Starving Privilege

Privilege has become in underlying theme within American society. Privilege can be seen “as an invisible package of unearned assets which [one] can count on cashing in each day, but about which [one] was ‘meant’ to remain oblivious” (McIntosh 235). Privilege comes in numerous different ways: being white, Christian, male, heterosexual etc. all of which are capable of oppressing and marginalizing individuals who do not fit into the privilege box. One of the easiest ways to see the influence of privilege within our society is through advertisements. The focus of this paper will be on how privilege and advertisements correlate within the realm of food advertisements. Looking at different food advertisements from across the board shows how privilege permeates into our society at all levels, benefiting those who are in the majority and marginalizing those who are not.

THE PRIVILEGED SEASONS

             

            Eater is often assumed to be a general holiday for the entire population, but in truth it is a celebration of the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Advertisements that focus on Easter, encourage all people to participate in order to be part of the American community. An interesting example of this is an advertisement by Baskin Robins for an Easter rabbit roll cake.  The caption on the poster read "Have a Happy Easter," in a light pastel yellow, pushing the advertisement towards the predominately Christian part of society. The cake was right below it on a neutral light pastel purple background. Around the rabbit were little Jelly Bellies that looked like little Easter eggs. The advertisement was done very simply, the pastel colors bringing images of Easter and spring to the viewer’s mind. The image of the playful rabbit was made to look cute and innocent, almost too animated to eat; grabbing kid’s attention. Furthermore, the cuteness of the rabbit also encouraged nostalgic memories of Easter Sunday, reminding parents of Easter egg hunts they participated in as a child and the sense of community around searching for the elusive eggs. The most important part of the advertisement was the caption; it perpetuated the idea that a family could only have a happy Easter if they had this novel cake. Furthermore however, the caption marginalized anyone who does not celebrate Easter. It assumes, through Christian privilege, that because one is in America they must therefore celebrate Easter even though it is in essence a Christian holiday. While the advertisement, meant to create a sense of goodwill, in reality it emphasized the importance of the Christian majority.

When looking at Christian privilege through advertisements it is important to understand that acknowledging religious privilege is not the same as attacking religion. Being religiously literate is an important aspect of social justice. While some people may argue that looking at food advertisements from the Easter season are easy to criticize, the fact that they are so prominent and easily overlooked by the majority of society is where the problems lie. It is often said that America is a Christian nation, but in reality America is a nation full of Christians. This allows for people to see advertisements such as the one from Baskin Robins and think they are okay, but to people of other faiths such advertisements marginalize them. For example a Jewish person may see the advertisement and feel excluded from the community which the advertisement is trying to create. In order to create an inclusive community, advertisements need to use inclusive language, acknowledging people of all theologies.

BASKETBALL AND FRIED CHICKEN

   Food advertisements are also capable of perpetuating racial stereotypes. Church’s Chicken often uses racially based stereotypes within their advertisements. One of their TV commercials from five years ago uses numerous black stereotypes to promote their product (link provided Church's Chicken Commercial). The commercial starts with a shirtless black man getting dressed, when he opens his closet there are about 20 pairs of the same type of basketball shoes, an entire rack full of only a single colored athletic jacket, and shelves full of the same pair of athletic pants. Once he arrives at the restaurant, he is accompanied by three other people of color, all of which are eating different forms of fried chicken. This commercial perpetuates numerous stereotypes; the first is that it supports the stereotype that black men are valued solely for their athletic abilities in our society. Instead of using a black man who appears well educated, the commercial uses this stereotype to place an artificial value on their product. Secondly, the woman who is portrayed is seen eating the chicken in a sexualized manner. Not only does this perpetuate the blatant sexualization of women in advertising, it also perpetuates the far too common view of black women as hypersexual. Such portrayals objectify women, normalizing the view of men that women are only bodies. The third stereotype which relates to food is that black people love fried chicken. Showing three people of color instead of people of different racial backgrounds perpetuates white privilege. This is because the commercial is not offensive to white people, it makes no assumptions about white people, but instead focuses on the assumptions white people have about people of color.

  An easy way to see the privilege within the commercial is to ask yourself a few questions/comments:

1.      What stereotypes does this commercial portray about my race?

2.      What does this commercial say about my races socioeconomic status?

3.      When watching this commercial I do not have to worry about the actors portrayal of my race.

4.      If I get angry about the stereotypes portrayed within the commercial, I do not have to fear sounding like an angry and overly sensitive marginalized person.

Realizing the privileges that come with being white can be hard to handle. It is very easy for a person to say “I don’t actively support oppressing others, therefore why am I guilty?” The reality of the matter is however, that while we are “being made confident, comfortable, and oblivious, other groups were likely being made inconfident, uncomfortable, and alienated” (McIntosh 237). Allowing such commercials to run, tells people of color from a very young age that their only value to society is to be athletic and sexual.

GENDER, BEER, AND RAPE

            Advertising and sex are more about distance than intimacy. Ads often use the objectification of women to sell their products, as said by Jean Kilbourne, “[sex] fetishizes products, imbues them with an erotic charge” (Kilbourne). Beer companies have been at the forefront of the sexualization of women within their ads. The following ad for Budweiser Beer is a prime example.

            The image is dangerous in numerous ways, and hurts women in two very specific ways. Firstly the women is completely objectified, she is used solely for her sexual appeal; disregarding the brain behind the beauty. Such objectification normalizes the actions of heterosexual males who disregard the individual and instead promotes seeing women solely for sex. The objectification of women leads to the higher likeliness of sexual abuse of women by men. Secondly, this ad is damaging to women, in that it portrays an unattainable beauty ideal. In American society where 95% of women overestimate their body size, seeing ads such as these create internalized oppression within women (Shawn and Lee 235).  Furthermore, relating to privilege, the beauty ideal which is portrayed is white, abled, middle-class standards. Such beauty ideals “can humiliate fat or non-white women as well as the poor, the aged, and the disabled” (Shawn and Lee 231). The ad also plays to heterosexual male privilege. It completely disregards heterosexual women, homosexuals, and people of other ethnic identities, instead focusing on the white heterosexual male gaze and the white beauty ideal.

           

WHERE DO WE GO?

            Privilege is an invisible force at work within our society. Like fish in an aquarium, the only way to see the privilege is to step out of the tank and take a critical look at society. In most cases there is no way to change ones level of privilege, one cannot simply change their race, gender, sexuality, religion etc., but what one can do is learn how to recognize privilege and then make a call for equality. When people point out privilege and acknowledge their own, a fight can be made to raise the oppressed, to the same level as those living with privilege.

 I am a white, middleclass, male; I wrote this paper because my identities have given me the privilege to study inequalities within our society. My identities have also given me the privilege to write this and not sound like an angry marginalized person. The sad reality is, if a marginalized person had written this paper, the points made would have been brushed aside for them simply being angry at the way society is. I encourage you to look at the privileges you have in your life, look at how they have benefited you, how they have oppressed others, and how you can use them to equalize the gaps present in our culture. The only way to reach equality is to take a stand and to have the courage to say that society needs to change.