Hunger as Ideology

In the documentary Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women by Jean Kilbourne, she talks about how women are depicted in advertisement. The average American will spend 2 years of their life just watching advertisement, and most of these people will make the claim that the ads were not effective to them. Jean Kilbourne stresses that the advertisement companies make their ads quick and cumulative so that they almost seem forgettable. However, the advertisements will still resonate in your mind unconsciously. Kilbourne argues that the objectification of women in the advertisement industry: negatively affects the mental health of women with the societal need to be perfect, encourages the eroticism of violence, and tells women they need

Since the emergence of advertising in American culture one thing that has remained constant is the visible truth that men and women are portrayed differently. In consideration to the evolution of man kind gender roles have evolved immensely throughout time, although advertisements have not kept up with this process of evolution. Companies to this day use their tactics and skills to reach out to specific genders such as pretty fonts with a stylish message, while advertisements towards men portray the character as strong and intimidating. The typical viewer can easily spot the difference in the portrayal of genders. Men are portrayed this way because the viewers look up to these characters, they want to be

Female Stereotypes In The Media In the media the most common female stereotypes, are the housewife and the blonde bimbo. The Housewife.

Women should not be exposed on an ad about becoming a vegetarian due to the suggested violence. The suggested violence in advertisements could be the reason why women everyday are being degraded just because of their gender. There is no excuse to having a woman naked to get across a point. This organization demeans women by taking her, making her naked, and showing off the parts of her body to get a completely off topic view across. Advertisers have come to the point where they will do anything and say anything to sell a product or an idea. Kilbourne explains that “there is no doubt that flagrant sexism and sex role stereotyping abound in all forms of the media” (283). Kilbourne elucidates that women play roles as a piece of meat on television. Women are not portrayed as strong people in most advertisements and because of that, there becomes a normalcy to women not being strong people, which in the long run creates stereotypes.

There are many different products developed that are designed to help people alter their bodies in some way. Some of these products are tanning lotions/sprays, body sprays/lotions of odor, shavers, nail cutters, trimmers, acme medicine, wrinkle lotions, different types of make-up, hair dyes, hair straighteners and curlers, anti-aging creams, and many other different things. The advertisements for these different products preach all different kinds of messages to men and women alike. Women’s products and commercials typically promise men will want them, they will look 10 years younger, they will lose as much weight as they want without really doing anything, and that they will look like the models they use in the commercials. Some of the gender messages that are being sent by these advertisements

“Hunger”, by Lan Samantha Chang, is a cautionary tale of an immigrant Chinese family in this complex story about unrelenting hunger, oppression, love and loss. Narrated by Min; the deeply unhappy and obedient wife of Tian, a gifted violinist, finds work as a music teacher in New York, but ultimately fails to land a permanent job at the school. Driven by personal failure and his unrelenting hunger for the violin Tian cruelly forces his two daughters, Anna and Ruth to play the violin, so they can follow in his footsteps. Tian’s inability to separate himself from his violin ends up destroying his family. Chang uses Tian’s obsessive hunger for the violin as a symbol of his identity, showing us that we must be careful

Many Americans are immune to the exploitation of woman in the media due to the fact that it happens quite frequently. Showing a half-naked woman eating a juicy sandwich should not be the attention getter to encourage viewers to buy their food or product. While examining these ads, it is realized that advertisements today are selling

Susan Bordo’s Hunger as Ideology argues that the seemingly progressive improvement of destabilizing images in advertisements in order to break the stereotypical mold is not as “progressive” as one might think; These images do not challenge the old patterns that dominate the advertisement world but break the barriers of the ideologies that have been classical “sold” to our society. It is agreeable that these “destabilizing” images allow their viewers to challenge the normality usually depicted, however there are categories in which these images do not show progress, but make way for an opposite effect, leaving a negative taste in the mouth of the consumer because of the intent of use of images in the uncommon advertisements.

In the ad above, the target audience is people eligible to consume alcohol, over 21, and workout or on diets. The people in the ad are exercising implying they care about their health and figure and the ad is trying to inform the target audience their product, Michelob Ultra beer, is in a sense "healthy". The model on the left side of the ad is not showing her face only her body with the beer inserted next to her. Her body is one of main focal points (aside from the bottle of beer) because she is in shape and has abs', she is supporting the idea that drinking this beer will allow the viewers to also maintain their figure.

We've all seen and read many advertisements and we usually find them appealing and very persuasive. However the question is, what are they really advertising? Women are usually used for many different advertisements, not only are they used for women's clothing but also for other materials and objects. These are the ads that we look at each and every day. In, “Killing Us Softly” by Jean Kilbourne, she introduces her problem with how women are being used to advertise products. She shows us ads that she has seen where women are being used to advertise a company’s product. While our women are being used, dehumanized, and sexualized in our society, we’re going on with our life like it’s normal.

Gender inequality, “natural” gender roles, body image, and false romanticizations of food are enforced and portrayed through society’s commercials and advertisements. There are underlying and subliminal messages in many advertisements that create a hyperreal reality that influences people’s views and understanding of gender roles. In “Hunger As Ideology,” Susan Bordo discusses which advertisements portray a false reality and how it effects woman and men in society.

“There is no doubt that advertisements are everywhere, in fact the average woman sees about 400 to 600 advertisements per day” (HealthyPlace.com). The stereotypical woman in today’s society is at home and taking care of the children, looking young and appealing to the man’s eye, and is seen as a movie star. The stereotypical women in advertisements today have sex appeal and are centered upon the notion that women must maintain a social standard to be accepted by society. The sex appeal does not promote a lifestyle that is in the best interest of all women. However, these ideals

Although it is not expected that women be marketed to in the exact fashion that men are, it is understandable that a woman would like to be treated as more of an equal. When asked about her opinion on marketing to different genders, Shelley Rider stated, “although a talented professional should be capable of successfully marketing to both sexes, it is vital to a company that both sexes are represented in a board room where decisions are made. From my experience in marketing athletic apparel for Champion, I have found that the most successful and effective marketing strategies come from groups with both men and women present.”

According to Margaret Atwood in The Female Body, a woman’s body is used in today’s culture “to sell and advertise products”. These products vary from “door knockers, bottle openers, clocks with ticking bellies, lampshades, and nutcrackers”. By having stores sell these items they are completely promoting the objectification of women to help sell their goods and services which is down right direful. How are women expected to ever be treated equal if business’ continue to sell discriminatory product, lessening the view of the female anatomy. Materialistic items are not the only way a female’s body is exploited in today’s culture. Aside from bottle openers and clocks, women are universally seen as a “renewable” sex symbol The Female Body (pg. 1013 para. 6) especially in magazines.

Different strategies are used in all advertisements. Every aspect of the advertisement is strategically planned to appeal to the audience. For example, an advertisement that does a great job of using sex appeal to reach its audience is “Carl’s Jr all natural burger”. This ad appeared during the super bowl forty-nine, and it was a big hit. The ad features ,22-year-old model buxom, Charlotte McKinney. Throughout the video it shows her walking through the town and appearing as if she is nude. She gets all the attention from the guys in the town as she saunters past. in one scene there’s a man reaching for a tomato as she walks by, she turns around and gives him a flirty look and it emerges as if he is grasping her gluteus. At the end she appears in a bikini nearly nude “I love going all natural,” she purrs, opening wide to take a bite out of a big, juicy, “all natural” hamburger. Advertising appeals aim to influence the way consumers view themselves and how buying certain products can prove to be beneficial for them.