Election Essay

Battleground USA: Election 2016

            In what is shaping up to be the most ridiculous election in United States history, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton will be squaring off against multibillionaire casino mogul Donald Trump. The election so far has been confrontational to say the least, with both sides carrying passionate supporters with a strong yen for victory. Although Secretary Clinton has held the lead in the polls, Trump has continued to fight hard and battle her every step of the way. One unique quality about this election is that at times, it can be very difficult to discern exactly what the two main candidates stand for, or what they intend to do for the country. This is due to the excess of mudslinging between the Secretary Clinton and Donald trump over various corruption allegations between the two candidates (Secretary Clinton’s email scandal and Democratic National Convention plotting and Trump’s disrespect for women. Despite both candidates’ obvious flaws, Senator Hilary Clinton’s proposed political agenda and temperament align best with my own.

            In the first debate, Secretary Clinton was obviously better prepared than Donald Trump. While Trump sniffled and staggered, Secretary Clinton was calm, and even over-rehearsed at times. It was clear after the first debate who the more publicly apt individual appeared to be. One problem with the debates as a whole was that there was not a great deal of content provided by either candidate, as opposed the the large amount of calling each other out and making accusations about each others’ pasts. In terms of economic policies, Senator Clinton shed light on the fact that Trump’s plan included tax cuts for the wealthy. As somebody who believes everybody should pay their fair share, I do not want a policy like that to make it to the

White House. In regards to the candidates’ policies on policing individuals in the population, Trump also noted in the first debate that he believes that police should have the right to “stop and frisk” random individuals that they deem suspicious or shady. This is a ridiculous idea. The purpose of the police force is to see that the people are comfortable in their safe lives within the law, not to make them feel uncomfortable while they walk down the street. One policy that I tend to agree more with the side of Donald Trump is his policy on immigration. Secretary Clinton is willing to make it easier for illegal immigrants within the country to bypass immigration laws and obtain citizenship, while Donald Trump believes that immigration reform should make it more difficult for people to enter the country illegally and get jobs.

            The American People certainly have their work cut out for them this November, and the continued corruption in the news about the two candidates is not making it easier for anyone to make a good decision. However, based on political resume, composure in public, and even tempered decision making skills, Hillary Clinton is a better presidential candidate than Donald Trump. The world is in a much too fragile state for somebody to go off running their mouth and attacking other countries that have powerful friends, and Donald Trump simply does not possess the communication abilities to negotiate with other world powers in a manner that keeps our country safe and the people within it out of harms way.

            

Summary: The Playmate and the Rabbi

In recent news, Pamela Anderson has teamed up with one of America's more controversial Rabbis in order to fight internet porn. Anderson, a former playboy bunny, has received criticism for her recent public stance against filmed sexual intercourse, having herself once posed nude for public viewing. In fairness, I do agree with Anderson in the sense that posing nude in Playboy and filming sex and distributing it on the internet are two different animals. Playboy magazine has more to offer than nude women, such as informative articles, cultural dimorphism, and other artistic gifts. Let's face it, people are not watching internet porn to see how to pay for a pizza or how to fix a leaky pipe. This argument from Anderson makes sense to me, but I refuse to believe that the morality of the art is her true motive. In December 2015, Playboy published it's last issue featuring naked women. Now, only 10 months later, the same magazine is seemingly using one of their most famous models as a medium to convey the dangers of pornography to its audience. It seems fishy to me. As it turns out, Playboy actually acquires a good deal of its revenue from the internet. In addition to Playboy.com, the bunny logo is spread all over the internet, and not for cheap, eventually totaling around $60 million per year. One place you will never find a playboy logo is on a porn website. Playboy has and always view itself as a classy image that should be respected among the masses. Internet porn is definitely frowned upon by most people. However, now that Playboy is not featuring nude women, one major outlet many might turn to behind closed doors could be internet porn. By speaking out against the industry, Anderson is likely trying to keep the more provocatively interested subscribers loyal to Playboy instead of turning to internet porn. Since the magazine has decided against nudity, the only way to retain those members without appearing weak and going back on their word is to make them think the alternatives are no better. That is what I believe Anderson is trying to accomplish by teaming up with the Rabbi.

