Thanks to the COM352 students for contributing a bunch of new pages! I'll be moving these pages into the main area of the wiki soon.

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There is and always has been an imbalance between males and females within the media. Only the media? As Susan Bordo explains in her essay, “Hunger as Ideology,” women have always been expected to eat less than men, according to advertisements and past historical facts. Bordo takes the position of a teacher who is trying to inform others that the media gives off false information. She is trying to let her audience, the American society, know what the right thing is so that women can become healthier. In a sense, Bordo is a role model or is trying to be because she is aware that everyone listens to what the media and other sources say. I thoroughly agree with her essay because she knows this information first hand. Is that really a good reason? Would you agree with Stalin's account of his rule of the USSR because he lived through it? (not that I'm comparing Bordo to Stalin or anything) Being a girl in this society is extremely hard because there are always people telling you that the slender looking girls are the prettiest. Bordo relates her experiences as a teen to the argument, women are “forced” to eat in small proportions, which helps qualify her essay. As a teen I have come across a few encounters of the media affecting the way girls think about themselves and Bordo does a good job arguing the point.

Bordo identifies herself as being against what women are “supposed” to be like. Or maybe the idea that they must act a certain way. She is a level-headed woman in a society that is lopsided. Bordo is trying to make women everywhere see what she sees. “I encourage my students to bring in examples that appear to violate traditional gender dualities and ideological messages contained in them.” (pg )

She tries to do things such as this for her students to see how few advertisements there are that go against the standard outlook on women. The reason why I believe that Bordo is very accurate in her essay is because she has proof to show that she was once influenced when she was growing up as a teenager, to look a certain way. Such advertisements like cigarettes and make-up, try to con young women into looking slim and pretty. “When I was a teenager in the 1960s, Twiggy’s mascara-spiked star and long, spindly legs represented our variant of the wide-eyed waif. We envied Twiggy’s casual cool and elegantly elongated body.” (pg 192) This quote from the essay includes the name “twiggy” which subtly informs that being skinny is elegant and the fact that she was actually slim makes Bordo’s argument much stronger. It gives her credibility because it proves that she can relate fully to what is still going on in society. True. She took part in the problem firsthand. For this reason, the “ethos” of this essay has evolved. This still happens in the media today however most of the time it relates to Hollywood. For example, Bordo uses Kate Moss in her essay because she is a celebrity that has a very slender body. “Women with eating disorders bring photos of…Kate Moss.” (pg 192) The “pathos” of this essay lies within that statement. It appeals to part of the audience that Bordo is trying to target. Women want to be like Kate Moss because she is on the cover of the most popular magazines. This however is an issue because the question becomes raised, “Is this person eating healthy?” This is when Bordo’s argument makes sense. Women are being pushed to this point by commercials and advertisements, even before it reaches Hollywood. This is where the celebrities have gotten this information from as well.

Bordo’s argument is also very strong because it can relate to me and many other women in this country. Already stated? I grew up with a friend who was slightly overweight. She was very self-conscious of the way she looked and never would wear bathing suits in the summer. Throughout high school she would compare herself to me and others as well as magazines and television shows. She began to eat less and eventually had a minor eating disorder. This was a very scary time for many people and now talking about it with her, she tells me that she was stressed out by the amount of pressure she had as a teen to be petite. She was also pushed to be a certain way and she could not handle it any longer. This experience with my friend pushes me further to believe that Bordo’s argument of the imbalance of women and men in food advertisements is true. “In 1990, women students of mine complain of the tortures of the cafeteria, the embarrassment of eating ice cream in front of the male students, the pressure to just take a salad, or, better yet, refuse food altogether.” This statement is evidence that has been researched to prove that women are being affected by what they have been told through the media. This is an issue that has been occurring for many years and because women are told to eat less than men, it is leading to unhealthy situations. If we lived in a society with not as much (less) pressure from product advertisements, this situation would have never occurred. This is what Bordo is trying to stop. She is trying to persuade young people to be healthy and not listen to what commercials say or show. She is really trying to dig into the inner beauty of things. Last sentence is exteraneous.

MegFon 00:47, 31 October 2006 (EST)

I can't find any ethos, though I think since we're not experts on our topic our ethos must show through our language. So basically just get rid of some of the awkwardness...I pointed out a few, and add in some relevant big words. Of course ethos also comes with a thorough, cohesive argument, but that usually doesn't come till the final draft anyway. Really, who works on a first draft? Pathos?; you appeal to women under pressure from the media to look thinner an others who are aware of this. Logos; your argument is that Bordo is trying to persuade people to live healthy; not under the pressure of the media. First two paragraphs (better off as one) address Bordo's views and writing. Paragraph three is about Bordo relating to people and a bit about her argument. (maybe a little mismatched) Paragraph four is very similar to the third. I would try to combine the best ideas of both. The conclusion explores the argument in further detail, and does "show not tell" by using a real life experience. Peace.