Vega-Lomeli 1

Daniel Vega Lomeli

Professor Beadle
English 115
Dec 4, 2016
The Oversexualizing of Women in Society 2.0
In the United States, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically
significant eating disorder at some point in their life. This is greatly attributed to the pressures the
media places on individuals to look a certain way. Every company advertises their products and
each advertisement constructs ideas about gender. No matter the ad, there will always be
underlying ideas of a specific gender roles. Some make a blatant effort to send a specific
message. For example, Victorias Secret sells sex appeal. One of their ads is promoting their new
push-up bra. The ad promises to help a women get the closest possible to the perfect body. The
ad may not seem like it is saying much more than promising beauty, but it does more than that.
The image implants the idea of what a perfect body looks like. Through oversexualizing,
Victorias Secret ads give the bigger message to women and girls that their value is only
measured by their appearance. The oversexualizing of women is relevant to the public because it
is so common no one pays attention to it anymore, and this shows everyone in society has
become blind to the obvious exploitation of women and that is a problem our society must fix.
The general public must become aware of the blatant oversexualizing of women in order to stop
it.
The reason the oversexualizing of women goes unnoticed is because of the constant
bombardment of ads showing women half naked. For example, Victorias Secret ads are on
television, magazines, and websites. The picture where they are advertising the perfect push up
bra was on a magazine and gives the implication women must have the body they are portraying

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in order to be perfect. To most this ad might seem like any other ordinary ad to sell women a
product that promises beauty, but it has larger implications that are seen when the image is
analyzed. Not only is the ad oversexualizing women but is giving the message to all girls who
see it, you must look like this model to be a perfect woman that is valued by society. This ad is
telling women their only value is their appearance. Women then subconsciously feel the need to
look like the women in the advertisement. This ad spreads the idea of the perfect feminine body
that women must have. The reason ads have these effect on women is because the ad is
emphasizing the importance of beauty. It is saying beauty comes before all their other qualities.
The importance of knowing the bigger effects of ads like this are crucial to educating women and
young girls there is no perfect body and should not feel like they have to look like the women in
Victorias Secret advertisements. These implications will keep on repeating because some girls
will grow up and emulate what they see. If the general public becomes aware of the message
these ads spread, then some gender stereotypes will cease to exist and women will not feel
pressured to achieve the so called perfect feminine body. After the general public is conscious of
the implications they will take away from the effect the ads have because they know what they
are trying to do.
The emphasis of beauty in our society is greatly because of ads like Victorias Secrets
best push up bra that promises the closest to the perfect body. These ads make women think they
are only valued in societies eyes if they meet its beauty standards that are set by ads. This causes
an epidemic of self-esteem issues in women because they feel they do not fit the beauty
standards. Many women suffer psychological problems because they are ridiculed because they
do not look like the women in the lingerie ads. Shadia Duske is a psychotherapist who wrote an
article in the magazine Ms. Magazine where she writes about her patients who feel as if they are

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being punished because they do not fit the stereotypes of society. The women feel as if they are
inadequate and are inferior to other women. In the article Duske says it is not the fault of the
women who feel inadequate, but the toxic ideal of society (Duske 19) this quote shows women
are not to blame for feeling inadequate but society is punishing them because they do not fit the
beauty standards. This again shows the negative effect ads such as ones Victorias Secret have on
women. A certified psychotherapist acknowledges the fact women are punished if they do not fit
beauty standards. Victorias Secret advertising the perfect feminine body is what sets the beauty
standards women feel they must reach. There is a link between societies toxic ideals and ads like
the ones Victorias Secret have because the ads are what set the toxic ideals. Society dictates
what the standards for women are and the Victorias Secret ads and others like it set the
standards.
Ellen Bravo has been a feminist activist for decades and has written books about
feminism. In her book Taking On the Big Boys: Or Why Feminism is Good for Society she talks
about many ideas feminists have, but in chapter four of her book she talks about the harassment
women face in the work place. Women are sexually harassed and are over sexualized and is
normal. There are even entire restaurants based on women and their sex appeal. One example of
these restaurants is Hooters. The mandatory uniform for the women working there are very short
shorts and a shirt that emphasizes a womens cleavage. The majority does not question the
existence of a restaurant with these values, because everyone has become accustomed to the
oversexualizing of women. This again is because of ads using women to sell their products like
Victorias secret does. In her book Bravo talks about a female engineer friend who is one of the
only two females in a group of 50, she says her friend said mostly they put up with nude posters
and comments about womens body parts this shows men oversexualize women in the work

