Analysis of an Advertisement

This ad was taken from Seventeen magazine, the February 2011 edition, and is meant to pitch her new fragrance "Purr" that's available at Nordstrom.

When I first looked at this ad, what appealed to me was the utter sex appeal oozing from the ad. From the way Katy Perry is posed, to her larger than life persona and skin tight outfit, and the eroticism that's written all over her face.

The mood that is set by the ad is lustful and sexy. To me the advertisement is basically trying to convey subliminally that if you purchase Purr then people will want to earn your affection, and you will be more like Katy Perry;  a sex symbol and a pop star known world wide. 

The meanings of the slogan are implicit because it shows  that purchasing and applying the perfume, will make people seek you out, and basically fall all over you, and bend over backwards for a sign of affection and  possible sexual chemistry.

The ad is trying to sell a very feminine fragrance, and It appears to show the fragrance in a sultry way especially its container. The way Katy is dressed in a cat suit depicts the possible ferocity of a cat, and shows its soft side so it appears frightening and inviting all at once.

The ad assumes that those seeking the fragrance want someone to yearn for their affection, and are seeking the sexuality that Katy Perry so clearly possesses in the advertisement.

The ad tells that gender operates heavily in our capitalist society. It all goes back to the main idea that sex sells, and sexuality is most often depicted by women on television, in editorials, and online.

 This article wants you to believe that women are sex objects,  and fits the stereotype that women are not capable of handling their physical and emotional health. Its important to educate the young women of today's society, so that they know that women shouldn't only be seen as sex symbols but instead as worthwhile business women and educated individuals with the beliefs that they can do anything they set their minds to. This also goes back to the idea that women are naturally able to make their own decisions and stick to their principles, as well as have their own babies, and be confident in the ability to do so, as well as be consulted in all aspects of their mental, physical, and physiological health. This article overall has a negative stigma attached to it because it follows the general status quo of sex sells, and provides another stigma to young women on what is "beautiful." There needs to be more uplifting ads, and less ads geared toward young women that will enable them to find faults in themselves.

Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2007.

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1254

Service Learning Proposal for Young Women Leaders Program

 
By: Keysha R., Samantha D., Kassie M., Genesis A.
February 10, 2011
Meredith Tweed
WST 3015-001

Community Partner Profile
Community Partner: Young Women Leaders Program
Address: 4000 Central Florida Blvd, Orlando, FL 32816
Contact: 407-823-6502
Mission Statement: “The Young Women Leaders Program is a mentoring program sponsored by the UCF Women’s Studies Program . . . YWLP promotes middle school girls’ leadership abilities, pairing collegiate women with middle school girls. In mentoring pairs and small groups of Big and Little Sisters, participants focus on learning competence and autonomy, independent thinking, empowerment, self-esteem, and encouraging girls to think about their futures.” (http://womensstudies.cah.ucf.edu/ywlp/)
Political and/or Social Basis for Organization: As stated above, the basis for the organization is to promote positive self-image and encourage leadership skills in young girls who are at an important part of their developmental stages (http://womensstudies.cah.ucf.edu/ywlp/).
Community Needs: Members of the YWLP will benefit from extra assistance organizing and running alumni events and especially UCF day in the form of bringing extra food, spreading the word, running tables, etc.

Proposal:

The Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP) addresses a problem amongst young women and allows for an opportunity to support and enhance the self-esteem of middle school girls and promote leadership abilities. “Leadership, in this context, is conceptualized broadly as the ability to guide oneself first, and others secondarily, on issues that are important to ones’ self worth. (http://womensstudies.cah.ucf.edu/ywlp/).”

YWLP is an amazing program that will allow these young girls’ to face and discuss any issues and in doing so, better prepare them for a transition into high school. These young girls will benefit from a group setting and will constantly receive validation of their capabilities as leaders and encouragement that they can do anything they set their minds to. YWLP coordinators have prepared many activities outside of the school environment that will allow “little sisters” to interact with “big sisters” and other little’s!

