Analysis Of The Article ' Objectification Of Women 's Media '

Today's media is increasingly pornographic, and the notion that 'sex sells' has infiltrated the advertising of virtually all products and services. Both men and women are sexualized in contemporary media, but the extent to which women are sexualized is far greater that men are. Jean Kilbourne states in her talk, The Dangerous Ways Ads See Women, "There are stereotypes that harm men, of course, but they tend to be less personal, less related to the body." The stereotypes that drive the portrayal of women in the media lead to the repeated objectification, particularly sexual objectification,

A quite common misconception of advertising is that only women are sexually objectified to sell a product, when in most cases men are just as sexually glorified. Men are shown in an array of different types of ads such as ones for cologne, razors, alcohol, etcetera. Depending on the product being sold there is a very distinguishable type of man being shown. Classy men in suits, manly guys with large muscles and excessive facial hair, or men surrounded by varying amounts of beautiful women. These three general types of males are depicted this way because that is generally how most men strive to be.

The use of sexualization also reinforces a pattern of gender roles that are currently circulating throughout advertisements. More often than not, women who are used as ploys in ads are seen doing household chores like vacuuming, changing the toilet paper, or making coffee. Females are rarely ever seen in a work place, and definitely not in a powerful position. In fact, the directors of most of these ads place women below or behind the man to show who has the power in actuality. Women are seen as skinny, fragile, and immobile in high heels, while men are strong and powerful. By setting up such a strong binary between the two different groups, it is obvious that the majority of the American society will not be able to fit into these roles, and it leaves a sense of rejection for the average person. This rejection, accepted by the viewers, manifests

Gender role bias in advertisements has been so prevalent for so long that the untrained eye wouldn't even discern it. All the same, these biases, for the most part, put women in subordinate positions and men in dominant ones. This assumption on both the genders is unfair and demeaning. These ads portray women as subservient and play toys for men. Not only do the models depict an image nowhere near close to reality, but their bodies are scantily clad and what few clothes they are wearing are very revealing.

Sexist ads show that society is dominated by the same masculine values that have controlled the image of women in the media for years. Sexist advertisement reinforces gender stereotypes and roles, or uses sex appeal to sell products, which degrades the overall public perception of women. The idea that sexism is such a rampant problem comes from the stereotypes that are so deeply embedded into today’s society that they almost seem to be socially acceptable, although they are nowhere near politically correct. Images that objectify women seem to be almost a staple in media and advertising: attractive women are plastered all over ads. The images perpetuate an image of the modern woman, a gender stereotype that is reinforced time and time again by the media. These images are accepted as “okay” in advertising, to depict a particular product as sexy or attractive. And if the product is sexy, so shall be the consumer. In the 1970s, groups of women initially took issue with the objectification of women in advertisements and with the limited roles in which these ads showed women. If they weren’t pin-ups, they were delicate

In the documentary, “Killing Us Softly”, Kilbourne mentioned how in all kinds of advertisements, women’s bodies are turned into “objects and things”. Jean believes the objectification of women creates a form of atmosphere in which there is a widespread of impractical expectations and violence against women. There’s always one part of the body that seems to be focus of a women on an ad, breasts is the go to ‘object’ on the body, which is an attention grabber for the

In society, women are held to a very high social standard. The pressure to look as perfect as all the models in magazines have driven many girls to an impossible fixation. Not only is it seen as a social norm, but also people do not even realize the degrading images of women in our everyday surroundings. After watching “Killing Us Softly”, this ideal was brought to my attention more that almost every advertisement piece that involves women promotes sexualization, objectification, and reinforces the feminine gender roles in America.

Firstly, to explain the objectifications of women, within today’s society. Kilbourne’s article, “Two ways a women can get hurt,” expresses in many ways the different kinds of brutality men has towards women. For example, she says “Sex in advertising is pornographic because it dehumanizes and objectifies people, especially women…” (Kilbourne 271). The two words in the quote to amplify are “especially women.” Sure women get objectified in advertisement, although so do men. Men and women both have a side to the objectification of each one another. For every ad a man and his cologne attracting women, there is an ad for women perfume attracting men. Although evidently, it seems, men are going to pay attention to the ad with pornographic images of women, more than women having the attention of an ad with a pornographic photo of a man.

