Sexism Within Advertising : A New Era Of Social Justice

Advertising in the 1950’s, at first glance, can be described as sexist; however, with a deeper understanding of the assumed gender roles of the decade, it is discovered that advertising was pushing established boundaries, especially that of women’s portrayal in ads. Advertising in the 1950’s was drastically different compared to today’s advertising norms. Ads in the 1950’s, under today’s values, are mostly interpreted as purely sexist. However, a deeper understanding of the decade and society can reveal how ads were even boundary pushing. While these ads may not be successful in today’s society, a simple comparison to today’s advertising can show how society’s values have shifted to accommodate different gender roles.

The adverts are carefully crafted bundles of images, frequently designed to associate the product with feelings of pleasure stemming from fantasies and anxieties (Craig 1997). Advertising can also be defined as a paid for mass-media communication, and a means of managing and controlling the consumer markets at the least cost (Brierley 1995). It is clear that advertisers seem quite willing to manipulate these fantasies and exploit our gender identities to sell products.

Advertising has been engrained in our lives since birth. It is something that is everywhere, whether be on a wall, on TV, or on a billboard on a busy highway. You might not think you are aware of its effects, but it triggers something subconsciously. Advertisement has been sexualized in a way that appeals and affects people in an unconscious level, it may also influence one’s view of gender roles. In the film Killing US Softly, Jean Kilbourne discusses how advertising has changed the way not only women, but also how man view themselves. A woman must look beautiful, be sexy and thin, while a man must be attractive, muscular and powerful to achieve the “perfect look” and in doing so, both gain acceptance.

In 2016, the United States spent 190 billion U.S. dollars on advertisements, almost double the amount of money on advertising than the next largest ad market (Statista). These ads advertise a multitude of different products. The ads are exposed to society in many different ways, from the breaks in between songs on the radio, to the ads shown online. Ads are targeted to a specific group of people, usually, the target demographic the brand wants to buy their product. Brands will often use women’s bodies in a sexual way to get people to stop and look at their ads. Over the last few decades, speakers and activists have seen advertisements becoming more sexual and more demeaning towards women. Activist Jean Kilbourne has been analyzing ads and has been bringing awareness to this issue for years through her four documentaries. In her documentary, “Killing Us Softly 4,” Jean Kilbourne asserts women’s bodies are often dismembered, portrayed with an unattainable, “ideal” body type, and despite advances in the women’s movement, the objectification of women in ads have gotten worse. The two images below illustrate these ideas.

Women are suppressed and degraded in society. They are merely seen as pets for males or care-takers of the house and children. The advertisement on women’s equality is rhetorically effective due to its connection to the audience, emotional appeal, and how things are positioned in the ad, as well as the misogynistic comments and how society depicts women.

“The emotional, sexual and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, “It’s a girl.” Shirley Chisholm. Despite the statistics, being half the world’s population are in actual fact women. Nowadays in society woman are faced with many challenges, some being discrimination, margination and gender inequality. Though regardless of many attempts to eliminate these problems there are still many social media, advertisement and more indicating that woman are still extremely marginalised in today’s civilisation. Woman are still being marginalised in society through crude or sexist advertisements in the media; this needs to be readressed and changed. I will identify how woman are marginalised in current society through various advertisements where woman have been illustrated as sexual objects, sexist annotations and much more.

Gender codes in advertising have hugely impacted my own views and how I currently interact with friends, families, and even strangers that I see walking around on the streets. It is pointed out by Sut Jhally (2009) that the reason for this being, masculinity and femininity are strongly portrayed in advertisements as two completely opposite things. In most ads, men are shown as strong human beings with complete control of whatever problems may arise to them whereas women are shown the complete opposite. Their bodies are usually in positions that suggest that they’re being controlled by men and are completely dependant on them not being able to face troubles that may arise (Jhally, 2009). This expectation of what masculinity is, is shown all

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

On a daily basis, the average person in the United States is exposed to roughly 3,000 different advertisements that contribute to shaping our society’s ‘ideal’ image of each gender (Baker 13). These images and texts typically represent and reinforce a fabrication of gender roles, expectations, and stereotypes. Examining and understanding the different portrayals of men and women in the advertisement industry is vital because we becoming so highly influenced by these unrealistic, fantasy-type images.

Always is a feminine-hygiene product brand produced by Proctor & Gamble. Not only does Always sell feminine hygiene products, but they are also advocates of empowering women. Most brand advertisements have a sole purpose of promoting and selling their product or service. However, Always had a different agenda in mind when they released the Like a Girl commercial and #Likeagirl campaign. The commercial has attracted women all over the country for its promotion of the empowerment of women, as well as their line of feminine care products. I chose this topic because it targets women in a way no other company has before. The advertisement does not blatantly state what product the company is trying to sell, but rather appeals to the viewer’s emotions.

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.

Each day we are constantly being bombarded with hundreds of advertisements every way we turn. Advertising has become something that is impossible to escape even if we try. They are so common that one does not even stop for a moment to realize that they are looking at them. Unfortunately, the ads have evolved over time as more sexualized, objectifying, and sexist particularly toward women. The most disturbing aspect of it all is that nobody seems to really mind the display of such ads. People are less offended or concerned that the portrayal of women as sex objects in the media is becoming more and more typical. Because so many of us look to the media for answers on our appearance, clothing choices, and actions this becomes a terrifying thing

For my English assignment I was required to use an ad and describe it with words that the audience will be able to envision before clicking on my link to the ad. Ads such as the ones where she is laying by the shoe were extremely common in the vintage ads; which leads to me believe that woman have always faced sexism this is not only a current event but our history. The media especially social media have given sexist a new light with “memes”. In the text it mentions the men right to feel more sexual urges which I believe these “memes” instill this into our youth with these images you will learn how to keep your man happy or suggesting that females who have sex are sluts for being sexually active (Keirns et al., 2015, p.268). What I find extremely

Despite improvements in the rights of women in the contemporary world, modernity has created systems in which women are prevented from achieving equality. One of the most popular influences in today’s society is the media. Female objectification in media has damagingly grown with the emergence of modernity. Unquestionably, this is an important sociological issue to address. Often in the modern world, the ideology of feminism is considered unnecessary. However, in spite of technological development, female objectification remains normalized in today’s culture. It is incorporated into our society so significantly, that we do not even notice the objectification that permeates the media (Cortese, 2008). Female objectification in advertising is

Television ads primarily focus on trying to promote an event or sell an item. It was found that the commercial ads within an hour span from 2009 to 2013 has slightly increased from “13 minutes and 25 seconds” to “14 minutes and 15 seconds” (Flint 2014). Meaning that in just one hour we view on average just 29 television commercials. Despite them being small 30-second commercials, they still can make a big impact on individual’s unconscious mind. Today in most advertisements, we see food, beer, or beauty supplies. A strong portion of these commercial advertisements either use women to sell their products or are directed towards women. These ads tend to scrutinize women sexually by objectifying their bodies, persuading them to subject to a beauty standard, and by reinforcing their oppressive gender roles.