Stereotypes

Stereotypical views in advertising have always been an issue, women are confined to certain gender roles, ways in which they can act, look, and be perceived. But these same stereotypes are doing some serious damage to society. Ads depict women with perfect figures and youthful features while the reality is the majority of women don’t look that way, and so this creates a sort of ideal body image.
This ad is for the Beckham’s fragrance intimately BECKHAM NIGHT. David Beckham known around the world for his footballing ability and most noticeably his appearance and sex appeal, being married to Victoria Beckham makes him that more famous and major influence to males of all ages. In the source of media he would be considered to be a jock on a sports field but a Strong Silent type of person off of the football pitch, be normally quit around the press yet winning women’s hearts. This perfume was produced for both genders. Starting with the male model of this ad. We can see that he (David Beckham) looks strong and empowered as she is in a position of sexual submission, in which he has his arm around her neck. Hyper-masculinity is evident in this advertisement as the male counterpart of this ad is seen grabbing his opposite sex’s arm while is hand in tangled around her neck, kissing her check. This demonstrates that men are more superior to women and may be able to dominate them. The main attraction of this ad is the woman and the way that she has given into the man, one main interest of the product is that if a male were to buy it he would be able to attract women easier. The idea that if a male wears this perfume and attract girls creates a desire to own this product
Moving on to the way that the women is positioned with her back towards the male . It may appear as though she is receiving some pleasure from being intertwined with her man but still this ad sells a woman’s sexuality short. She is in a position of sexual submission with her hand around the males neck, her head turned side ways, eyes closed and mouth slightly open as though she is gasping for air. This makes it seem as though wearing this perfume will give women a males approval, which is what women would want after all.
The perfume bottles are placed on the bottom of the ad, the men’s version in black showing more boldness, authority and power; which is how men are stereotypically seen in society whilst; the women’s version is in purple, which symbolizes sophistication, feminism and romantic, all of which stereotypically portray women.
Women are seen as sexualized Barbie dolls, which in turn causes dissatisfaction in the average woman with her body. this is why ads that depict a woman as a sex symbol sell manly because she believes the product will enhance her appearance. The depiction of a woman has also led to issues with eating disorders in order to look like these models and icons used in advertisement. Women feel depressed and have lowered self-esteem as a result of advertisements. By portraying a woman as simply a sex symbol she is devalued because she is now degraded to simply an object rather then an individual.