In the 1960’s women only advertised for things made for women, now women are using their bodies to help sell cologne for men. In the 1960’s women would be seen in ads such as Hoover ads and Kenwood chef ads because that was what women did in that time, they cooked and cleaned. These ads showed women to do nothing more. The Kenwood chef ad caption was “The chef does everything but cook- that’s what a wives are for.” This advertisement targets an audience of married men. In the Kenmore Chef ad, the husband is pictured in a suit and he was neatly groomed and his wife was dressed in a conservative outfit with beautiful manicured nails. She is affectionately hugging her husband and the two are both smiling. The image in the ad accurately reflects

To be sociologically mindful is to look for patterns in the society, observe all sides of the social life, ask questions, and seek answers. Being sociologically mindful can lead us to looking into matters that are complex and allow us the opportunity to understand the mechanism behind the division of our society. Race and gender seems to be the most obvious divide lines for this society. While race can sometimes be overlooked in society, discrimination based on gender is hardly absent, whether consciously or unconsciously, on the behaviors of society. In such a society that values masculinity, being born a male is like a rain check to so many privileges in life. In return, this social

(460). This is an advertisement for male using this cologne; the guy can attract tons of women. This ad lowers the value of women and set them as objects. The quote said that modern ads are usually “constructed in direct opposition to femininity”. The guy in the ad seemed to have taken control over these women, which also increases his masculinity.

According to Miya Yamanouchi, the author of Embrace Your Sexual Self, “Both men and women experience pressure to conform to social standards of attractiveness. Men to look strong and be tough, women to look pretty and soft.” Stereotypes affect every gender in the society because people have a prejudice on themselves and others. In “Men’s Men and Women’s Women,” written by Steve Craig, addresses the expectations that the society places on men and women. For instance, men must be masculine and wealthy and women must have a perfect body shape with beautiful facial features to be considered as attractive. Nowadays, the advertisements are taking advantage of such a social norm to lure consumers to purchase their goods. The advertisements for Gucci’s perfume and Calvin Klein’s cologne are especially good examples to demonstrate such pressure and reflect the consumers’ psychological behavior. The advertisements highlight gender stereotypes through utilizing the impression of opposite sex and incorporate an underlying sense of sexism through the designs of the backgrounds, the purpose of wearing fragrances and the reinforcements on Women’s Men and Men’s Men; these advertisements contribute to the consumers’ perception of their physical appearance by delivering a fraudulent image of perfection through their models.

Throughout Jean Kilbourne’s film, Killing Us Softly 4, she states that advertisement is frequently used to communicate with potential consumers and persuade them to buy certain products. While advertising’s main purpose is to sell products, modern advertising does more than just sell a company’s merchandise. Advertisers create the values, images, and concepts of love and sexuality that every member of society is pressured to meet; they tell consumers who they are and who they should be. Modern advertising tends to portray the two genders, male and female, in completely different ways. Men are described as powerful beings who are believed to be insensitive and brutal; they are posed and photographed in positions that create a perception of strength and dignity. On the contrary, women are viewed as the weaker sex and taught to believe that their outward appearance determines their value in society. In a Cosmopolitan magazine, a Miss Dior perfume advertisement uses a beautiful naked woman, with long, brown hair and brown eyes, barely covered by a blanket to sell their product. While the perfume being sold should be the focus of the ad, the woman occupies most of the image lying on a bed in a provocative position. She appears to be around twenty-two years old, which appeals to the belief that sexuality only belongs to the young and attractive. In today’s society, women are viewed as vulnerable, objects used to please men, and flawless.

Dickey, J. (2006) in “Out of Focus” says that advertisement portray women as sex object.

Everyday we expose ourselves to thousands of advertisements in a wide variety of environments where ever we go; yet, we fail to realize the influence of the implications being sold to us on these advertisements, particularly about women. Advertisements don’t just sell products; they sell this notion that women are less of humans and more of objects, particularly in the sexual sense. It is important to understand that the advertising worlds’ constant sexual objectification of women has led to a change in sexual pathology in our society, by creating a culture that strives to be the unobtainable image of beauty we see on the cover of magazines. Even more specifically it is important to study the multiple influences that advertisements have