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place as well. The nude posters and vulgar language about womens body parts shows men in
particular emphasize a womens appearance. If men did not oversexualize women there would be
posters of women hold puppy dogs, not posters of nude women in provocative poses. Bravos
book only strengthens the idea that women are oversexualized and society puts more of an
emphasis on appearance than then other traits.
The image portraying the so called perfect body shows the difference in gender roles and
what is expected of men and women in society. An advertisement using men greatly differs from
an advertisement using a woman. For instance, Victorias Secret sells undergarments and so does
Fruit of the Loom, but there is a great difference in the ads. The ad for Fruit of the Loom which
is targeted at men uses men in fruit costumes, but the ads from Victorias Secret shows a woman
half naked in a very sexual pose. Anyone can see the difference in the two ads. This shows the
difference men and women face in the media. Both Emily W. Kane and Judith Lorber talk about
gender construction. In her article Judith Lorber says I Noticed the gleam of tiny earring in the
childs ears, and as they got off, I saw the little flowered sneakers and lace-trimmed socks. Not a
boy after all Lorber (3) and in her article Emily Kane quotes a parent from her study that said
usually girls play with dolls, but its okay for you to do it to Kane (2) both articles show the
difference between gender like the image of the Victorias Secret model. Just like in the articles
girls have certain gender stereotypes they must follow. The articles talk about clothes and toys,
but it is the same as the ad, because in the ads for womens undergarments they must have sex
appeal. On the contrary where mens undergarment commercials can be anything. The articles
show where the beginning of the importance of appearance begins. Girls have to wear pink and
frills while boys appearance is less emphasized. Just like the ads the articles talk about
underlying implications. Each advertisement has a specific tone they must follow according to

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each gender. This ad only promotes gender roles even more because it is a global company
advertising to many.
It is very important for the general public to be aware of the effects advertisements from
Victorias Secret and other such companies because they are teaching the young boys and girls to
value only a girls outer appearance. This is happening right now in our society and should stop.
It is not healthy for a girl to grow up and think their sole value comes from their appearance. It
also teaches boys to value girls only by their looks and that will cause mental harm to girls who
do not fit societies beauty standards because they will feel inadequate and as if they have no
value. The popular saying love at first sight shows how much appearance is valued. If
appearance was not so important to society that saying would not exist because the saying alone
says the individual decided, he or she loved the other as soon as they saw their appearance.
Everyone should care about the youth who are subjected to these gender constructions and
stereotypes because they are the future.
Some may argue these ads do not have a deeper meaning, they are only made that way to
get the attention of the public. If that is the case, then why are womens underwear
advertisements not women dressed in fruit costumes playing instruments? If there were really no
bigger implications to an ad, then both women and mens underwear advertisements would
consist of adults dressed in fruit costumes. The difference in the content used to advertise
underwear for women and underwear for men shows there is a meaning behind an advertisement.
Mens underwear ads really do not have a meaning because men dressed in fruit costumes have
no correlation with undergarments. Womens underwear however does because of the underlying
idea that women have to look like the girls in the ad to be beautiful.

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Society is constantly oversexualizing women, which tells females they are only valued as
much as their looks. This is a problem which causes women who do not fit societies idea of
beauty to suffer mental trauma because society views them as inadequate. This also raises
questions about some of the stereotypes men have to face. Women are not the only ones who
have to fit societies beauty standards. Men also have to fit societies definition of a man to be
acknowledged.

Works Cited

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Kane, Emily W No Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That: Parents Responses to
Childrens Gender Nonconformity. Composing Gender edited by Rachel Groner
and John F. Ohara, A Bedford Spotlight Reader Pg. 91-97
Lorber, Judith Night to his Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Composing
Gender edited by Rachel Groner and John F. Ohara, A Bedford Spotlight Reader
Pg.19-30
Bravo, Ellen You Want To See My What? Sexual Harassment Taking on the Big
Boys, Or, Why Feminism is Goof for Families, Business, and the Nation edited by
Ellen Bravo, The Feminist Press at the city University of New York Pg. 98-123
Duske, Shadia Toxic Culture 101: Understanding the Sexualization of Women Ms.
Magazine edited by Shadia Duske, Ms. Magazine