Preview

Women In Advertising

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3497 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Women In Advertising
Karoline Silva
Final paper
Gender and Communication

How Women are perceived in Advertisements
It is safe to say that through out history advertising has been a major factor to large corporations around the world. In order to sell their products while maintaining a successful business, these large corporations have become extremely smart on how to get the viewers attention. Women and men are both used in advertisements, but as the world changes and the media continues to grow even larger, it seems women are a bigger target of objectification and portrayed as sex objects in these ads.
Throughout this paper I will discuss how women are perceived in advertisements. How their roles in ads connect to the dominance of men in the media, as well
…show more content…
In their study they conducted research and studies on the attitudes of young women in today’s society and how they feel about the ads that portray women as sexual objects.
The conclusion was “ today’s college females were raised in a very sexualized world. Sexual content dominates the media, and new feminists see female sexuality as power. It would only naturally follow that advertisements portray women as sex objects. These portrayals apparently do not offend young, educated women because of this culture”(Zimmerman & Dalhberg 77). Because of the cultural norms today, women are more acceptant to these ads and take advantage of their sexual powers.
Young women have accepted these objectifications and find no problem with it whatsoever. The media has brainwashed society so much that it is becoming less and less important to touch on this important matter of why women are targeted so much by ads and the media and why is it so hard for them to be seen as equals with men. As the previous quote stated the more society views an idea the more accepted it
…show more content…
Women athletes are not respected or broadcasted as much as male athletes and continue to struggle with equal pay as well. Is the media ran this way because male sports holds a higher audience and ratings or simply because they believe women are not to be considered as equals? I believe women are misrepresented due to their lack of power in the media industry. Males want power, they will always want the dominant role over women and I think as long as men rule these industries women will never have a fair shot to be viewed equally if not higher then men in society. The cultural norms today blind society in recognizing these issues. This “ideal” woman has been engraved in the American pop culture and has now become a cultural norm. It is hard to believe a topic like this is hardly identified by society. We live in a world where everything is absorbed over social media. With social outlets like Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter we as consumers should make this issue well known. I have always identified how men are dominant over women, but it wasn’t until this class that I really began to pay attention to ads and commercials. It is incredible how much negative there is over gender

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the article “Tow Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt” by Jean Kilbourne, which was published in 1999, describes how women are shown in today advertisements. Sex in advertising has taken a completely bizarre way to advertise about a certain product. Women are usually shown in inappropriate matter to attract consumer’s attention. Most of the advertisements today are based on pornography features. In addition, the use of sex content in advertisements has a negative impact on consumers because it shows women as a cheap tool in business. Those kinds of advertisements indicate that men are always the rulers and women are their easy target. Sexuality plays an important role in marketing and advertising today. Big companies earn…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    During one’s life, they are going to see a sexist advertisement. These ads are everywhere you look nowadays. Back in the day, these ads were more prevalent in society and caused everyone to have a certain stance on gender roles in our society. People’s thought on this matter came from the roles of women and men from a long time ago. Karlene Ferrante, head of the Department of Journalism at The University of Texas at Austin states, “This assumption, that advertising speaks in a male voice to female consumers reflects a basic patriarchal organizing principle of the sexual division of labor” (Ferrante 8).…

    • 1277 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Kilbourne’s article she explains that advertising is damaging to the public and most often hurts women by persuading them to submit to a man’s sexual and non-emotional needs. The author also contends that the poses, the facial expressions, and the body language in these ads are being taken out of the pornography industry. Advertisement examples such as ties, watches and perfumes are used to establish that men are illustrated as being superior to women, leaving the woman to be degraded and submissive. Through more examples of both women and men in ads, Kilbourne’s states that women don’t exactly mean no when they say no and that men are strengthened not to take no for and answer. The conclusion that such media provokes the increasing of rape, sexual harassment, and battery of women is also what the author narrates.…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many people hold the belief that advertising does not affect them, stating that they are the exception to its influence. However, Jean Kilbourne challenges this assumption in her shocking 1999 documentary called Killing Us Softly 3: Advertising’s Image of Women. (Ridnor, 2010).…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Best Essays

    Zimmerman, Amanda, and John Dahlberg. "The Sexual Objectification of Women in Advertising: A Contemporary Cuitural Perspective." Journal of Advertising Resaearch (2008): 71-79. Print.…

    • 258 Words
    • 1 Page
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Men on Display

    • 1288 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Throughout society, the portrayal of men and women has always differed. Women have been illustrated as sexual, gentle creatures while men have been illustrated as the strong, authoritative figures in our culture. However, these stereotypical portrayals have changed drastically over the years. In past culture, women have always been the center of advertisements, while men have stayed in the shadows. In present day culture, men are starting to play a larger role in advertisements. However, many ads showcasing men have proved to be controversial. Susan Bordo, the author of The Male Body: A New Look at Men in Public and Private (1999) discusses the different ways men have been used in campaigns throughout our history.…

