Erika Bersch

Women in Advertising

We are exposed to sex everywhere, on television programs, movies, and music videos. It

is rare to view an hour of television and not see a submissively dressed or undressed female.

Sexual displays appear in magazine articles and advertisements. An issue of Cosmopolitan might

contain hundreds of half-naked women and stories of sexual encounters. Looking at

advertisements in a variety of men's, women's, and general magazines they have categorized

women in various roles: housewife, decorative element, sex object, and dependent on working

men. Women are constantly being displayed as submissive characters in advertisements on many

different scales of viewers.

The media displays the social norms and values that shape how people view themselves.

The messages that influence the media most regarding the norms about women's physical

appearance, are often quite negative and detrimental(kilbourne,1999). The media, while it can

have a positive effect on society, can also have just as much of a negative effect. The negative

consequences associated with self esteem seem to be unique to women, in which their bodies in

particular are sexually objectified. Womens low self-esteem in response to feeling self-

conscious does not relate as the same response a man would feel.

Society has been showing advertisements since the beginning of public figures. However,

the amount of advertisements and the commonality of seeing them have drastically changed over

the years. Advertisements went from being seen in newspapers and other print to television and

internet. Old Advertisements look different from todays advertisements, but they continue to

portray the same messages to their audience. They are selling more than just products, theyre

selling ideals to society. Advertisements help to shape societys idea of beauty, what we should
value and who we should be (Kilbourne, 1999). These false ideals can hinder us as a society

because of the possible negative effects of advertising. These negative effects more commonly

affect women, but they have an increasing effect on men as well (Kilbourne, 1999). It is

important to know the possible effects of submissive portrayals of women in advertisements as

well as the objectification of their bodies. There is a need for awareness in regard to unrealistic

expectations about women in advertisements.

Advertisements have encouraged women to be submissive and dress provocatively for

years. These types of displays not only to catch the eye of their target but also have a negative

effect on women as well. These type of commercials lead to little girls, teenagers, and women in

general to feel bad about what they look like and have a negative self image. "Toy manufacturers

produce dolls wearing black leather miniskirts, feather boas, and thigh-high boots and market

them to 8-12 year old girl's. Clothing stores sell thong sized for 7-10 year old girls, some printed

with slogans such as "eye candy" or "wink wink"(Haynes, 2005). If it starts at such a young age,

one can only imagine just how outrageous the commercials get as the age increases. It's sad to

see the provocativeness especially at such a young age. The younger children do not always

realize what the shirt means and that's how they also get a lot of business because the parents

don't think twice if the child likes the clothing. Also by the advertisements having the clothing

very colorful and sparkly it appeals more to the younger kids still having no clue what the slang

terms may mean.

Some ads work to deface women and treat them more like objects rather than a part of

society. Sexual objectification occurs whenever a woman's body, body parts, or sexual functions

are separated out from her person, reduced to the status of mere instruments. This shows how

women think they should be treated and viewed by others. When you mix these objectifying ads
with advertisements that encourage men to be dominant and never take no for an answer we

get more problems than just low self-esteem for women. (Kilbourne, 1999) When you portray a

person as a thing it belittles them and can lead to negative actions because a thing is much easier

to justify abusing than a person. It is no longer unusual to see womens body parts that are

unacceptable to be seen in everyday society.

Most advertisements in the media today portray the female to look the idealway which

leads to a large sense of anxiety and a negative self image. If these are the type of people others

are attracted to then the anxiety of trying to be like everyone else and achieve that perfect body

can really rip someone apart. Once someone is exposed to the detrimental thoughts of the perfect

body image their thoughts are changed. Women especially take it to heart to become something

they see rather than look at the damage that the advertiser did to their body. Todays age the

main wish is to be thinner and fit. According to Tkarrde (2003), Both men and women today

are facing a quandary regarding masculine and feminine identities This issue has placed

unnecessary ideals on women to focus on their appearances. Increasingly, depictions of the

male and female bodies in cartoons, action figures, Barbie dolls, and the general media, have all

come to propagate and glorify images that emphasize physical appearance as a central criterion

for accessing masculine and feminine worth . Long term effects have been discovered of people

who have fallen victims to unrealistic images in the media and have suffered from psychological

and physical body hate issues. This all stems from bad advertisements telling women that unless

they look like who is on the media they are not the ideal women that any guys wants. Women

become victims of body hate and many don't see a way out until they look like the advertisement

tells them too.

 Often in advertisements, men are shown holding higher status positions where they

exhibit control over others (Linder, 2004). According to and Lindner (2004), the most common

types of ads women are featured in include cleaning products, household appliances, drugs, and

clothing. Many articles also frame health as womens work, reinforcing the traditional feminine

stereotypical gender role of women as caretakers. Other stereotypical roles women are often

portrayed in are beauty or sex roles, a mother, or a housekeeper, it is also quite rare for women to

be seen in roles outside of the home. Additionally, there is a lack of women within these

advertisements which sends mixed messages to women who are seeing advertisements that

suggest they should become independent from men . There is also a double standard society has

placed upon females because generally, society looks down upon women choosing a career over

being a stay at home mother. However, the ads that they see within these magazines suggest that

they should strive for independence, and should hold a career and a life for themselves (Johnson

& Swanson, 2003). Advertisements portray women in stereotypical ways, including that women

should not make important decisions. Being female is associated with having less authority and

less status within society (Linder, 2004).

According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), Americans spend over

$40 billion on dieting and diet-related products each year. In essence, NEDA (2005) reveals that

four out of ten Americans either suffered or have known someone who has suffered from an

eating disorder (NEDA, 2005). Objectification of men and women both has greatly affected

both sexes in the strive for women to appear sexy, attractive, and thin, while males are striving

for wealth, power, strength, and perfectly-sculpted physiques. Objectification of women in

advertisements are harmful to society ideals because they shape what we want to perceive in our

romantic partners and now even our material goods. Men are not the only ones buying into these
ideals, women also fall into these issues. "Men are not the only ones who have adopted this

harmful attitude towards relationships, intimacy, and sex. Women can just as easily adopt a

negative self-image and attitude, perpetuating the negative stereotypes about women, sexuality,

intimacy, and relationships (Gruber, 2000). As long as the media and corporations continue to

profit off of these ideas, they will continue to trend in society, and the negative effects will

continue. Dismemberment has to do with the focus on a specific part of the body. This focus in

culture dissociates the person from their body. This can contribute to striving towards a different

view of beauty which society creates. There is no reference to other types of beauty because all

the focus is put onto the image of the body and none onto the personality and other aspects that

make up a person.

A study conducted a content analysis of Rolling Stone magazine covers over the past four
decades. One thousand and six cover images 726 images of men and 280 images of women from
Rolling Stone magazine were analyzed and coded based on the level of sexualization they
portrayed. Point values were assigned to the images for features including nudity, touch, pose,
genitals and breasts, sexual role play, and others. The results of the study confirm that although
images that sexualize both women and men, they have increased over the past four decades.
Women continue to be more frequently portrayed in this sexualized, objectified, manner (Hatton
and Trautner, 2011). This study also found that females today are more likely to be
hypersexualized. The researchers refer to hypersexualized images as those that well exceed the
normal for a sexualized image and include elements such as complete or almost-complete
nakedness, poses that suggest sexual accessibility, or being shown simulating sexual acts (Hatton
and Trautner, 2011). These increasingly sexualized and hypersexualized images of women in
particular portray women as individuals whose bodies are ready and available for sexual desires
from men who view their bodies as objects of desire.
Even though women have been seen as the target of sexually objectified advertisements
men also learn from viewing those ads as well. A mans masculinity is needed for high
dominance, power, and achievement in all areas of their lives. Masculinity must be proven and
once a man has proven his ranks within masculinity he must prove his strength if questioned
(Kimmel, 2009). This then shows how men unlike women try to create an illusion that they are
masculine by engaging in bullying or violent behavior. This is to combat the feminine feelings
and create a way of showing one's dominance. The problem with displays of masculinity is that
once a man has proven his masculinity he must protect it and maintain it at any time, or else he
risks the consequence of losing it by judgment of peers. A mans thought of potentially losing
their masculinity strikes fear into men, and propels them to deny manhood to others. Just like
women the men are influence by peers. They get less visual representation of the ideal life but
more verbal abuse when they do not fall into the ideal characteristics.
The men have been objectified in some media portrayals. However, being a women I see

way more women being objectified than men. We are constantly showed off as a sex item and

undermine men every time we try and accomplish something. Women are portrayed weak in

most ads and then men growing up have learned to see this. I live with my five brothers and even

today all of us being over eighteen except for one who is eight, we see in him that he will come

and be surprised when the older boys are doing dishes and ask where i am or why i can't do

them. The gender roles should be outdated and not even an issue but our media continues to

portray ads constantly belittling women. Studies show women and men feel that they have extra

anxiety to fit the role of the ultra thin, perfect woman and the hyper-masculine "buff-man

(Rouner, 2003). Most advertisements in the media today portray the male and female to look this

way which again leads to a heightened sense of anxiety and a negative self image. If these are the

type of people that others are attracted to, then the anxiety of trying to be like every one else and

achieve that perfect body can really rip someone apart.

All together the most common types of ads women are featured in include cleaning

products, household appliances, drugs, and clothing. Advertisements portray women in

stereotypical ways such as women should not make important decisions. Furthermore, being

female is associated with having less authority and less status within society and our

advertisements have not helped break this stereotype. The trend of objectification of women in

media looks to continue because it is profitable and entertaining. However, this media practice is

harmful to society for physical and mental reasons. Men and women are stuck trying to perfect

their bodies exactly how the media presents the 'ideal body,' but at the expense of their physical

health and mental state. Men and women are faced with depression and eating disorders due to

fitting into the media's image of beauty. The issue of objectification of women are also being felt

by a younger audience over time. In our society, it is not beneficial to feel inadequate or feel

insecure because of the media's representation of women, but that is what is occurring. It is also

reasonable speculation to consider the increase is sexual entertainment and its prevalence in

society as a factor in the increase of sexually transmitted diseases, early and unplanned

pregnancies, and increased sexual violence. It is clear that objectification of women in media has

its negative impacts on society, but what can be done when as a society we are buying into this?

Our culture is accepting the media's portrayal of dating, romance, and sex, so the negative effects

will only continue and progress. These reasons suggest there is a strong impact made by the

objectification of women within society.