Women in Advertisements
Women in Advertisements - Featuring a female model in advertisements initially started with advertisements on products like alcohol and adult entertainment. The trend then spread like a wildfire in the market and is still being widely used although being exaggerated. It has become a compulsion now to have a beautiful model in all kinds of advertisement, which sometimes seems unnecessary. They seem to sell anything from shaving gel to cars.
Many women right activists say that the women are being projected as merely an object by such advertisements. But the harsh truth is that advertisements featuring women is influencing viewers of all ages and advertisers have realized this. The advertisement starts with an attractive woman posing in seductive ways followed by the product or the service offered by the company. The beauty of the model already lures the customer, so advertisers do not have to put in more effort to motivate them.
Many women right activists say that the women are being projected as merely an object by such advertisements. But the harsh truth is that advertisements featuring women is influencing viewers of all ages and advertisers have realized this. The advertisement starts with an attractive woman posing in seductive ways followed by the product or the service offered by the company. The beauty of the model already lures the customer, so advertisers do not have to put in more effort to motivate them.
Women in Advertisements
But there are certain drawbacks in using women models in some advertisements and if a consumer is smart enough, it won't take time for him to realize that. It is totally irrelevant to feature a female model or an actress in advertisement promoting men products. Some good examples of this point are showing a woman in axe deodorant commercial and comparison of a partially nude woman's body to the body of a car. Second drawback is due to more concentration on the model, the attention deserved by the product is not sufficient. The main focus of the advertisement is lost.
Surprisingly only few male models advertises for male oriented products. Even a picture of a woman on an Internet commercial seems not logical to some extent, as there are thirty percent of female internet users and seventy percent of male internet users, worldwide. To add to it, advertisers cannot explain why beautiful bodies bring success to advertisement.
Advertisements are convincing and motivating tool, which can leave a deep impact on the minds of the viewers and plays a major role in molding the culture and attitude of the people. Expansive and extensive portraying of women in this manner merely reduces their image to an object of passion. Emphasis is laid only on the physical beauty of the woman like features, body curves. After the commercial has been shot, using graphical technology, any kind of imperfection of the body is altered which in a way sends out the signal that only perfect people are meant to use the product.
The companies have a moral responsibility also in the society. These commercials have a negative impact on the society and leads to problems faced for the common woman. The major ill effect is the pressure on woman to get those near-perfect bodies. They get so pressurized that they take the unhealthy way to reach the set goals. They develop eating disorders; their health gets affected which may sometimes result in irreparable damages. And those who never make it to that point, face humiliation and get taunted by everyone around them. This results in depression and other long-term psychological diseases.
According to researches and surveys conducted, most of the women vow that commercials lower their self-confidence and they visualize themselves as unattractive due to the image being portrayed of the perfect woman in ads. In America, seventy-five percent of healthy females think that they are over-weight. Half of the women populations are on some kind of diet program and nearly ten million women suffer from serious eating disorders. The weight of a fashion model is twenty three percent less than an average weighed ordinary woman.
Advertisements haven't spared women being beaten up. In a particular after shave lotion commercial, the background voice says that its essential to learn martial arts because once a man applies the company's product, women around will be attracted and will pounce on him. Towards the end of the commercial, they show a male model kicking several women model that seem to have attracted to him. This is degradation of respect of women to the lowest level.
After all this exposure, women viewers identify themselves as the weaker sex. Some think that males decide their self-worth. Over exposure of women as sex objects have triggered cases of physical assault and rapes. Majority of the women are taking the wrong way to get those stick figures, which are results in diseases, sometimes leading to death. And most of this is attributed to the advertisements that pour into the lives of innocent people everyday. Marketing ethics should be built to raise the status of woman in the society and give them the due respect but not degrade them.
Surprisingly only few male models advertises for male oriented products. Even a picture of a woman on an Internet commercial seems not logical to some extent, as there are thirty percent of female internet users and seventy percent of male internet users, worldwide. To add to it, advertisers cannot explain why beautiful bodies bring success to advertisement.