    • 1288 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender In Advertising

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Advertisements are yet another prominent and integral part of television viewing. Due to its power and charisma, advertising is the best-known and most widely discussed form of promotion. Advertising not only informs but persuades and motivates the consumer about the advertised products, service or ideas. Advertising plays an important role in persuading the public to change their attitudes towards a product, service or idea. The constant flow of advertising images of gender, types of persons, social classes, and other groups influence our social learning process. A quick glance through TV gives a strong indication of how society views women. It is observed that many advertisements portray women in stereotypical roles that limit their capabilities.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Advertisements help feed into the stereotypical image of women functioning as housewives and caretakers. One might ask: is advertising simply mirroring societies view on the roles of females, or are they part of the reason why America still labels women as domesticated? Printed advertisements portray women inferior to men by the use of their context, imagery, and content. Companies use the conventional view of women in marketing strategies in order to sell their products.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Negative Body Image

    • 2040 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The average woman today sees 400 to 600 advertisements per day causing a negative impact on how females view their bodies. Advertisers often emphasize sexuality and the importance of physical attractiveness in an attempt to sell products. But beneath selling a product is the pressure being placed upon women to focus on their appearance rather than buying a product. Advertisements may adversely impact women's body image which can lead to unhealthy behavior as women strive for an ultra-thin body idealized by the media. In a recent poll by People magazine, "80% of women reported that the images of women in advertisements make them feel insecure about their looks."(Gunter)The Negative portrayals…

    • 2040 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ads, of course, are used to sell certain products. But they also send messages about the proper way to behave. If gender roles in ads are believable and realistic to an individual, then the person’s ideas about the correct way of “doing gender” (West and Zimmerman, 1987) for themselves and other genders may be changed.…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Media plays an integral part in today's society by giving entertainment to large audiences. They are composed of press, television, magazine, internet and the radio. TV has the most significant impact. Media produces a specific type of message, which can shape people's opinions.…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This essay will provide an analysis of a magazine advertisement taken from Cosmopolitan Magazine, a popular magazine for both women and girls. It will demonstrate how the advertising industry at large demeans and degrades women by selling them not only a tangible good, but also a way of life that is unachievable and humiliating for women everywhere.…

    • 814 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    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 (Webster). It is clear that advertisers seem quite willing to manipulate these fantasies and exploit our gender identities to sell products.…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Women in Advertisements

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In modern societies, women and men have equal rights to law in most areas such as education and employment. Howewer, there is an unuequality as gender between male and female. Because social gender is related with power and patriarchy, a dominance of man over woman, has to do power relations. Therefore, holder of power is men and women are regarded as opressed and sex object. A social unequality between men and women is being used women and female figures in advertisements mostly. There are severeal reasons why woman or female figures are used in advertisements The fist reason to this is visuality. Visuality is important because it is the most effective way to appeal to the senses in advertisements and for this, women are used mostly. These advertisements involve beaty of women, sexuality, their body and they show that women are sex object. In addition, having a beautiful and well groomed body is important for women in advertisements. Advertisements give messages that women improve themselves and they look beautiful and thin. Therefore, all woman want to live same life, to wear and eat same things. For example, in Doritos advertisement, Megan Fox is used and it shows that if woman is beautiful and sexy, she deserve to draw applause. Therefore, these advertisements reinforce the idea that womens are sex object. The second reason that women give informations about gender roles in advertisements. In these advertisements, women are regarded as housewife and role of women is to serve children and husband, to cook and clean. Therefore, these advertisements reinforce social gender role. In addition they have functionalist perspective because women concentrate on domestic and family responsibilities while men work outside the home. For example, ACE is a bleach advertisement and it shows that womens are a symbol of cleaning and housework. Also, in İstikbal advertisement, although woman coming from work is tired , she serves to her husband.…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    While examining today 's economic system, two processes which always go together can be noticed: marketing and advertisement. Advertising and marketing are too old talk about their definite starting points, but their turning points, what really matters to understand its position in today’s world, can be detected (Presbrey, 1929). The industrial revolution altered this marketing system completely, and after the invention of the television, intense promotions kept this system alive. But keeping it alive wasn 't the only issue, also its hunger needed to be fed. So, advertisers sought different ways to maintain the vast profit, by addressing (or by looking like they were addressing) a certain group of people 's needs. In order to achieve all these, one of the capitalist system’s actions was to portray women as sexy, thin and flawless, using various techniques to keep the income in huge amounts, while creating certain problems.…

    • 937 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays