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Dolls
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 <Background:
This set of ads emphasizes the theme of the doll in popular culture.
In short, the woman is presented as a lifeless object—a thing that cannot
act in any way whatsoever. As you glance at the ads below, you will note
that women are portrayed in different ways but, thematically, there is a
clear foundation. The archead to the left is representative of the end of
the doll trope. Here, the real woman is trapped in a package and is given
the accoutrements of a doll. The Ads:
Ads numbers 2 and 5 illustrate how real-life women are portrayed with doll
kits. The theme of the women becoming a doll (as in numbers 8, 12) is
reminiscent of the David Lee Roth "California Girls" video. In that video,
it is David Lee Roth who has subjectivity and the women who are merely
objects, brought to life when the singer desires (thanks to Sut Jhally for
making this point in his important
Dreamworlds films). Resources:
There is a small literature related to female depiction as dolls. I
recently discovered this
website
that claims to offer the perfect, traditional woman; or, as the site says,
"are you tired of demanding woman? Do American Woman make you not feel
like man and talk too much? Maybe you need woman who understand and don't
ask million questions. You need ultimate traditional woman. You need
Smokinghotkova woman." Such a site illustrates the mediated relationship
between real women and artificial dolls.
Here is a Mexican ad campaign focused on workplace sexual harassment.
The campaign uses sex dolls to make a political point.
Discussion Questions: (1) Culturally, what does the "doll"
connote? (2) If a person is represented as a doll, can she have any
subjectivity? (3) Are there differences in the ways in which the women as
dolls are presented?
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<presented by Scott A.
Lukas, Ph.D.>
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