Politics

Advertisement Failure: Commercialized Patriotism

National flags can be a common sight in advertisements. Most countries have some national holiday, some kind of independence day when patriotism gets monetized and used for profit. This is the day when the state will put up flags everywhere, organize some fireworks, maybe even a military parade. This is also the day when many private companies jump on the patriotic advertising bandwagon. Flags or flag colors and shapes on the product packaging, flags in window displays, flags in shop isles. We all have seen this. But why is this happening? Do shop owners really have such strong patriotic feelings that they must utilize every opportunity to display a flag somewhere, or is this just commercialized patriotism—a hypocritical lip service that happens, because marketing people hope to earn a bit of extra cash this way?

Why You Shouldn’t Mock, Imitate or Joke About Other People’s Accents

Most people agree that discrimination is bad, this means we shouldn’t mock somebody else’s accent. It is rude, it is offensive, it enforces prejudice, racism, xenophobia, and classism. “But I’m not mocking all the Russians as a group when I make some joke in which I use a fake Russian accent,” some will say. “I’m not insulting anybody, I just made a joke, it is harmless,” they will say. Unfortunately, this is often not how people whose accent was imitated will feel about it. Somebody can perceive suck jokes as offensive. In the worst case scenario it is possible for people to develop anxiety and feelings of insecurity about speaking if others commonly joke about their pronunciation. People can internalize the stigma about their own accents to the point where they hate the way they speak.

The Pink Tax or Why We Need More Gender Neutral Consumer Products

Back when I was a child, everybody in my family used one and the same shampoo bottle. We also used the same bar of soap. Growing up, the first time I saw a TV commercial advertising separate shampoo “for him” and “for her,” I was puzzled. Why would men and women need different shampoo? We all have hair, and we all have to regularly wash it in order to keep it clean. It’s just hair and we all have it, so where’s the big difference between male and female hair? Growing up, I didn’t pay close attention to the shifting shampoo placement in stores. Thus I was unpleasantly surprised when I suddenly realized that shampoo, soap, deodorants, etc. products are now placed on separate shelves for men and women. How did that happen? Why didn’t I notice the shifting trend in product placement? More importantly, do men and women really need different and separate consumer products? And why do male and female products do not cost the same, why does gender-based price discrimination even exist?

What We Can Learn from Vintage Anti-Suffrage Postcards and Cartoons

Anti-Suffrage Postcard - This ain't no man's job

As an artist, I find very interesting artworks that are meant to promote certain messages. Some messages are good or at least harmless; others are pretty nasty. This time I am going to analyze vintage anti-suffrage posters, postcards, and cartoons and take a closer look at the exact messages found in them. As you will quickly notice, some of these ancient and outdated ideas are still alive even in our more modern society a whole century after the initial artworks were created.

History of the Always Changing Female Beauty Standards

changes in beauty standards

Humans have always tried to prescribe how the perfect female body ought to look like. Simultaneously, they have also been unable to stick to any specific beauty ideal for a prolonged period of time. Beauty ideals have changed significantly throughout the ages. Nonetheless, society has always tried to enforce whichever fad was prevalent at some time period, and whoever deviated from some standard got labeled as ugly. In this article, I will provide a short history of female beauty ideals throughout the ages. As you will quickly notice, what we consider a perfect female body in 21st century differs from what people considered beautiful in various other time periods and cultures. Once you realize the fleeting nature of beauty standards, you are forced to consider them in a new light and examine their tenability. Are we really justified in our clinging to some beauty standard and striving to change our bodies just to conform to the ideal? Or maybe we should rethink our obsession with the prevailing fads?

How Each One of Us Can Help Reducing Sexual Harassment

Stop Sexual Harassment

Whenever sexual harassment happens, there is a victim and an abuser. Often there are also witnesses and observers—people who saw what happened, people who were nearby during the incident. Usually witnesses don’t intervene—they don’t defend the victim, they don’t confront the abuser. I believe that, whenever we see another person getting harassed in front of our eyes, we shouldn’t stay passive and silent any longer; instead we should speak up and tell the abuser that this kind of behavior is inappropriate and won’t be ignored and tolerated.

Body Hair: Hairy Female Legs

Hairy female legs.

Growing up, I always felt the society pressuring me to conform. It wasn’t always verbal directions to behave in accordance with the accepted norms. Sure, I have often been explicitly told to “behave like a normal woman,” but it doesn’t need to be explicit. Humans are subject to peer pressure. We follow social cues in order to fit in. Conformity is simply something humans do. Whenever I was in a room with several other people who all behaved in the same way, I felt the pressure to conform and imitate their behavior.

10 Reasons Why You Should Talk to People You Disagree With

Argument
"Is This the Right Room for an Argument?"

Living inside an echo chamber might feel comfortable. Preaching to the choir whenever you express your opinions might feel reassuring. Nonetheless, I intend to argue that we should intentionally step out of our comfort zones and try having discussions with people who disagree with us and whom we don’t really like that much.

Why the Society Wants You to Feel Ashamed

1944 French Women Shaved Heads
Paris 1944: French women accused of collaboration with Nazis had their heads shaved and were paraded through the streets barefoot.

Human sense of shame, embarrassment, and humiliation is a purely social construct. There is nothing inherently embarrassing about any situation that a human being might experience throughout their life. This brings up the following question: why do people perceive certain specific experiences as shameful?