Blue Cards for VRA Project Paragraph 1

Main Idea Write a topic sentence that introduces the topic of the
paragraph. (Your own words). Include one element of the
evidence + the overall focus of the thesis.

Write your topic sentence here.

Sexism wasn’t exactly something people shied away from in the 60’s, it was so
common in fact, advertisements had no problem including such ideas into their
advertisements with scripts that portrayed women as ignorant and dull.

Evidence Insert examples that support the topic sentence. (Described,

quoted, summarized, or paraphrased from the primary source)

Make notes here.

In the commercial mentioned, it shows that it was somewhat normal to express that
women were shallow, and were incapable of doing simple things such as sharpening
pencils. In the commercial, the woman states, “I can’t type, I don’t take dictation, I
won’t sharpen pencils, I can’t file…” and then continues to mention that her boss
refers to her as “indispensable”. The boss continues to give her a job that is so simple
that even she can do – make copies on the simplest printer on the market.
Analysis Analyze each example. How does each prove the overall focus of
the topic sentence and the thesis? (Your own words)

Make notes here.

This portion of the script alone shows that the writers thought it was a good
generalization to make that women either weren’t capable, or flat-out refused to do
such simple work. It portrays women as dull and paints a picture where women lack
basic knowledge. The actress explains how the printer is so simple to operate, giving
the idea that anything more complicated would be too difficult for a woman. The
script’s writing makes it seem that women lack so much knowledge, the creators of
the Xerox printer made it simple enough that even a woman could use it.
 Blue Cards for VRA Project Paragraph 2

Main Idea Write a topic sentence that introduces the topic of the
paragraph. (Your own words). Include another element of the
evidence + the overall focus of the thesis.

Write your topic sentence here.

The acting in the Xerox commercial goes out of its way to make the woman seem as if
she wouldn’t be able to use the printer if it was any more complicated than “pressing
a button and turning a knob”.

Evidence Insert examples that support the topic sentence. (Described,

quoted, summarized, or paraphrased from the primary source)

Make notes here.

In the commercial, the actress seems to be acting very robotic, only moving with very
stiff movements. Not only this, but one could argue that the woman is acting
somewhat ditzy – all of which adds to the idea that these add onto the idea that it
makes the woman seem slow. But not slow enough that she can’t work a Xerox
printer. The actress seems to portray woman as clueless, shallow, and incapable of
doing something unless made as simple as possible. “Sometimes my boss asks me
which is the original, and sometimes, I don’t know!” is aimed to be a comment that
shows how well the printer makes copies, but leans more towards making it seem the
woman is so unaware, she can’t even tell the original from the copy.
Analysis Analyze each example. How does each prove the overall focus of
the topic sentence and the thesis? (Your own words)

Make notes here.

As mentioned, the way the woman acts portrays her as a ditzy and incapable
individual. Xerox furthered the already damaging idea that women aren’t as smart or
capable as men by portraying women with such a lack of skill. This alone aided in the
generalization of women being nothing more than a ‘pretty face’, since they obviously
could not understand concepts that required their brain to work more than usual -
like typing.
 Blue Cards for VRA Project Paragraph 3

Main Idea Write a topic sentence that introduces the topic of the
paragraph. (Your own words). Include another element of the
evidence + the overall focus of the thesis.

Write your topic sentence here.

The manner in which Xerox describes their product and gets their points across is
degrading to women, and could have been done without a demeaning attitude behind
it.

Evidence Insert examples that support the topic sentence. (Described,

quoted, summarized, or paraphrased from the primary source)

Make notes here.

Xerox makes it known that their printer is no hassle to use, that you simply “turn a
knob and push a button!”. The commercial also mentions how the woman doesn’t
ever use ‘wet chemicals’ – as if the chemicals would be far too much for her to handle.

Analysis Analyze each example. How does each prove the overall focus of
the topic sentence and the thesis? (Your own words)

Make notes here.

The mention of the simplistic instructions to operate the printer, as well as the idea
that the woman never works with wet chemicals shows that Xerox was attempting to
aim their product at businesses that have women working for them. Since it was
common misconception at the time that women were so ignorant and clueless about
everything, this ad played right into that generalization. The advertisement could have
sold their copying machine with a male in the commercial rather than a woman – but
the company decided to go with a woman instead, because having women in the
workplace meant simplifying everything to a tee. Because according to Xerox, if it
wasn’t simple enough, a woman wouldn’t be able to operate it.
 Blue Cards for VRA Project Paragraph 4

Main Idea Write a topic sentence that introduces the topic of the
paragraph. (Your own words). Include another element of the
evidence + the overall focus of the thesis.

Write your topic sentence here.

The assumptions that were made by society at the time played a humungous role in
the way the Xerox commercial perceived and displayed women as a group.

Evidence Insert examples that support the topic sentence. (Described,

quoted, summarized, or paraphrased from the primary source)

Make notes here.

In the commercial, it shows a woman who – in her own words – doesn’t really know
how to do too much: such as typing, filing, taking dictation, and such. As mentioned
before, there was a running idea during the 60s that women were incapable of doing
anything too strenuous – especially in a man’s workplace. Women were facing
discrimination in the workplace – and still are – and it was commercials such as these
that aided in that to continue. It allowed an already formed idea that women are only
good for doing small and simple tasks. Anything more than that, they simply were not
able to do.

Analysis Analyze each example. How does each prove the overall focus of
the topic sentence and the thesis? (Your own words)
Make notes here.

Assumptions about women at the time aided in Xerox generalizing women into a
category that was unable to do anything more than the simplest of tasks. It was
assumed that women at the time were unfamiliar with workplace environments, and
were generally clueless on how to do the tasks that a man might have done in the
office.