Advertisements are convincing and motivating tool, which can leave a deep impact on the minds of the viewers and plays a major role in molding the culture and attitude of the people. Expansive and extensive portraying of women in this manner merely reduces their image to an object of passion. Emphasis is laid only on the physical beauty of the woman like features, body curves. After the commercial has been shot, using graphical technology, any kind of imperfection of the body is altered which in a way sends out the signal that only perfect people are meant to use the product.
The companies have a moral responsibility also in the society. These commercials have a negative impact on the society and leads to problems faced for the common woman. The major ill effect is the pressure on woman to get those near-perfect bodies. They get so pressurized that they take the unhealthy way to reach the set goals. They develop eating disorders; their health gets affected which may sometimes result in irreparable damages. And those who never make it to that point, face humiliation and get taunted by everyone around them. This results in depression and other long-term psychological diseases.
According to researches and surveys conducted, most of the women vow that commercials lower their self-confidence and they visualize themselves as unattractive due to the image being portrayed of the perfect woman in ads. In America, seventy-five percent of healthy females think that they are over-weight. Half of the women populations are on some kind of diet program and nearly ten million women suffer from serious eating disorders. The weight of a fashion model is twenty three percent less than an average weighed ordinary woman.
Advertisements haven't spared women being beaten up. In a particular after shave lotion commercial, the background voice says that its essential to learn martial arts because once a man applies the company's product, women around will be attracted and will pounce on him. Towards the end of the commercial, they show a male model kicking several women model that seem to have attracted to him. This is degradation of respect of women to the lowest level.
After all this exposure, women viewers identify themselves as the weaker sex. Some think that males decide their self-worth. Over exposure of women as sex objects have triggered cases of physical assault and rapes. Majority of the women are taking the wrong way to get those stick figures, which are results in diseases, sometimes leading to death. And most of this is attributed to the advertisements that pour into the lives of innocent people everyday. Marketing ethics should be built to raise the status of woman in the society and give them the due respect but not degrade them.
The Objectification of Women in Advertising
Since the introduction of advertising many centuries ago, women have been objectified, and in some instances, insulted or degraded. Despite the efforts of many people, it's apparent that society is still seeing the same patterns of objectification and the mindless use of sexualized women in advertising campaigns.
In many respects, the problem has escalated. With the proliferation of photo retouching software, women's bodies are not just flawless, they are anatomically impossible. This is harmful on many levels.
Advertising False Ideals
Advertising, marketing, and the fashion industry have created a new type of woman that does not exist in the real world. The "Barbie Doll" look they're selling has some recognizable features:
She has no wrinkles, blemishes, or scars.
She has long, smooth, and shapely legs.
Her waist is quite small.
Her ample breasts and buttocks defy gravity.
Her radiant hair looks like CGI.
Her eyes are dazzling and bright.
Her teeth are shining white and perfectly straight.
Exploiting Learned Desires
At an early age, men are programmed to desire the Barbie Doll woman. This is the woman featured in ads for perfumes and lingerie. She is the centerfold in "Playboy." Women, from the same early age, are told they must look like this woman. They should aim to have long legs, perfect skin, beautiful hair, and an impossible body.
The problem is: That woman does not exist. She is the product of hours in the makeup chair and days of photo retouching, even if she's a supermodel. Every woman has imperfections because every woman is human.
A primary goal of advertising is to create a need so that a company can provide a product or service to meet that need. For example, men may drink certain brands of beer because they associate them with advertising's objectified women.
On the other hand, women might buy certain clothes, foods, and makeup products in an attempt to resemble the beer-drinking girl on TV.
Real-World Results
Men are taught (programmed) to view women as objects. It may have led in part to the way men view women as objects at work.
The extent of this became a public focus in late 2017 with the birth of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, which sought to expose the culture of sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood, and by extension, in the culture.
Early Feminists' Take
When "Our Bodies, Ourselves" was published in 1970, it urged women to love and honor their bodies. Betty Friedan, who passed away in 2006, and Gloria Steinem—alive and active at 84 as of January 2019—were founders of the feminist movement.
Both had envisioned and worked toward an egalitarian and enlightened world by the 21st century. That has not happened yet. However, if today's feminist leaders are successful in achieving their goals, advertising will not objectify women moving forward.
