Objectification Of Women

M-rated video games, which are not recommended for children younger than 17-years-old, are frequently advertised in movie theaters, video game magazines, and publications with high youth readership. Young people see 45% more beer ads and 27% more ads for hard liquor in teen magazines than adults to in their magazines. An increasing number of web sites try to get teens to make direct sales. More than 100 commercial websites promote alcohol products. Most advertisers use techniques that children and teens are more vulnerable to, like product placement in movies and TV shows, action figures, kid’s clubs, and celebrity endorsements. Sex is used in commercials to sell almost anything now. American ads constantly use thin female models, which contribute to the development of self-esteem issues in young girls.

Upon a quick glance, the advertisement published in 2015 by Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa appears to be abundant in color, joyful and fairytale-like; at least when I first saw it a year ago. However, after reading about the different variations of objectification in advertisements I no longer see the ad as an innocent take on fairytales. Advertisements are meant to be geared to a public, or a specific public, in order to sell a product. Still, some ads showcase women as the product or at least a way to get people to purchase the product. Although any gender, culture, religion, or group can be victims of objectification in advertisements, women are mainly targeted.

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.

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.

Since the 1960s and the rebirth of the women’s movement, there have been rages against the way women are treated in advertising. Every day viewers will find themselves showered by explicit advertisements, images, slogans, songs, ads, etc., all that which have a major underlying issue within mass media: the objectification of women. Women were suggestively portrayed for the sale of all different types of products and services, from print in magazines to commercials on television. There is an extremely strong focus on women being a sexual object rather than what she is, a female human being.

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

There’s a common saying that “sex sells”, which turns out to be true according to pop culture. However, it’s not just a sexual appeal that is shown, it’s also a fantasy of sexual abuse. “Sex in advertising is the use of sexually provocative or erotic imagery that is designed to arouse a certain group of people” (Suggett). Advertisers are manipulating the human desires to make their products sell. It’s products that sell, are products that can capture anyone’s attention. One of the most helpful approaches is sex of course, which can capture anyone’s attention. The downside of using sexual imagery in advertisements is that it is generally going to come across sexism. In American popular culture, advertisers continue to grab our attention to their brand through sexual abuse; making it seem like a normality in our society.

Because the main audience for this ad is women who are younger that ad appeals to them by presenting the models in a way that symbolizes sexual power and confidence they would like to obtain. The models are equally attractive and are the same age as the anticipated audience. The ad vividly depicts a woman dressed provocatively wearing a bikini top with a short skirt proving that she is confident in her sexuality. The woman is not wearing the product she is wearing a high heel boot which is thought to be sexier as well more expensive than a tennis shoe which the male is wearing; therefore, the woman may be shown to have more power finically. By creating the thought of sexual and financial confidence women are drawn further into the ad and what it is offering. The woman is on top of the man clearly showing him who is in charge. The image of the woman on top of the man symbolizes power she is literally above him and dominating him in everyway. By creating the symbol of sexual power through the use of vivid presentation the specific female audience is persuaded that if she buys a pair of sketchers she can become confident in her sexuality as well as more sexually dominating. Symbols also play a large role in creating this feeling.

These advertisements imply that women are sexual creatures for men. These advertisements represent many stereotypes of the past such as a woman should be controlled by a man. Advertisements like these can set society back rather than help us move forward. In figure two the model is the closest object to the imagines center. This draws direct attention to her. In addition, she has red cursive writing across her skirt. Red is often used to capture the audience’s attention. In this case, it draws attention to her buttocks. Both advertisements have text in the bottom right corner. This text has a smaller font than the text on the models skirt in figure two. The text states, “Keep on dreaming of a better world.” It indicates that a woman is available to anyone in a better world.

It’s no secret that the advertisement in recent years are just disturbing images of objectified children and young people which have vastly increased in popular culture worlds, particularly in popular ads. It has been a trend over the past 2 decades towards the increase use of sexualised images of children and early adolescents in all forms of media, the internet and advertising.

One of the most alarming impacts that advertisers may not realize or just choose to look past is that these advertisements that demean women especially the ones that over sexualize women have a harsh impact on young and budding minds. Shockingly these impressionable minds find it alright to conduct themselves indecently around women believing that if such big brands portray women in such a light then it must be justified.

The extent to which women were presented as sex objects was calculated using a coding system. Every woman in each of the randomly selected 30 magazines was interpreted using a system that was similar to the method that Blaha used. Some of the categories that were coded were the percentage of face shown, gaze, product, expression, body pose, body part focus, degree of clothing, type of clothing, and whether or not the ad was seen as respectful

I believe that this advertisement is directed to men because the text in the image says that she was the fantasy of many men. That is why to seek to exploit

What are the effects of the constant images we see in the media, of retouched models and unrealistic portrayals of women, on woman’s own body image?

Advertisements in today's society have become increasingly bold, daring and shocking, but that is one thing that has always stayed the same. The goal of an ad is to catch your eye using whatever marketing strategy worked at the time, now every ad is laced with sex appeal and porn-like images of men and women, a great majority of the time it is women being put in these greatly sexual ads, they are placed in contorted poses, with little to no clothes, displaying a product, in certain ads men are also placed with the women but all too often they are in power positions. These ads are printed, posted, and shared all over the place, buses, buildings, malls, the internet, etc., but Due to how women are portrayed in mass media advertisements, over-sexualization has become widely accepted and normalized, this has created harmful standards/stereotypes for women, teens, and young girls.