Woman and Advertising

Advertising has become much more than selling products. They are selling beliefs and life styles to American citizens. They portray woman as objects, objects that are their for the used of the dominant males in advertising. The "sex sells" method has gone too far when using the bodies of women in a sexual way is used to sell everything including fishing lines.

The advertisement here is for men's underwear, yet it shows a woman, barely dressed admiring his underwear. Even in an advertisement for men's clothing, a woman's body is shown off. Not only that but it is very clear that she just had sex with him and her underwear is shown to be somewhere else in the room. This kind of images show women as the submissive gender in our culture.

Even this add which is trying to promote a vegetarian cause shows the woman as "human meat". Not only that but she is almost completely naked with blood on her. Even though this add isn't for a product, but instead a cause, it still shows a woman as objectified. The blood on her doesn't help. It shows a woman as a piece of meat not a a person who faced violence. Advertisements like this make violence seem more ok.

There are advertisements in which males show off their bodies. However, these advertisements are not nearly as common and provide a different message. This advertisement for a gym, shows the man as powerful, rather than the ads that make woman seem submissive. Even though it is showing an ideal figure for men as many ads show ideal figures for women, this ideal figure is not a submissive sex object, he is powerful and independent.

Many advertisements show men and women together in which the man is dominant and the woman is submissive. Others show woman of color more as animals and even less than the white woman that are already being objectified. This adds an element of racism, showing that women of color are worth even less.

Advertisements, are trying to show women that they should be used and are lesser than males, while showing males that women are objects for them to use sexually. This is creating a culture in which men are violent against woman and women have a poorer and poorer self image. Advertisements have a much more powerful effect than most people think. Something must be done to make more people aware of these effects and stop advertisers from taking advantage of our culture.