Self-Fulfilling and Advertising

Mark Snyder’s essay introduced us to the idea of the “Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes”. The idea that not only prejudice people but their targets reinforce stereotypes was baffling to me. Snyder was able to list many examples and experiments to support his theory. Like all of the other socially constructed ideas we have read about the “Self-Fulfilling Stereotypes” is one of the many balance systems used to keep Prejudice, Sexism, and Racism functioning within our society. The most prominent study in his essay was the blind date study, in the research both men and women acted differently towards a date over the phone when given a photo of the person. The most shocking thing about this study was the person who they were talking to changed their behavior in accordance with how they were being treated. Snyder’s argument not only applies to sexual interaction but educational and employment settings. As a whole society must expose ourselves to a many different situations and cultures, that way we can educate ourselves about the rich history and background of others.

I agree with Jhally and his negative view on 20th Century Advertising, western culture has placed a heavy importance on material possessions. It has become so bad every aspect of our life has been overrun by advertisements. One major turning point in advertisement that has occurred before is cable tv and satellite radio. In the late 70’s when the US government deregulated the cable industry it started to take off in urban homes as a premium pay service with no commercials. The idea was that they didn’t need to run commercials to make money like their competitors because people paid a service fee to have access to the service. I remember having cable in the 80’s and not having to listen to commercials and I think it paid off with my parents because I wasn’t running to them every 15 minutes asking them to buy me something I saw on a commercial. The greedy paws of capitalism found its way to cable and slowly commercials started slipping into cable TV. The reason I want to make everyone aware is because it is happening again with satellite radio. Services like XM radio and Serious Radio are starting to add commercials into more and more of their stations. It started with one every couple of hours and it doesn’t bother you so since no one complains about it they continue to add more and more. While Jhally’s essay about advertising brings attention to a dangerous problem I think he took it to an extreme to try and prove his point. The real issue is greed and how it has allowed advertising into all social aspects of our lives.