American Taboo: The Forbidden Words, Unspoken Rules, and Secret Morality of Popular Culture by Rosewarne Lauren.;

Author:Rosewarne, Lauren.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ABC-CLIO
Published: 2013-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

Empowerment through Identity and Individualism

The for me and my choice appeals are underpinned by the notion that the self—understanding it, tending to it, advancing it, indulging it—is at the true center of happiness and fulfillment. Such ideas are perfectly in line with individualism and the self being all important. The Botox advertisement discussed earlier demonstrates this point as women explain their use of the product: “This is my time” and “I did it for me.”

Such appeals are also tied to the idea that formation of the self is connected to purchases—that the true self can only be fully realized through consumption. In an ad for the Ortho Tri-Cyclen-Lo contraceptive pill, for example, the voiceover encourages viewers, “Be true to yourself with a birth control pill that gives you a high level of effectiveness and a low level of hormones.” Apparently a true self is sourced through buying the right contraception. This idea is taken further in an advertisement for the Nuva Ring contraceptive: it opens with women doing a synchronized swimming routine and the voiceover suggests, “Maybe it’s time to break free from the pack.” The pack refers not only to the birth control pack, but also to the pack—the herd—of other women. Individuality is thus promoted: self comes from the right prescription medication, which is right for you and sets you apart from those around you.

Worth noting, appeals to the self can also be somewhat nostalgic. For example, it may be implied that illness or age has diluted one’s authentic self and that medicine can help a person return to his or her true self; as the woman in the Paxil advertisement claims, “I feel like me again.” The subtext is that drugs can help retain or resurrect identity.

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