In January of 2015, the This Girl Can campaign was put into motion because England found that there was a drastic difference in the number of men participating in sports verses women. Research indicated that women wanted to participate, but lacked the confidence to do so. As a result, with the help of Sport England, the National Lottery, and other sponsors, the This Girl Can camapign was launched. It did not take long for this edgy video to go viral all over the world. With phrases like "I kick balls. Deal with it" and "Damn right I'm hot" It is difficult for the campaign to not draw attention. I have actually seen this video for the past year on social media and was originally inspired. It is when I took a closer look at the real message that I began to question its validity.
Despite the fact that this campaign was wildly successful and England did see an increase in women and girls participating in physical activity, did the end really justify the means?
This campaign video uses techniques that have been used to objectify women for years. With phrases like, "I jiggle, therefore I am", The audience is given the message that it is not her mind and merit that render her human (as the original 'I think, therefore I am' suggests). Instead, it implies just the opposite. It means that because the woman is an imperfect body, she exists. she is a body, therefore she is recognized in society. The power is removed from the expression and given to the dominating patriarchal society with a pretty post feminist bow. The female body is also segmented into parts rather than focusing on the woman as a whole. This is a common practice in advertising to segment a woman to make her more marketable.
Despite the women in the video being objectified, this campaign was wildly successful. How could this be? Research points to a newer view of sexualization from a third wave feminist perspective. Women have reported feeling more empowered when they are free to express themselves through their own sexuality. The idea that “if you've got it, flaunt it” has begun to dominate some feminist circles. Is this truly a feminist mindset, however? According to Erchull & Liss (2013, p. 2342), “The lines between empowered female sexuality and objectified female sexuality are often blurred, as many young women report feeling empowered through being objectified… And gaining sexualized male attention.” Many third wave feminists are focusing on celebrating female sexuality in order to empower women- no matter the cost. Others have criticized this third wave feminist view by asking if “feeling empowered and being empowered are the same thing,” (Erchull & Liss, 2013, p. 2342). Women are conditioned to not look to themselves for afromation, but instead turn to men for approval of their sexuality.
This campaign's purpose is to motivate women to be confident in their sport of choice, and it does that, but it is unfortunate that that confidence is only skin deep.
Discussion Questions:
1.Why is confidence often directly correlated to sex?
2. How could this campaign been reworked to be more supportive of women?
3. What is the difference between healthy confidence and sexual approval?
Courtney, I totally agree with your claim about this commercial representing "confidence as only skin deep", but I don't agree with your other claims. I think this commercial does a wonderful job of showing diversity in women's health. Most women involved in health classes and gyms aren't all thin and beautiful like most American health Ads suggest. It shows the reality of women's health. A consequence that comes with this reality is objectification. I believe this Ad was using physical objectification to show the truth of how a real women's body moves and work as it exercised. I don't think their point was to add to public objectification discourse. I think they were trying to show that exercising is a rewarding process for a lot of women, but the rewards come only after an immense battle with frustration. The fact that this commercial shows all of that process is very encouraging. I know personally that my body type is often under represented in American women's health Ads. This can get me down sometimes, but I have learned to use it as a motivator instead. I know a lot of women struggle with this underrepresentation and this commercial is just one step closer to equity in the portrayal of women's health.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading your post, the adage of, "Go with the grain," comes to mind. It is a woodworking term that means you should cut with the grain, or the lines of the wood. This is compared to cutting perpendicularly to the lines of the wood so as to avoid splintering the wood.
ReplyDeleteIt seems apparent that this ad tries to encapsulate this idea. The creators of the ad may have recognized that trying to make a rhetorical stance against a negative societal norm would be an uphill battle. With this in mind, they decided to 'keep friends close, and enemies closer,' with their ad. While it does have the obvious faults that you mention in your post, it was effective in increasing female involvement in sports. If the ad made the opposite statement, it would be fighting a societal norm, and may not be as effective.
With this in mind, while the ad does encourage a negative female stereotype, it is effective in increasing female involvement in sports, and creates an option for women to bring more attention to how ridiculous the gender disparity is among our society through a satirical position.
As one of those females who does indeed tend to jiggle, I happened to love this ad. I thought it did a wonderful job representing real women's bodies as they truly are--soft and hard, muscled and not, all shapes and sizes. Rhetorically speaking, I like your breakdown of the objectification. However, I don't know that I agree. I think that women choose individually whether terminology objectifies them or empowers them, and I think this ad does the latter. Now, if someone where to come out and directly say "Women are objects," that's a little harder to deny. An advertisement that shows a reality (that not all women are toned and fit and 'perfect'), however, leaves a lot of wiggle room--pun not intended.
ReplyDeleteI loved this ad! I had a smile on my face the entire time watching it. I understand your points about objectification, but I don't think the ad elicited sexual feelings about bodies, rather just a fun, energetic way of representing women's numerous activity options. I think sometimes ads just can't cover it all at once. There are a lot of issues that women face (like society's ideas regarding their intelligence, etc.), but I think this campaign just tried to focus on one particular element of the struggle.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this ad, as it was very different from what we normally see nowadays. I think this ad does a good job at empowering women, no matter what their size or shape may be. I also think this video does a good job at connected confidence with being happy for who you are. I don't really agree that the ad created a sexual feeling, even though the song choice was not helping its case.
ReplyDeleteI love how the This Girl Can Campaign promotes feminism and women's strength/confidence. So many advertisements these days use stick thin models as strong women; however, that does not show the average woman and her ability to accomplish such tasks. As a female, this advertisement made me feel empowered and excited to push boundaries in sports and even other aspects of life, like the gender gap in corporate America. It does worry me how the women in the commercial are segmented into body parts because that is a major problem with women's portrayal in media.
ReplyDeleteI love this ad! I think its great how This Girl Can Campaign promotes confidence for women and that they should be happy with themselves. I think that is very important to portray in our society now because of the major pressures that women face regarding their body images from society. A woman is often viewed as unfit or ugly if they aren't stick thin and that is wrong. I also, do not think a sexual feeling was created but just trying to aim women to be comfortable in their own skin.
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