Monday, September 1, 2014

The Mind Shines

Verizon Wireless' new commercial, "Inspire Her Mind", sends a positive message which our society would do well to listen to. Many girls feel the pressure from the media and people around them to be "pretty". From the beginning of our lives, everyone is constantly saying things like "Oh, your baby is so cute", "Such a pretty girl", or "Who's my pretty girl".

In order to make their point, the video perpetuates that women are expected to be things of beauty with little intellectual or creative value. Until the end where the girl, Sam, is now more interested in improving her appearance than science, when she is fulfilling her "true role", she is always being chastised for her curiosity. However, they make up for perpetuating the stereotype by encouraging everyone to protect a girl's interest in science or math.

The commercial also perpetuates the stereotype that boys are meant to do the work with tools. In the scene where Sam is using a power-drill to build what looks like a rocket with her brother, the tool eventually is handed over to him because it was "dangerous". However, she was under close supervision of her brother which seems like it should have been acceptable since he is obviously responsible enough to use one on his own.

This video also resists the stereotype of what girls should be interested in. Sam is interested in and comfortable with things which girls are supposed to be averse to like strange animals, mud, etc.. In general, I find this video very refreshing, it's brought new perspective and attention to the fact that girls can and should be interested in things more intellectually fulfilling than beauty and appearance.



1 comment:

  1. So true, this is the first commercial I've seen promoting girls to be interested in science and math.

    ReplyDelete