The Choices We Have

The Choices We Have

For my media remix project I selected a Kodak add from a July 1970 Life Magazine. I chose this add because of the meaning created when the text and images were viewed together. The add suggests to me that a man should be able to choose to use a woman like choosing to use a type of film, women are interchangeable objects to be enjoyed by men. I found the subtext of this add to be particularly poignant at this time because of what happened in the Stanford rape case during the time of our class sessions. A man who was charged guilty on three felony counts of sexual assault was sentenced to six months of his fourteen year sentence because the judge thought any more time would "have a severe impact on him." In court the victim read a letter to the rapist that described the inequities of the entire legal process for sexual assault and how it was colored by male privilege and the cultural assumption that if a woman got raped, they did something wrong. Seeing this add after this incident and after reading many responses to the Stanford case and letter I began thinking about the differences in the choices men and women are culturally afforded. Please read the poem written by Liz Ruddy in response to the Stanford case that most influenced my thinking about choices for this project. In this remix I wanted to highlight how small the choices women are afforded are when it comes to sexual assault. I feel that my finished remix carries the message I was trying to send. I think that viewing the two images together is particularly impactful.