The Carl’s Jr. commercial Too Hot for TV gives a minor insight into one of the major controversies we face today. We have somehow taught ourselves that it is okay to objectify women, to sell products with sex, and to wrongly construe how men perceive women. Too Hot for TV is about a woman walking through an outdoor market, seemingly naked, while a series of men are caught off guard and stare as she nonchalantly walks by. There are a few parts that are made to be comical; for example, they place an apple in front of the camera where her butt would be, and we see a male’s hand reach out and pinch the apple as she turns around and acts surprised. Too Hot for TV is an excellent example of the polluted way in which we have begun utilizing women’s
…show more content…
I mean, the confidence radiating out of her posture, out of her voice, out of her facial expressions—it all shows us that she doesn’t mind being looked at as an object. We are made to believe that this is exactly what she’s wanting from the audience, to be seen only from the surface. That concept alone is what aides this commercial in feeling like it’s appropriate enough to be aired on television—but what kind of message does that send to the young women who see it? It teaches them that they should see themselves as an object, too, in order to get attention from people. They’re being taught that they should worry about their outward appearance, and be dense otherwise. All of which is the exact opposite of what we should be teaching young women as they are learning how to grow into themselves, both mentally and physically. At a young age, we are telling girls what they should and shouldn’t look like or wear. It is a difficult thing to believe that if you tell someone they can’t look how they would like to, that it won’t affect how they perceive themselves. As soon as you start controlling something as small as what they wear, it can slowly turn into controlling their minds and their bodies. Self-image is literally defined as how a person views their physical appearance, abilities, and personality. So, as soon as we start saying, “This is how you should look!” we are really saying, “How you look now is not right, and this is how you should change.” We should instead be praising them for their individualities, and making sure they embrace those traits specific to
I mean, the confidence radiating out of her posture, out of her voice, out of her facial expressions—it all shows us that she doesn’t mind being looked at as an object. We are made to believe that this is exactly what she’s wanting from the audience, to be seen only from the surface. That concept alone is what aides this commercial in feeling like it’s appropriate enough to be aired on television—but what kind of message does that send to the young women who see it? It teaches them that they should see themselves as an object, too, in order to get attention from people. They’re being taught that they should worry about their outward appearance, and be dense otherwise. All of which is the exact opposite of what we should be teaching young women as they are learning how to grow into themselves, both mentally and physically. At a young age, we are telling girls what they should and shouldn’t look like or wear. It is a difficult thing to believe that if you tell someone they can’t look how they would like to, that it won’t affect how they perceive themselves. As soon as you start controlling something as small as what they wear, it can slowly turn into controlling their minds and their bodies. Self-image is literally defined as how a person views their physical appearance, abilities, and personality. So, as soon as we start saying, “This is how you should look!” we are really saying, “How you look now is not right, and this is how you should change.” We should instead be praising them for their individualities, and making sure they embrace those traits specific to