What's Your Car Saying?

Bumper stickers say more than meets the eye. As we discussed in class, they can show political affiliation, where the driver is from, the success the driver has had (college/honor student stickers), in addition to hobbies and points of interest to the driver.

What it so meaningful behind a bumper sticker that inspires people to tack their opinions on their car?

At it's core, I think it can be related back to Maslow's Pyramid of Needs.

Publicly associating yourself with a group through bumper stickers strikes at the core of what we, as humans, need - according to Maslow. Once basic needs like food, shelter, and stability are met (Safety/Physiological Needs), we can seek to meet our needs at the next level: Belonging.

Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group or small social connections. At this level, our innate desire to love and be loved is met and we create our identities through the groups we associate with.

The bumper sticker actually comes in at the next level: Esteem. We have a group, we feel like we belong, and so we feel the need to show others that we belong as well. The Esteem level is defined as gaining respect from others and feeling a sense of achievement, among other things.

A public bumper sticker serves to cater to these needs quite nicely, validating one's achievements/social groups and, in theory, garnering respect from others as they learn about you as a person.

What other hidden meanings do you see in bumper stickers?

Meta-Blog Post

Mission Impossible: The Girl Fight

Last night, I saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol with my two younger siblings and, let's be honest: it's a total guy movie. That being said, I was still pretty surprised with how the movie portrayed the woman in their entourage, Jane Carter.

To start off, her lover dies at the beginning of the movie so she is emotionally damaged, dealing with her heartbreak and desire to avenge his death, which eventually clouds her judgement. She fits the role of the weak, emotional, and fragile sex object. 

Yes, our friend, Ethan Hunt, experienced some heartbreak as well, with the divorce/loss of his wife (to be explained in the movie) but he powers through it, without showing any signs of heartbreak or weakness despite his pain. 

This brings me to the scene in which Carter is face to face with the woman who killed her lover. In the movie, Carter was given specific orders not to kill her. However, after a crazy, emotionally charged fight, Carter throws the assassin off the building.

In contrast to all the male fight scenes, this one loses all sense of control and the girls stumble around the room, resorting to throwing vases and lamps at each other, pulling each other's hair. To top it all off, they're both wearing skin-tight clothing that accentuates their bodies and there is plenty of cleavage going on there. 

The outfit for a female fighting character is always the same: provocative, skin-tight outfits with heavy eye makeup and pouty lips, but she can throw a punch. More often than not, she is the accessory to her male counterpart, the girlfriend, sacrificing her life to be in his. 

The media plays a powerful role in manipulating how we think about gender and defining "normal". From movies, boys learn how to be macho and see the woman as constantly emotionally fraught or dependent. On the other end, girls watch chick flicks and action movies where, in the end, its all about the guy.

How else do you see the media defining what is "normal"?