Intelligence vs. Icon

The article this week is about how Marilyn Monroe could have possibly been hiding her intelligence in order to remain popular in 20th century America. A popular beauty icon, Monroe was often cited as being beyond her expected intelligence and even "poetic" by some. This does seem entirely possible based on the expectations for women at the time. In the 1960s, Women were still expected to be subservient to men in society and carry more domestic roles. If Monroe had exposed her alleged intelligence, this could have compromised her image in society as a stereotypical hot blonde. The article talks about how Monroe was often seen reading on set or having books in her possession. Now this hardly makes her a genius, but her yen to acquire knowledge and appreciation for the arts does lead to the possibility that she could posses some type of valuable intellect outside what many believed her to be. The article does, however, say that Monroe possessed an IQ of 163, putting her within the range of genius standards, which requires a score of 160+. This more than explains her climb to the top of the pup culture ladder, which included alleged affairs with the president of the US. It is likely that Monroe was not the first woman ever to hide her intelligence, and she certainly would not be the last. A more contemporary example is found with pop icon Lady Gaga. Owning an alleged IQ of 166, Lady Gaga is a self made pop culture sensation. After studying Britney Spears, Lady Gaga was able to make herself into an icon using her angelic singing voice and outlandish fashion sense. Her image is not something she is afraid of, however, as she has stated that she attempts to "scare boys rather than arouse them." It works well for her. Her sense of female empowerment has driven her to fame, almost entirely on her own. She is aware of everything about her displays, even having her own guild of workers who work with her on costume designs and intricately plan out the symbolism of her display. There is certainly more than meets the eye with Lady Gaga.

The Language of Persuasion

Advertising companies often use different techniques to get their product into the minds of consumers. This post will highlight 12 different methods used in advertisements in order to convince people that the proposed product is the right product.

1. Kripalu Schools: this advertisement for a yoga instructors school found in Organic Life Magazine plays off the idea that yoga can bring you true happiness by using the "beautiful people" method. Everyone in the advertisement is smiling and looks very healthy and pleased with their lives. this brings about the idea that yoga can enhance your life, and probably already has, so you should look into becoming a yoga instructor. The advertisement also lists several reasons why you should give back to yoga (sharing what you love, promoting good health, making a difference in people's lives) and by doing so also insinuates an element of guilt or bribery, although not to a serious degree.

2. Raw Organic Protein: this is an advertisement for a protein supplement that employs the tactic of making the consumer think the product is "new" or better than the old product. There is an entire page of the add dedicated to how the product was already "the #1 selling protein" so what did they do? They made it better, of course. The new product adds 30% more protein to each serving size, while advertising all of it's old qualities as if you didn't already know they existed in an effort to reiterate all of the good qualities of the product.

3. Dietz and Watson Originals: this advertisement for deli meats uses the title "originals" to imply that Dietz and Watson is offering a product that is 100% authentic meat. Dietz and Watson wants the consumer to believe the company takes their meat seriously and would never sell anything less than authentic. The ad uses the "association" technique to make the viewer believe they will get a real, genuine, great sandwich if they use Dietz and Watson meats, when really the sandwich is whatever you make it to be. 

4. Bonterra Wine: This wine advertisement uses the idea of "Slippery Slope" to enforce the idea that their product is the one you want. Clearly stated in the ad is the phrase "At Bonterra Vinyards, we create a safe haven for the bees." This implies guilt because the ad suggest that every other vineyard treats their bees poorly, and you wouldn't want to treat poor innocent bees that make your delicious wine poorly would you? You would want all the bees to disappear would you? Then you better buy Bonterra Wine.

5. Nordic Naturals Omega-3 supplements: in this advertisement the company uses the idea of "Experts" in order to get the viewer to trust the product. The display shows three women in lab coats and hair nets who work at the factory where the pills are produced. Under the picture there is a caption that reads "Yelda, Florencina, and Eufrasia inspect each and every product by hand" which implies that the three women not only know what they are doing, but that they are qualified enough for the buyer to trust. 

6. milk life: the milk life ad features Kristin Armstrong, a two time U.S. Olympic gold medal cyclist, posted up against a fence post with a glass of milk in her hand. The advertisements use of "Charisma" causes the reader to view Armstrong as the model of life and think that they can be as happy and successful as her if they drink milk. In the picture, Armstrong is smiling and appears very happy and content, looking satisfied and confident after a bike ride. 

7. Natrol Melatonin: in this advertisement the company uses the concept of "Ad Hominem" to bring the idea of sleep into the top of the list of priorities. They claim that "back-to-school chaos" is the enemy and by taking their product you are sticking it to the enemy. People are oppressed by stress, and if you can't beat your problems, you might as well sleep through them.

8. Eden Foods: this Eden foods ad features several large print words that alone would be pretty meaningless, but together are used to instill an idea of cleanliness and trustworthiness within the foods purchased. These "glittering generalities" are helpful in a group to link ideas together in the mind of the consumer and answer very basic level questions in the mind of the buyer. In this ad, the company used words like local, honest, authentic, and pure in order to get their point across.

9. RenewLife probiotic: this ad was published before the fall season, a season when Americans usually tend to eat more than normal. This example of "Timing" is used to place the idea of probiotic digestive health in the minds of consumers around the time when food consumption is at a yearly high, as Thanksgiving and other food based holidays occur in the fall. In addition to holidays, fall foods like pies can also be hard to digest, and copious amounts of apple cider doesn't help. 

