Women in Ads
Media provides the images and ideas that define society's perception of gender roles. Men are typically portrayed as masculine, powerful and intellectual while women are mostly portrayed as domestic, delicate, beautiful or worst of all, as sex objects. Media, even today, reinforces the stereotypes about women that were instilled in society centuries ago.
Advertising is perhaps the most powerful form of media today as we are confronted with an advertisement in some way almost every day of our lives. Advertising has played a huge part in influencing the values and ideals of society, but unfortunately, not in the most beneficial way. These ads not only shape and influence a woman's sense of self but also society's views about a woman's identity. The way these ideas are presented can vary from an approach that is very blatant in exploiting these stereotypes to a more subtle method, which still enforces them subconsciously. The ad to the left, for example, very blatantly proclaims that a woman needs to be either be domestic and good at housework or needs to have those physical traits. But what if you don't have the body of a lingerie model and don't know how to cook? Apparently you are not good a being a woman then, because you can't fulfill the requirements set by this ad. On a more subtle note, take a look at any household/cleaning product commercials and ads. What you will realize soon enough is that there are maybe a handful of these commercials that are not targeting a female audience. Furthermore, if there happens to be a male in the commercial, he is often simply admiring the work done by the woman, and though he is impressed with her accomplishments, the message the ad is really sending is that women are just better at housework.
Perhaps the most dangerous effect of these ads is that the way they objectify women end up defining what it means to be a woman in our culture. They bring to life a fabricated unattainable image of perfection in either of two ways. If the ad is directed towards women, its main purpose is to portrays an image of the female form that every woman wants to embody. However, if it is directed towards men, a woman's body either becomes a prize that can only be attained by buying the product or an object which represents the product being sold. The ad below is perhaps the best representation of the objectification of a woman's body to sell a product for men. In addition to providing the ideal vision of beauty, the suggestive poses and opportune placement of the cologne present an image of male dominance and female submissiveness. The focus on different body parts only further dehumanizes the woman, presenting her as an object.
Advertising is perhaps the most powerful form of media today as we are confronted with an advertisement in some way almost every day of our lives. Advertising has played a huge part in influencing the values and ideals of society, but unfortunately, not in the most beneficial way. These ads not only shape and influence a woman's sense of self but also society's views about a woman's identity. The way these ideas are presented can vary from an approach that is very blatant in exploiting these stereotypes to a more subtle method, which still enforces them subconsciously. The ad to the left, for example, very blatantly proclaims that a woman needs to be either be domestic and good at housework or needs to have those physical traits. But what if you don't have the body of a lingerie model and don't know how to cook? Apparently you are not good a being a woman then, because you can't fulfill the requirements set by this ad. On a more subtle note, take a look at any household/cleaning product commercials and ads. What you will realize soon enough is that there are maybe a handful of these commercials that are not targeting a female audience. Furthermore, if there happens to be a male in the commercial, he is often simply admiring the work done by the woman, and though he is impressed with her accomplishments, the message the ad is really sending is that women are just better at housework.
Perhaps the most dangerous effect of these ads is that the way they objectify women end up defining what it means to be a woman in our culture. They bring to life a fabricated unattainable image of perfection in either of two ways. If the ad is directed towards women, its main purpose is to portrays an image of the female form that every woman wants to embody. However, if it is directed towards men, a woman's body either becomes a prize that can only be attained by buying the product or an object which represents the product being sold. The ad below is perhaps the best representation of the objectification of a woman's body to sell a product for men. In addition to providing the ideal vision of beauty, the suggestive poses and opportune placement of the cologne present an image of male dominance and female submissiveness. The focus on different body parts only further dehumanizes the woman, presenting her as an object.
Talk about taking objectifying the female form to another level. Not only is she a sexual object, but also the literally manifestation of the product since her body has literally become the beer bottle. What idea does this sell? The idea that her body can be bought and sold like the object that she represents.
TV commercials are especially notorious for presenting an overly sexualized image of women to sell a product that is mainly being advertised for men. Other than the fact that commercials like the one below are incredibly degrading to women, can we honesty say that seeing this commercial will make anyone want to buy that burger? More than half of the commercial focuses on various parts of her scantly clad body and a few seconds of a shot of the sandwich here and there.
How and why does it makes sense to spend so much money to make an ad that does not actually advertise the product it should be promoting? Because, the sad reality is that sex sells and money matters.
On a side-note, Buzzfeed has made some fabulous videos reenacting some of these types of ads, but with a man taking the role of the original woman. Once you are done laughing at how ridiculous these scenarios seem with the genders reversed, take a few minutes to reflect on how engrained gender roles are in society and how the media benefits from continually perpetuating them.