Foreign Products and Me!!

Outsourcing. The very thought of it brings fear to the hearts of many Americans. I mean, wasn’t it part of the reason that all the good manufacturing jobs left America? Exactly how much of what we use is outsourced?  If you guessed a lot- you’re a winner!! The large amount of items made in other countries shows that as Americans, we have unconsciously become dependent and addicted to foreign made products.

I am an addict. Without my Paper Mate erasable pens that were assembled in Mexico and imported from Canada, and my Jansport backpack that was made in China; I start to get the shakes. If the Chinese made computer I am writing this blog from gets separated from me, I begin to sweat. Yes, I am addicted to foreign products through and through and I didn’t even know it.  The kicker, most Americans are too. Truthfully, I couldn’t on without some of these items and I know many Americans couldn’t go on without some of their foreign made products either. Where would we be without our Japanese phones, Pakistani towels and favorite pajamas made in Mexico? That’s right. Nowhere. These and other foreign items dominate everything we use from the time we get up to the time we go to sleep (even my bed was made in Taiwan). Because people hardly pay attention to where their things come from, foreign products have become like a drug unwittingly slipped to us until we are dependent and have reached the point of no return. As a country and humans in general, we are cheerful robots and we don’t think; we use. The really sad thing is that all of this never had to happen. In the 1950’s, America was a manufacturing powerhouse. What happened?  At this point, finding made in America on anything seems a rare occurrence (only one lone College Edition notebook I had was made in America) and it shouldn’t be.  Although outsourcing and gaining back jobs is a concern, we have a long way to go before we kick our addiction and dependency to foreign products and see the label made in America prevalent again.

Unreal Depictions; Ads and Media Today

      There is a girl leaning against a thriving green tree. A plush rain forest lies in the background, with a waterfall flowing and mist flowing in the air. The girl, she's otherworldly with wet , raven colored hair strewn across her face and lips pursed in a seductive smile. Her eyes, they are a piercing green, almost animalistic. Who wouldn’t want to be like this beautiful creature? That’s exactly what this ad for Aqcua di Giorgio wants people to think. The ad is built upon people's insecurities. Most people will never look like this model and this model probably doesn’t look like what her picture portrays in real life anyway. Even though people know she may be photo- shopped and her eyes are most likely contacts, we as humans fall for the ploy anyway.  It is exactly ads like these that are destroying us. According to this ad, women are now supposed to be  these almost beautiful animals kept in solitude, which isn't true at all. Images like these are shown time and time again.
      So although there is no perfume apparent in the ad, only the tagline of the fragrance, it still works. All we need need to know is thats it's "The Fragrance" and requites no more explaination. That’s because we are buying into the image that it portrays not the product. For women, when they see the beautiful women in the ad, they may want to emulate her. So if it’s saying to buy Armani perfume, why not if it will make them look like the model. For men sex sells, and this ad has no shortage of it. With a gorgeous woman on a deserted rain forest , practically screaming come hither off the page ; what man wouldn’t find someone to buy the perfume for? With her you will "Experience the essence of joy"  and whatever sexual implications that goes along with. That is exactly what kind of thinking the marketing executives count on. Essentially, buy the woman. Who cares about perfume?

Final Reflection

Due to consciously observing Fairfield County for the first time, I was able to see it through a whole new set of eyes and learn so much in a short amount of time. For example, I learned that the cultural and physical places in Fairfield County are so dependent on one another. When children are in an adult physical space they are expected to behave with respect while amongst other children in a children physical space, they are beholden to little values and feel a little freer. Overall, I could see that talented children are very valued due to shows like glee, I Carly, Victorious, etc. At the same times bad behavior is rewarded with shows like Jersey Shore, Bad Girls Club and all of the different “Housewives”. Whether or not that’s because we like bad behavior or because we like to compare ourselves to them is another question. This is surprising because while bad behavior is such a huge focus, there are so many groups that get ignored and are practically invisible. Some would be Native Americans, the disabled, the lgbt community, etc. Although they are apparent in our communities they are hardly apparent on television. That’s a problem because television a lot of the time is the first way children learn about the other parts of society. Because of that I feel that people are very obligated to act in the interest of bettering society. While they don’t have to spend their days picketing at places considered to perpetuate inequalities, they do have the responsibility to call it out when they see it. If not for them, for their children who deserve to have an honest, fair, and unbiased look and chance of success in this world. So if society now doesn’t change us, nobody else will. Now that I have looked around me I will do what I have asked of society and try to change things that I have noticed that I consider to be unjust. Most importantly, I will continue to look around me and consciously think about what I participate in or allow to happen on a regular basis. The least I owe to society is the think before I act and consciously object if I disagree with it; or in other words follow in the footsteps of Thoreau.