 10. Organic Valley Half & Half: this ad features the claim "America's favorite Half & Half" which brings about the use of "Bandwagon" advertising. The company makes the claim based on the idea that everybody loves America and America is great. If you don't love it then you are wrong. If you love what America loves then you are right, so you should love Organic Valley Half & Half.

11. Børn shoes: in the ad produced by Børn shoes the consumer is subjected to the advertising tactic of "diversion". Normally when people buy shoes they are concerned with aesthetic properties and general ideas the consumers and others have about the shoes' appearance. Instead, the advertisement distracts the viewer by proposing the idea of comfort. The ad claims that Børn shoes are on a different level of comfort, and that idea distracts the consumer from the appearance of the shoe.

12. NatureMade Vitamin supplements: in this ad the company uses the idea of "majority belief" to sell their product. By claiming that their brand is the #1 brand recommended by pharmacists, the company implies that most pharmacists think their product is the best. Who better to take advice on pills from than a pharmacist? You're absolutely going to do what a pharmacist tells you to do, they're practically a doctor, right? 

Summary: TIME article

In 2014 an Indian photographer published a picture of a woman on a bus with two rather shady men entangled around her and her glamorous attire. In the picture, the woman is clearly distressed as one man holds her while another man appears to be romantically involved with the lower half of her body. The scene, out of context, clearly looks as if it displays some sort of rape scenario or sexual assault, as two sharp dressed men hold down a long cool woman in a black dress. Now in a country with over 1 billion people, an article like this would probably be overlooked, if it hadn't been for a gang rape that took place just a short time before the photo was taken. The victim and her family were incredibly offended by the picture, and the country was in uproar, even when the photographer spoke of his good intentions. He claimed the picture was taken to shed light on the situation rather than to exploit the woman and her situation, even mentioning how his own mother, girlfriend, and sister are susceptible to the same situation. I personally believe this guy's motives. It would have been too easy to say "these clothes will make you look so good that guys won't be able to keep their hands off of you" but he did not take that route. What I am having trouble understanding is why he chose this means of expression. Although the photo was meant for the photographers personal collection, not means of advertisement, why glamorize the situation in such a way? The article goes on to talk about clothing moguls who have employed the same tactics in their advertising and have been banned or removed from their respective areas.  If you are marketing your clothing to women, what makes you think the idea of them getting assaulted in the outfit you're displaying is going to want you to buy that outfit? Maybe I just don't understand women but that definitely would not make me want to buy the outfit. In fact, if were ever deranged enough to employ this idea in my marketing, I would have the actress wearing a rival brands clothing in hopes of deterring women from wearing their clothing. One way this can be taken, however, is the idea that rape can happen to anyone, even the upper class. Anatomy all but permanently subjects women to the possibility of being taken advantage of at any moment, even in a bus in broad daylight with $3000 shoes on. When people think of rape they imagine college parties getting out of hand or a shady character following a woman home after a night out, but in reality rape can happen any time and at any place. Other countries do not have the same social thinking as the United States, and if women here think men believe they are entitled they would be appalled by what goes on in countries with stronger male societal dominance than what we experience here. Again, not to say that women here don't deal with their fair share of objectification, but in other countries women are literally looked at as property, and awareness needs to be spread of rape culture worldwide in order to end the problem.

Gendered Language

Many languages around the world have gendered uses for different words. In the Spanish language, for example, many words have gendered endings ("-a" for feminine and "-o" for masculine). This idea does not literally translate to the english language, however there are words that are meant for certain genders. One example of this could be the derogatory word "bitch" as this word was originally mean to identify a female dog, wolf, fox, or otter, but has come to refer to a woman with whom the speaker has a problem with. As the word progressed, it became a method of comparing men to unpleasant women, hence the phrase "dude you are being a bitch." While the man being referenced is not actually an unpleasant woman, nor is he a female otter, the english language has a unique way of comparing things in such a way that they appear analogous. In the same sense, there are words that people use in the english language to identify men, mostly in derogatory fashion. In example, one would refer to a rude man as a "dick" or an "asshole" but we rarely think women should hold the same title. While all women possess rectums (and some also have penises), we wouldn't think to call a woman any of those things right off the bat. It leads one to wonder if words will begin to become gender neutral as the percentage of gender fluidity in the population increases. Perhaps in the future men will begin to receive insults that were previously meant for women and vice versa. In the future, men will be referred to as "whores" and "bitches" and women will be referred to as "faggots" or "dicks". Although the English language is not set up to support literally gendered words like other languages, the socio-cultural norms predisposed by our interactions, emotions, and instincts lead us to think otherwise. Unfortunately, referring to somebody as a word meant for the other gender is often an insult. This means that acting as the opposite gender is viewed negatively in our society. While it is improbable that insulting each other will help us achieve gender acceptance in society, the idea of no longer labeling genders for their negative qualities will allow us to see each other for our positive qualities rather than the negative.