Men's Women Steve Craig Analysis

In his essay “Men’s Men and Women’s Women,” Steve Craig writes, “Her need is a common one in women’s commercials produced by a patriarchal society-the desire to attain and maintain her physical attractiveness” (194).

In this Star models ad, there are two women presented. One is a sketch of a woman and the other is the woman in reality. The ad says in skinny writing, “You are not a sketch…say no to anorexia.” While this campaign is to encourage women by telling them that they are not a sketch, it also goes along with Craig’s quote. Society often produces images and ideas that you are not beautiful if you are not skinny. They fill women’s heads up with these ideas and the woman starts to feel bad about her physical attractiveness. When these insecurities take place, it allows for diseases and disorders to take over, such as Anorexia. This ad does a good job of portraying how society thinks and how in turn it encourages people to think. By having a sketch and a person actually mimicking the sketch, it shows how people feel they need to be others’ expectations. Craig did a great job of identifying how the most common commercials make women feel.

In his essay “Men’s Men and Women’s
Craig’s idea of women rarely challenging the men in ads is portrayed in this one perfectly. Not only are the women not challenging the man, they are stuck in a vending machine. The women in this ad are all white skinny females with little to no clothing on. There is also a sign above the man’s head saying “Open 24 hours.” Not only are the women stuck in a vending machine, they are also available 24/7. The writing on the side of the ad says, “Live your fantasy” as if to say, if you buy these shoes, you’ll get to pick any woman you would like. While the world doesn’t work that way, this ad appeals to men allowing them to think that it would if they bought the