Changes in Advertising
Several brands, including Dove and Aerie, have moved away from the images of perfection of the past. They claim to be "Photoshop-free" and celebrate real, diverse women.
Beer brands are moving away from semi-naked models. The craft beer movement is on the rise, and they don't need Playboy bunnies to help them sell inventory—although, sadly, the majority of men will still be attracted to cliched sexy images.
If you work at an agency, you can try to steer clients away from Photoshopped images of Barbie Doll women. Veer away from the skinny size 2 models, and champion the use of normal-sized women as models for the products you sell
Since the introduction of advertising many centuries ago, women have been objectified, and in some instances, insulted or degraded. Despite the efforts of many people, it's apparent that society is still seeing the same patterns of objectification and the mindless use of sexualized women in advertising campaigns.
In many respects, the problem has escalated. With the proliferation of photo retouching software, women's bodies are not just flawless, they are anatomically impossible. This is harmful on many levels.
Advertising False Ideals
Advertising, marketing, and the fashion industry have created a new type of woman that does not exist in the real world. The "Barbie Doll" look they're selling has some recognizable features:
She has no wrinkles, blemishes, or scars.
She has long, smooth, and shapely legs.
Her waist is quite small.
Her ample breasts and buttocks defy gravity.
Her radiant hair looks like CGI.
Her eyes are dazzling and bright.
Her teeth are shining white and perfectly straight.
Exploiting Learned Desires
At an early age, men are programmed to desire the Barbie Doll woman. This is the woman featured in ads for perfumes and lingerie. She is the centerfold in "Playboy." Women, from the same early age, are told they must look like this woman. They should aim to have long legs, perfect skin, beautiful hair, and an impossible body.
The problem is: That woman does not exist. She is the product of hours in the makeup chair and days of photo retouching, even if she's a supermodel. Every woman has imperfections because every woman is human.
A primary goal of advertising is to create a need so that a company can provide a product or service to meet that need. For example, men may drink certain brands of beer because they associate them with advertising's objectified women.
On the other hand, women might buy certain clothes, foods, and makeup products in an attempt to resemble the beer-drinking girl on TV.
Real-World Results
Men are taught (programmed) to view women as objects. It may have led in part to the way men view women as objects at work.
The extent of this became a public focus in late 2017 with the birth of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements, which sought to expose the culture of sexual harassment and abuse in Hollywood, and by extension, in the culture.
Early Feminists' Take
When "Our Bodies, Ourselves" was published in 1970, it urged women to love and honor their bodies. Betty Friedan, who passed away in 2006, and Gloria Steinem—alive and active at 84 as of January 2019—were founders of the feminist movement.
Both had envisioned and worked toward an egalitarian and enlightened world by the 21st century. That has not happened yet. However, if today's feminist leaders are successful in achieving their goals, advertising will not objectify women moving forward.
Changes in Advertising
Several brands, including Dove and Aerie, have moved away from the images of perfection of the past. They claim to be "Photoshop-free" and celebrate real, diverse women.
Beer brands are moving away from semi-naked models. The craft beer movement is on the rise, and they don't need Playboy bunnies to help them sell inventory—although, sadly, the majority of men will still be attracted to cliched sexy images.
If you work at an agency, you can try to steer clients away from Photoshopped images of Barbie Doll women. Veer away from the skinny size 2 models, and champion the use of normal-sized women as models for the products you sell
Women's role in Advertisements
The roles of females have greatly domesticated in popular culture, especially in advertisements. Many advertisements contain women in roles such as cooks, maids, babysitters, as well as sex objects in order to sell product. In the beginning, advertisements were once shown to sell a product, however, as years pass, advertisements begin to objectify women and begin to use women as a way to sell products. Will these roles stop putting women in such domesticating roles, or will women continue to be the subject to products? Looking at the trends of advertisements, women continue to be one of main objects for a product. The trends have greatly changed, creating a gap between the products being sold to the objects they use to sell the product. The advertising trends began before the early 1900s until present time, where the roles of women have changed drastically beginning from products being sold on literally terms, to solving personal and social problems, to consumer association and present, as a subliminal and unconscious desire (Peden).
