Superbowl XLV follows its predecessors: it sends the wrong messages.

Ah yes, the morning after the largest sporting event in the U.S., and I’m sipping coffee in recovery from a four pound food baby and a devastating loss. Devastating, not in the sense some big throws were shanked by the rusty Big Ben,  nor the gorgeous 37 yard return on an interception resulting in a touchdown for the Packers way too early in the game. No no, my devastation came from the places everyone else most felt it. It was clear the Packers were going to take it by the half. What was unclear was why the halftime performance was so awful, and for me, the godaddy.com and Pepsi Max commercials. Let’s review:

My guess, and statistics will agree: is that this commercial was probably produced, written and funded by men.

Ah yes, the typical female on a first date, thinking about true love, marriage and the family. The man, reduced to two solitary goals, dreams and/or accomplishment, having sex with her and consuming Pepsi Max. Always pitting us against each other, the genders are seen as more different than they are alike (to quote my Women’s Studies professor). The same goals are found in the goDaddy commericals, in fact, you can actually see that all of the producers, managers, agents, directors, cameramen, etc. are men, and the actresses, and woman bringing food to them, are women. The hegemony of men that “make” media will never result in women being able to tell their stories the way they should.

Which takes me to this video, found on feministing.com:

As fellow blogger Hannah Grace portrayed in her last entry, men dominate art, just as they dominate the media. This fact, is sometimes a surprise to both women and men. I am not arguing that women should dominate the media or art worlds or the world in general either. But to have representation, especially in powerful message engines like the media. Stories of women need to be told, just as stories of men need to be told. Progress is being made. At the Sundance Festival this year, the biggest messages coming out of the festival was gender representation. I can’t wait until I can Netflix this documentary: