Thursday, February 12, 2009

What Are "Real" Women?



So, I decided to critique this Trojan Vibrating Touch commercial since they show it about 50 times after 11PM on Comedy Central and because it applies to the subject matter. First of all, the commercial shows only women, even though one of them claims that the vibrating touch is enjoyable for men as well as for women. No men appear in the commercial to affirm this claim, and the woman sounds very unsure of herself when she says it is pleasurable for men. She slows down her talking and almost seems to stutter and second guess herself. I believe this is the case because the goal of the product is to please the women consumers and that the enjoyment of the male users is an unnecessary added bonus. The premise for the women to buy this product is that their male companions are not pleasing them sufficiently. So the makers of the product don't really care whether it pleases the men, because the problem that is being solved is the satisfaction of the women. This ad also has much to say about the sexual nature of women. The stereotype that stands true in most societies is that women are modest when it comes to sex because of the double standard which is in place. This double standard pretty much says that guys who have a lot of sex are cool and that women who have a lot of sex are easy. This commercial attempts to break that barrier by stating that "real women" are ones that like to be pleased and that aren't afraid to talk about it. The ad also breaks the age barrier regarding sex by including the old woman who tells the younger women where they can purchase the Vibrating Touch. She speaks with complete confidence and no embarrassment, showing she is a "real" woman. I must be skeptical of this commercial and the messages it tries to send. Although the old woman says her part with confidence, the younger women laugh to themselves at the thought of an old woman still getting pleased. Also, during one of the testimonies, one of the women starts laughing uncontrollably while talking about the product. That makes me believe she is just reading off of a script and that what the makers would like her to believe and what the words say are totally ridiculous. I also find one of the main points made in the commercial to be contradicted in the commercial. The makers claim that women won't be afraid to talk about their product, yet the entire commercial advertises discreet shipping and how no one will know you have it. If these "real women" are so confident and unafraid, why don't the makers just send the product as it is?

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