Only In A Woman’s World: Frito Lay Goes Girly
There I was happily watching CNN this morning when they reported that women are now no longer seen as a niche market. It seems that the recession depression has largely effected men and companies are now realizing that it is women that have the disposable income and the discretionary power to spend.
Rather than using this as an opportunity to validate women, companies have resorted to ridiculous essentialist pitches to garner our attention. If you identify as female you must love the colour pink, fluffy clouds, and rainbows. The utility of the object in question is irrelevant as long as it is pretty, cause you know how all of us wimminez just need everything to be pastel and cutesy.
While it is necessary to some degree to draw on large generalizations to effectively market, creating a single monolithic representation of what constitutes woman is extremely problematic. The images that we see end up not being about our struggles or our triumphs but womanhood as it is understood through the patriarchal lens. Advertising in this way quickly becomes yet another tool that is marshalled by patriarchy to discipline women into perform a gender essentialist, submissive femininity.
Each year more women seek post secondary and graduate education. We are entering fields that were once male dominated, crashing through glass ceilings at every turn and yet Frito Lay has decided that the best possible way to appeal to us, is to pander to our so called obsessive need to count every calorie because of a fixation on our bodies. These generalizations are not only essentialist, they are highly demeaning.
Frito Lay has even gone on to make webisodes in which these shallow women are featured.
Notice how every single item is either low calorie or low in fat. Women of course never just pig out cause hey we all need a good junk food and pyjama day from time to time. Apparently we are racked endlessly with guilt every time we decide to eat.
Women are so much more than what the advertising industry has constructed us to be. These images are not innocuous, rather they set up damaging ideas that translate into the devaluation of women. In a world in which not conforming to ideal body standards often translates into shaming, and less employment opportunities (read: feminization of poverty) such mode of advertising must be challenged. Commercials like this are made to benefit patriarchy and we internalize these images without thought or resistance we are assuming this unbalanced definition of womanhood.
Just like every other social organization patriarchy is highly dependent on the labour, finances and support of women We collude daily in small ways in our own oppression often without being cognizant that we are contributing to our own second class status. While we certainly do not control the media we do have the power to eliminate or reduce the purchasing of items that serve to create woman as the eternal ‘other’; we not only owe this to ourselves but to our daughters.
We cannot be post feminist until we move away from the idea that we do not deserve to be treated seriously. Since the advertising agency has found a new belief in our purchasing power, it is essential that we leverage this to ensure that the degree to which we are constructed as flighty, brainless, narcissistic beings is reduced. A world in which the full depth of womanhood is equally represented would lend itself to greater opportunities, and a reduction in the degree to which patriarchy manages to maintain its control. Woman is a complex identity and can never be fully appreciated as long as it is continually equated with flower, pastels and diet materials.
Cross posted from Womanist Musings
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Very much agree with you. It's time to tell them we are unique, dynamic and worth more than what they are thinking. In fact woman have the power to improve these economic crisis too..
Yeah, definitely women are health conscious, extremely problematic when it comes to physical appearance usually if they don't like what they see . I think its better to have a natural diet to maintain good figure.^_^ nice post
I am woman and I agree that the women, who have their income money, have much easier and simpler life. Today, the increasing number of women who successfully finish university because they want to be autonomous and independent. Regards to women fighters.
I agree with you.We cannot more be post feminist until we move away from the idea that we do not deserve to be treated seriously. Thanks a lot
I totally agree with you! my wife is very health conscious too. I will share this article to her. Thanks a lot.
“Did you know there's something in the chip aisle just for you?”
Oh, there's something in the chip aisle just for you. It's called “you're too fat to eat normal made-for-men food so we've made some chick-food especially for you.” You get less pleasure out of it, but it's more satisfying to the menz who have to look at you. So it's kind of like bad sex. But the menz! They're so important even products created for women are created with them in mind!
why people always see first the bad things on everything? I mean, cant we stop making things more difficult than what it was already? Its like your creating problems on everything. I think people right now dont need to hear more whinings, lets be positive.
You are absolutely right, I totally agree with you.
Emma
There goes media again, generalizing gender.
Seriously, they should stop it already. It's getting old. We're not in the Medieval era anymore.
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Women tend to overcome its being less productive especially now that we already have women leaders.
Web Design Lexington
Every group can make a difference if they know how to apply pressure.
Is there a way to complain to the company about this? I was eating baked lays yesterday and noticed the URL on the bag for onlyinawomansworld.com, and I knew as soon as I saw it that there was going to be some generalized nonsense about women and dieting that would most likely be offensive. I was right.