrities fall into. Steve Whitmore of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department states, “So if celebrities seem to have it easy in jail, it's partly because the jail system is intended for nonviolent offenders -- and celebrities usually fall into that class”. In a jail, it is the guard’s jobs to reassure the prisoner’s safety. In the case of celebrities, there is a very large chance that they could be harassed or even physically abused by other prisoners. That is the reason that many celebrities end up having their own cell isolated away from the rest of the prison, they are called “keepaways”. When people look at one side of the story, they automatically assume that the reason celebrities get their own cells is because they are being wrongfully favored. In reality, these celebrities are constantly bombarded by the media and do not get more privileges than many other people. Although some celebrities get less time than they should, that is not a generalization that can be made on all of them. Although Lindsay Lohan spent about 84 minutes in jail in 2007, Robert Mitchum served his full sentence of 60 days, Robert Downy Jr. and Lil Wayne spent a year in jail, and T.I. spent 10 months in jail. It is so often that the experiences of certain celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan are taken and then placed on other stars that had completely different experiences, thus altering the views of society on the subject.

Today, there are about 2.4 million people held in jails in the United States. Yet out of those 2.4 million, it is only the incarcerated celebrities that attract attention. Because of their lavish and upscale lifestyles, these celebrities must also get lavish and upscale jail treatment, right? The answer is no. It is generally assumed that these celebrities get special treatment because stories like Lindsay Lohan’s infamous 84 minutes of Paris Hiltons 82 minutes in jail surface the internet. The matter of the fact is that these celebrities do not represent what actually happens to celebrities in jail. The “special” privileges that they receive are not a matter of favoritism; they are a matter of safety. The justice system will target anyone who has done wrongful acts, no matter the size of their bank account. At the end of the day, jail is jail. These celebrities will end up sleeping in the same bed that any other prisoner sleeps in and they will eat the same food that any other prisoner will eat. With such a growing media empire, it is vital to understand the entire picture and not place generalizations on an entire group of people.