clsusser NONFICTION

Marketing the Middle Ground

indulge

verb (used without object), indulged, indulging.

1. to yield to an inclination or desire; allow oneself to follow one’s will

(via dictionary.com)
“The obesity and eating disorder epidemics are not separate issues…both conditions stem from our inability to think of health and well-being in terms of balance…just as we are a white and black society, a rich and poor society, an us and them society, we are a thin and fat society.  There is no middle ground.  There is all and there is nothing.”
-Courtney E. Martin, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters

It sounds great, to be able to “indulge without the bulge.” Indulgence isn’t necessarily negative, according to the definition “to allow oneself to follow one’s will.” But in this slogan, indulgence is associated with a perceived consequence that many girls and women fear: bulge. The slogan sells the idea of “middle ground,” what will attract customers into the store and purchase compression shapewear.

“Will” is defined as “the faculty of conscious and especially of deliberate action; the power of control the mind has over its own actions” or “the power of choosing one’s own actions.” In other words, will is choice.  To have will is empowering.  To follow it, even more so.

“Indulge without the bulge,” however, says that we cannot trust our own will; it leads to a negative outcome, an unwanted effect, namely “bulge”–unless we buy shapewear.

 

 It sends the message that you can’t trust your own will, and if you do, your body will do something ugly, and leave you feeling powerless over it.  Empower our brand, not your body.

screen-shot-2016-10-28-at-1-01-42-pm

Yes, Spanx has an “In-Power Line” that includes: Power Panties®, Higher Power® Brief, Power Capri, Higher Power Capri, Higher Power Shorty, Power Shorty, Higher Power Short, Power Short, Higher Power Panties, Higher Power®, and Power Skort.

If you feel sexy wearing In-Power panties, that’s cool. If you feel sexy only when wearing them, if you’re sick of wearing them, or if they’re uncomfortable to wear but you wear them anyway, you may be wearing them to fit into someone else’s mold.
clsusser NONFICTION

Girls, It’s Your–Not His–Future

I may be late to the game, but in 2011, Selena Gomez was hypnotized by her crush’s destiny, which I would guess means she doesn’t really have one of her own.

Screen Shot 2016-10-27 at 1.05.07 PM.png

Her guy is a “miracle,” “saves her life again.” She’s playing an adolescent girl in women’s clothes. Her character is stunted. This is why I tend to spend most of my time under a rock.

It’s okay, when you’re 13, to be hypnotized by destiny, but please, make sure it’s your own.

The last comment on Youtube was made an hour ago from someone with a Russian name.

clsusser NONFICTION

Art Is a Slow Celebration

img_6037-1Last night, they transported us into the middle of the jungle, to my late great-grandparents’ property; I would stay in their empty stick house for ten days. No phone, no laptop, no loved ones. We, everyone, was a stranger. I fell into the grass and began to relax.

Bless the opportunity to get to know someone without technological distraction.  If need be, bring back the cigarettes, but please, don’t smoke.  Keep the cigarette between your fingers, unlit.  Option to hold baby carrot, and chew.

Yesterday, a twelve-year old daughter rushed to keep up with her father, who was carrying coffees to their car.  There wasn’t no camera, but now there are words, and memory. The impression of her run-walk, that he doesn’t look back or slow down, is slow, and so, it haunts, because it reminds you of something you had witnessed that time forgot but now remembers.

img_1405

When Kodak disposable cameras were popular, the deliberate process of filling each of the 24 blank shots with an image was slow celebration; the choice to print doubles or singles, the wait to develop, then that thick stack of glossy prints packaged and sealed with a sticker, was for and by you.  You.  It was a happy end, a deserved stop, or the destination.  A meaningful errand.  Your effort, your visions for it, in your hands.

photomat-300x246
Courtesy of Google

It’s a slow celebration. A friend, a family member, a loved one, dictates where you look, which dictates where you walk.  You follow and learn to ignore the pain that follows.  You decide, one day, to point your lens at a friend, a family member, a loved one, and immortalize their discomfort, displeasure, and disdain as the light seizes them. Then, like the artist, you are.

 

clsusser NONFICTION

Interpreting the Ad

Interpreting the Ad

A woman stands on her own.  A girl does not.  A woman wears dresses past her knees.  A girl does not.  A mother is a woman who protects her daughter and lets her son express himself through attitude.  A girl cannot have attitude.  A woman does not have attitude, but can pose.  A girl cannot pose.  A girl cannot pose like a boy.  A boy can pose like he owns the place.  A girl can stand with her mother and smile.  A girl is protected.  A boy does not have to be.

clsusser NONFICTION

The Struggle to Be Different

Brands build exclusivity with color and style.  Identifying with a brand is identifying with its exclusivity.  Identifying with a brand is a luxury.  Those who cannot or can no longer afford to identify with a brand may prefer otherwise.  Is it because they feel shut out from one world, or trapped in another?   What does identifying with a brand exclude?  It can exclude the inner-peace that comes from leading an authentic life.