1. “The real work and the real pleasure lie elsewhere”-Susan Bordo uses this essay “as a way of organizing the pleasure of the text” by means of thorough and in-depth analyses of men in advertising and her interpretations of what these ads represent and symbolize to society. She uses several examples, such as Calvin Klein, Versace, Gucci, and Abercrombie & Fitch, to demonstrate her opinions and theories on how men’s sexuality being presented in advertising affects the emotions that are stimulated in women upon viewing such photographs. Her strategy of writing may be an effective method in getting her point across to readers, but in my opinion, it is much too tedious and redundant concerning the topic at hand.

2. Susan Bordo divides her essay into subsections in order to mark the stages in the presentation and therefore encourage the reader to use each section as a prerequisite to the ideas presented in the next subsection. In my opinion, the first example of the Calvin Klein advertisement found on the first page of Bordo’s essay is the part of the reading that sends the strongest message and therefore speaks the loudest: it exemplifies a very distinct kind of man that is presently seen in everyday male advertisements today. Bordo’s argument concerning this ad drew me in while first beginning to read. Her question of , “Who is the electrician here: God? Mother Nature? Or Hugh Hefner?” sends a powerful message that makes the reader want to read on and discover more of Susan Bordo’s theories and viewpoints on such issues.

3. Bordo differentiates herself from the “subject position” of others by not only comparing, of course, the similarities and differences between the emotions of men and women; but she also compares the actions and subject positions held by people of a different race and social status than others. She describes how, when one feels the gaze of another’s eyes upon him or her, that person will immediately be put into a “subject position,” whether good or bad, that is usually a stereotypical assumption being made by the gazer. She says that (and I can testify to this), “many of us get somewhat addicted to the experience.” When a woman is told that she is “looking good,” her confidence gets a boost. For those who have been blessed in life with good looks and beneficial qualities and talents, receiving a sometimes sexualizing gaze from the object of their affection is more often than not a good thing.