Dominant Women in Society

In the story Hunger as Ideology by Susan Bordo women are portrayed as passive and inferior to men. Bordo looks into advertisements to prove her point about how visible it is that women are how they are suppose to be dainty and quaint. In the movie “The Thomas Crown Affair” it is totally opposite; the woman in this story is independent, strong, and self-reliant. She is able to outsmart him and prove to him that she is able to survive without any help. The modern women has transformed and broken the stereotype and have made their way into society as an equal.

Nowadays, advertisements depict how women should act, dress, and eat. For example in Hunger as Ideology, it show two different advertisements for Haagen-Dazs Ice cream, one with a man who just finished a half-pint smiling, the other with a woman who just took a bite from her ice cream bar. Although very discreet, the message is visible to consumers. Another example, are the sugar-free Jell-o ads, where an attractive slender woman is leaning back on a chair eating jell-o from a glass. Above the picture is a quote which says, “I’m a girl who just can’t say no. I insist on dessert”. To the side of the ad, it states, “Every woman is entitles to her just desserts. Just as long as dessert is Sugar Free Jell-O Gelatin. It’s light and fruity and fun. And it’s only calories.” This ad emphasizes on how women want dessert, but its only okay to have it if its sugar free. “The dessert you don’t have to desert” because it’s sugar free. Same concept with the Wonder Light Bread, in this ad two women are side by side on a park bench one holding a carrot, the other happily smiling with a sandwich and the ad saying, “ You’ll think your cheating, but you know your not…It’s Wonder Light bread”. These ads accentuate how its okay to eat a lot, as long as you eat “light”. Women look upon these ads and are convinced that this is how they are suppose to be, but in the Thomas Crown Affair, the message is completely opposite.

Catherine Banning, is the insurance lawyer for the case against the stolen Monet painting in the “Thomas Crown Affair”. It is evident that she is a strong independent woman who needs not to rely on anyone especially a man. For instance, in an article for “The Thomas Crown Affair” by Charles Taylor, he describes Russo’s (the actress who played Catherine) to “silence the people who complain that older women are never allowed to be sexy in the movies. That sexiness isn’t due to the transparent black dress she wears in one scene