Television

Hail to the spunky, talented children , to the spirit of competition and people behaving badly. As an outsider to Fairlfield County looking in on what’s popular on TV, those are the things humans revere the most. From Glee to X factor to Bad Girls Club these things dominate television. Sometimes stereotypical, each group has their own role. For example, men of color are often the villains or side characters in the shows. This can be seen in NBC's show Grimm where Detective Griffin plays sidekick to Detective Burkhart when solving fairytale like crimes. Furthermore African American women are often seen as nagging, demanding and sometimes "ghetto". The Parkers are a perfect example of these traits. Kim parker, the main protagonist of the series is always seen as wearing outrageous clothing, never passing her classes and saying “Heyy” or “Dang Mamma” in a very loud, stereotypical fashion. Surprisingly, this program airs on BET which is supposed to refute these stereotypes.  The portrayal of black women isn’t very far off from how women are shown in general. That is a bossy person that demands attention all the time. Nothing is a more perfect example of this than the children’s cartoon the Fairly Odd Parents which airs on nick. Wanda, the fairy wife is famous for demanding her husband Cosmo get her chocolate calling him a "Stupid idiot" and being "Naggy". Although these shows are showing a reversed gender role, with men now being seen as incompetent or complacent and women as more assertive, whether it is a good or bad thing is the real question. It seems that women are either portrayed as too bossy or too weak. In general there seems to be no happy medium for any group, with Asians, LGBT's Native Americans and the disabled underrepresented or ignored. My only hope is that at some point that happy medium can be found.

ads

·         -“Red Bull gives you wings”, “Chips pancakes are the best pancakes in Connecticut”. These are some of the advertisements that bombard people in Fairfield County everyday. Not to mention the subliminal messages on t.v like a character holding a coco-cola bottle, label side up for an extended amount of time when taking a drink. Overwhelmingly, these ads are selling us the image and lifestyle of the rich and famous. If we aren’t already, they want to make us cool and hip. These advertisements get us to buy into this by using models, our favorite  t.v characters and anybody else most people aspire to be; the pinnacle youth, success and popularity. An example of this is the new commercial for Dior. There is a jet setting model that uses their perfume just before she goes on the runway, and rubs elbows with her fabulous friends. Things like these are exactly what are promised to everyday people through the ads. Explicitly, you will smell like a model but implicitly, if you use Dior perfume you could also be a woman of beauty and intrigue. Some of the most popular slogans are “Maybe she’s born with it, maybe its Maybeline by Maybeline and “Because you’re worth it” by Loreal. What they promise through their ad campaigns is the exact opposite of what will happen if too much money is spent on their products. Sure they say that a seventy-five dollar   will buy a care-free lifestyle, but after a few two many of those while on a fixed income, debt will occur. Generally, debt doesn’t lead to a glamorous life. On a whole, these ads have to be taken with a grain of salt because at the end of the day, the job of the ads is to get a product or service sold, not to better mankind or make its users rich. In advertisement sometimes what they promise, implicitly or explicitly and reality are two different things.

Eaves dropping

Eaves dropping

Hollister at the Trumbull Mall

Girl 1- How does this look?

Girl 2- I love that color. It looks really cute

Girl 1- (see’s girl across the room) what the f-ck does she think she’s wearing? She looks like an f-ing elf.

Girl 2- (laughs) yea Santa’s helper on crack

Girl 1- Yup that sh-t cray!

Girl 1’s house

Girl 1’s mom- Hurry up and get in the car, we’re going to be late for the doctors!

Girl 1- Coming mom let me finish getting on my shoes.

Girl 1’s mom- I swear, if you don’t get down here in the next ten seconds.

Girl 1- Alright, alright I’m here.

Girl 1’s mom- Good and don’t make me have to wait for you again.

After a lot of observation I noticed that there is a big connection between a physical place and a cultural space it creates. In general, it seems that clothing stores like Hollister and Aeropostale and game stores like game stop attract and cater to teenage crowd. On the other hand, places like peoples bank, stop and shop and Macy’s attract a crowd of people in their mid twenties and older and at home adults rule to the roost. Due to the differences in the age groups each place attracts, each has its own atmosphere. For example, in the teenage atmosphere it creates a feeling of freedom, invincibility and power. This is evidenced by the two girls’ blatant disregard for the other girl’s feelings and the fact that they find humor in tearing her down. On the other hand, when in an adult controlled environment, everything completely flips. Now girl one is mild and subservient as opposed to at the mall. It just goes to show that the dynamics can change quickly depending on the place at hand and how big the connection is between a cultural space and physical place.

Physical Place and rules/ social codes

Rules and social codes. Whether spoken or unspoken, they dominate our society. While observing my surroundings I noticed some interesting things. The social codes and rules of appropriate clothing, language and noise level change depending on the place. In general, it seems that the more expensive and public the place the stricter the rules and codes. I received some first hand experience in this when eating out and going about town with my family. A perfect example of this is when I went out to eat at Café Tavolini in Bridgeport, an upscale Italian restaurant. When I went there, there were no young children (12 and under) all of the men wore button down shirts and the women dress pants or skirts. One man was even asked to leave the restaurant because he was talking too loudly on his cell phone and disturbing the other patrons. This is compared to the Burger King I went into on my way to New York on the 26^th where all of the restaurant patrons were in various states of dress, from pajama pants to suits. Volume wasn’t an issue since the place was so crowded that you were expected to yell your food order to the staff in order to be heard. This just leads me to wonder if the rules and social codes are meant to attract a certain group of people or if the people a place attract unconsciously create the rules and social codes.