Advertisements began before the 19th century, where advertisements were meant to sell the products in literal terms (Peden). For example, [fig. 1] demonstrates a product that is sold based on what the product entails. It explains the literal use and image of the product without additional slogans or objects. As you see, women did not have to sell themselves at this time, why now?
Advertisements have developed throughout the years in order to sell more products. In the early 1900s, advertisements have been a way in solving personal and social problems (Peden). Women at this time were placed as the main audience for the products advertised. In [fig 2], products are advertised in a way to make people feel insecure. The particular advertisement, denotatively, shows a man walking away from a woman whom is crying, which indicate anger from a man, and sadness from the woman. However, connotatively, the man is shown with control and high status, while the woman is seen as insecure, vulnerable and ditsy. The text "is a wife to blame if she doesn't know—"and "Mistakes many women often make" (Zonite) indicate the downgrading of women. The text indicates the lack of knowledge of women in comparison to men. If a man was to leave you because you didn't use a particular product, would you buy it? This advertisement says it all, use the product and keep the man, don't use it and lose him. You never know if you would be a victim of this type of advertisement if you were placed in this time.
Around the 1950s, women began to be more accounted into the domestic role. Women are placed in advertisements that consumers associate them to (Peden).Women are often seen with 'rough house work' such as washing the dishes, as seen in [fig 3] (Mullins and Pearson 238). Are women meant to do all the dishes? – Apparently, yes. With the phrase "Get out of the kitchen sooner!" (Lux). Men are often seen 'behind the scenes' when it comes to domestic labour such as house cleaning, grocery shopping and babysitting. It shows that they are not the dominant role when it comes to home duties. The man in the advertisement is seen on a couch, having the dominate control to do what he wants.
Often, the differentiation between males and females in advertisements are distinct. Females are often seen with certain products, while men are seen with others. However, when men are seen with 'women jobs', they are often struggling or are in need of help. For example, in [fig 4] it shows the switching of the male and female roles back in the mid 1900s. If you look at the image now, women taking on men roles are considered normal; however, back in earlier days, the quote "Madam! Suppose you traded jobs with your husband?" (unknown) makes it seems totally obscure. It shows that women are dominant in the home duty department, where men lack the skills to do house chores. Who would have known that men and women would be able to switch roles in the future?
Beginning around the late 1900s, advertisements use strong female presence as subliminal and unconscious desires (Peden). Some advertisements use women that are irrelevant to the product, but use the female as a way to sell the product to the audience. For example, in [fig 5] the image shows that the product being sold is Skyy vodka. What does women have to do with alcohol? The woman in this image is objectified as a way to gain the attention of the male species. Women are often seen in provocative images in order to sell product. In this image, fetishism is involved. Women's body is often dismembered to place focus on specific body parts, to give the audience his or her way to build up a process to imagine the rest of the whole being ( Mulvey 23). In this case, the woman's breast is the main part of the body being objectified. In a way, this advertisement can attract the female species. By advertising the female with an 'ideal image', females may want to purchase the product in hopes to gain the same image as the female on the advertisement.
Advertisements use women as a way to make other women insecure; therefore, they will find women whom are considered 'ideal' in today's society. When carefully analyzed or not, people know that advertisements are ways to gain the attention of people. They are images that try to manipulate people into buying their product; however, many people are guilty into 'falling into their trap'. If people did not follow advertisements, they wouldn't be making more. Advertisement is similar to Baudrillard's "it is no longer the territory that provides the model for the map, but the map that defines the territory" (Bordo 104). Images were once showed through process of development, but now, images are displayed as a form of an ideal for people to develop into. Today, advertisements are seen as map defining territories. Advertisement shows the audience what they can become if they use the products. For example, [fig 6] shows an image of a slim female after the use of the product, Hydroxycut. With the before and after image, it shows females the ideal body image they desire, as a representation of the map.
Without the support of people, advertisement would not have such advertisements on women. But being human, many are guilty of purchasing and engaging in the images that are shown. However, sometimes it makes people wonder why women do advertisements that degrade themselves. Everyone has their own reasons, some that may be relevant to money, while others may enjoy this type of publicity. Overall, from the images shown over the generation, portray the role o females over time. Females were once non existence when it came to advertisements, but now has become an object for the product.
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