After reading the article about racism it really opened my eyes to a lot more about racism that I do not even think about. I have never considered myself a racist but after reading this article I guess I would be considered a passive racist. There are a lot of people that would be considered passive racists because I know I am not the only one. I think that there are a lot of these types of people because they do not know what to say about it or that they even need to say anything. There are a lot of people that feel that they do not have the power to do anything about racism and that even if they did try to do something, no one would listen to them. I have also never thought about the advantages of being white compared to the disadvantages of being colored. There are a lot of things that white women do not have to worry about. We are looked at differently and treated differently. I have never thought it to be very fair that only white people are called racist and there are colored people who act racist too. I have never heard the definition that only white people can be racist because in order to be racist you have to be gaining something out of it. I guess that would kind of make sense but not exactly. It is also sad that people develop internalized oppression. They grow up thinking they can never be as good as someone else so then they do not even try.

The Iron Maiden

After reading the article about the Iron Maiden it makes me even more disgusted with the advertisements in all of these magazines. These ads make women so self conscious about their bodies. Even the commercials on television make women hate their bodies even more because they are not flawless like the models they see. All of the images of these women are very damaging to women and also men. Women are constantly told that they have to look and be perfect in order for men to love them. Otherwise they will never find a husband or a boyfriend. Women are told that they need to buy all of these different products to prevent aging and flat hair, and also to lose weight or have whiter teeth. It does not even matter if you don’t care what people think of you. Wherever you go someone is going to be looking at you and judging every little thing about you and there is nothing you can do about it because everyone in America has been brainwashed by the ads that they see in the magazines and television and on billboards. Men may not realize it but they are also hurt by these advertisements of women. After seeing all of these perfect, flawless women, men expect that that is the way all women should be and will always compare women to these models. They will think that a woman is not good enough for them unless they look like one of these women out of a magazine.
I thought that the Reading the Gaze section was very interesting. I have never really looked at how the people in the advertisements are looking at the camera or away or even how they are looking at the camera. It is crazy how just a little bit of a different look can totally change the whole meaning of the ad and convey some underlying message.