Nike- Just Do It.

Bordo states, "female bodies become docile bodies-bodies whose fores and energies are habituated to external regulation, subjection, transformation, "improvement." The source and blame of this however is society's tough critiques and specifications of what an ideal "beauty" or "hot" figure or "best athlete" is. I, like many other females out there I'm sure, are attracted to certain clothing, makeup, shoes, gadgets, etc...because of what society poses what it does for us and how we, females, can improve or "better" ourselves from it. I can honestly say, that I only want the new Nike shoes because it would just be spectacularly cool to own a pair of the new Nike running shoes and I would look cool working out in them. If I purchase the shoes, I would be more motivated and would have an incentive to workout and exercise to "improve" my body. I would have more determination to get lean, build up the muscles I once had and just look "good" like every other women because as Nike poses, you only have to "just do it" to get what you want and to get what society would want/accept you as.

You can see in this ad that the large image of the flawless, fit, jumping dancer is drawing in of what every female could possibly want to do and look like. She's slim, she has hops, and she has a flat stomach with a perfect size chest. Who doesn't want to look like that? Who doesn’t want to look at that? Nike poses on the side of the ad (it's on the website, couldn't copy the website image): Make yourself. You're in charge. You are entirely up to you. Make your body. Make your life. Make yourself. Get inspired." Below this is also additional remarks on "Nike Women" and how "you" (we, women of society) can get the "latest training and style" of Nike. Bordo continues to add after discussing docile bodies how "Through these disciplines, we continue to memorize on our bodies the feel and conviction of lack, of insufficiency, or never being good enough." Like Nike and many other popular brands, already assumes and poses the mentality and idea that we are in need of a resource to "improve our bodies" and Nike or whatever athletic brand you like, will do it for you, if you purchase their products. Not only will females be satisfied, but males will be satisfied with how their women are looking or will look. Who is the target market? What images are they posing for both men and women? Just how convincing and successful are these brands? What is the culture behind it?

Both males and females are the target here. Nike, like any other brand, is only pushing for profits and to convince buyers, us, that we can too, like other Nike users, be successful in having toned, shape, fit, flat, "hot" bodies, pretty much the works. Like being a marijuana user, a buyer must be a perfect image of Nike ("user") by "learning to smoke the drug in a way which will produce real effects" (purchase and rep Nike products), "learn to get high" ( attempt/try to achieve Nike's "ideal body" while in Nike wear), and "learning to enjoy the sensations he perceives" (get instant results and continue to use Nike products as you continue to like your image/results and continue to hope that Nike will keep doing you good).

I think we all get the idea here. This is social construction in the making. Images and results of our bodies and culture revolves around what society poses to us and how we continue to follow it, how they sell it to us and how we are "bought" into it. It is forever changing, never going to be good enough because we are given the mentality we can always "improve" unless something else comes and betters/changes us. As Beckers mentions, “The act becomes impossible only when the ability to enjoy the experience of being high is lost, through a change in the user's conception of the drug occasioned by certain kinds of experience with it."