Comedian Sarah Haskins created a web series back in 2007 entitled "Target Women". This was something I watched years ago with a friend and had a few good laughs and then completely forgot about. The series popped back into my head when I was thinking what kind of ads to search for when writing our class's first paper.
She created a lot more of these and even had a 'super special' which can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmqwsj27fNA.
These videos are amazing because Sarah Haskins uses comedy to expose the double-standards and absurdity of advertising targeted toward women. She has episodes that focus on chocolate, skin care, doing laundry, and even pooping (she focuses on food products that have high fiber). Her 'Super Special' even starts off with her claiming to be the perfect woman because she lives her life as advertising tells her to. Within the first five minutes you see how she jokes about the irony of the perfect woman being that the perfect woman is someone who HIDES her imperfections. The series discontinued in 2010, and I believe there is so much potential for this to continue on in some form. I am a huge fan of this because it uses the same method that shows such as The Daily Show uses: bringing comedy to topics that are not only serious, but are often overlooked.
My question is:
Is it helpful or harmful to make jokes and make light of the same advertising that reinforces the myths and stereotypes of the 'typical woman'?
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