The YWLP program runs throughout the entire semester and thus ensures ample time and opportunities to make an impact on the young girls with whom we will be working. Our proposal for this service learning project is fairly simple: we hope that through our work and interaction with the little sisters we will inspire them to be independent thinkers, to have a healthy sense of self-worth, to feel empowered and to learn leadership skills, and to have an overall positive influence. Every other week is designated to meeting with our little sisters. During these meetings, we play games that encourage open communication and free thinking. One of the activities that are included in every meeting is using a paper star to write down something that you did during the week that you are proud of and then displaying these stars on a board. This serves to help the little (and big) sisters to think of themselves in a positive light, despite whatever kind of day or week they may have had—a skill that will hopefully stick with them even after the program is finished. The big sisters are also trained to use positive phrases and to encourage our little sisters to follow suit.

YWLP members make commitments to keep in contact with them during the time between meetings and even to spend time with them outside of the confines of the meetings if their parents/guardians allow it. In February we are having an Around the World Potluck and UCF Day—a Saturday dedicated to showing our little sisters around the UCF campus—and in April we have events such as Jewelry Making, Heavenly Hoofs and Girl Power Movie Night. The members of YWLP genuinely believe in this cause, and it’s that kind of positive attitude and dedication that will no doubt have an impact on the young girls we are mentoring.

Rationale:

By seeking to educate the young women of tomorrow, we as YWLP mentors are ensuring that our future leaders are filled with a strong sense and confidence. YWLP’s mission pertained to the field of Women’s Studies, especially through Macro and Micro level identity, the mission of big sisters is to sustain and further develop each little sister’s confidence and help them grow mentally (http://womensstudies.cah.ucf.edu/ywlp/). YWLP uses exercises to show that race, ethnicity, and color play no part in how an individual should be treated. The diversity of individuals makes the world a richer and more diverse place. By fully understanding themselves at the macro level these young women will grow to be their own women, and fit into the Meso level and Macro level role that they have in the community (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey 14). YWLP is also very much related to third wave feminism in that these young women, our “little sisters’” are encouraged to think outside the box and not use color as a dividing factor, but as something that joins everyone together. By definition, this program could help on the community level, by helping the girls to see out how they want to be defined by their peers by first defining themselves.

Action:

We all have attended the initial meeting and have been trained with the YWLP rules and protocols for the middle school. We all have been assigned our Little Sisters in three different middle schools: Tuskawilla Middle School, South Seminole Middle School and Lawton Chiles Middle School. Within these three middle schools, we, the Big Sisters would be promoting learning, competence and autonomy to all the Littles’. In these meetings we would be interacting with our Little’s’, doing some themed activities of the day with them, eating healthy as well as promoting a healthy lifestyle, and discussing issues that our “little sisters,” as young ladies may face on a daily basis.

 Timeline:

The Young Women Leaders Program is a semester wide commitment, and will include training, and meetings between the big sister mentors, and our little sister mentees. The mentors will also participate in alumni events to provide enrichment for their little sisters as well as a UCF day which will take place during the weekend, and focus on uplifting and providing the mentees with powerful positive knowledge that will help them be successful in their futures.  Alumni events were created to provide extra time outside of mentoring meetings for bonding with little sisters, and for little sisters of multiple schools to interact with each other. The following is a tentative schedule of the events where the YWLP members will be mentoring with the little sisters or working on creating activities that will provide them with an avenue where they can think outside of the box.

*All big sister and little sister meetings are from 3:15-4:45pm

January 15, 2011-Training Day 10-3pm

Jan 17-21, 2011-Fingerprinting Week

January 26, 2011- Big Sister Meeting 

February 2, 2011-Little Sister Meeting

February 9, 2011-Big Sister Meeting

February 13, 2011-Around the World Potluck 4-6pm (alumni event)

February 16, 2011-Little Sister Meeting

February 23, 2011- Big Sister Meeting

February 26, 2011- UCF Day 9-4pm

March 2, 2011-Little Sister Meeting

March 16, 2011-Big Sister Meeting

March 23, 2011-Big Sister Meeting

March 30, 2011- Little Sister Meeting

April 2, 2011-Jewlery making 2-4pm (alumni event)

April 6, 2011-Little Sister Meeting

April 9, 2011-Heavenly Hoofs (alumni event)

April 13, 2011-Big Sister Meeting

April 17, 2011-Girl Power Meeting Night 4-7pm (alumni event)

April 20, 2011-Little Sister Meeting

Works Cited
1.Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives 5th Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010.

 2. Young Women’s Leader’s Program.2011.Support YWLP. http://womensstudies.cah.ucf.edu/ywlp/support.php