We
can see advertisement everyday, everywhere. There are many things in advertisements. We can see how people think
about things. The most interesting thing is how advertisements represent men
and women. Unlike sex, which is a biological factor, gender is made and
influenced by society. People are expected to act like a man or a woman. We can
see gender role in the advertisements. However, sometimes the advertisement is
considered more than the mirror of our culture. Not only can it reflect our world,
but also it can create our culture. They actually teach us about gender role.
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| 2012 Vogue cover |
These
days ads uses part of a woman’s body to attract customers. The use of sexual
images is becoming more and more common in these days because people tend to
attract this kind of image very easily. The problem is that As many companies began
to use sexual images often, people get used to it. People’s values are changed
because of the image that the ad presents. Our culture and values become more lasciviously
than before. For example, If you compare old fashion magazines cover with these
day’s cover, you will find out how our society gets used to seeing women’s
body. This example shows that the advertisement does not just mirror our world.
Actually, they are able to affect our values and culture.
 |
| 1930 Vogue cover |
To
appeal to sexual image, what kind of models do they use? As you imagine, advertiser
normally uses skinny women to make their advertisement. As I mentioned,
advertisement has the power to change our values. Many women consider skinny
body just like in a magazine as an ideal woman’s body. They also are
unsatisfied with their body because they are not skinny like the models they
see in the magazine. However, being like models in the magazine is impossible
for normal people because it takes a lot of effort to make a skinny body. You
would need to control your diet and exercise almost every day. The fastest way
to make a skinny body is fasting. “LATINA: They [media models] influenced me a
lot. Like, I was very much why can’t I look like that. A lot of my friends had
eating disorders. It was like a trend.”(Goodman, 2002, p. 717) This interview
shows how the ad affects our value about skinny body. Sometimes it can be
dangerous. Many women in these days are suffering from eating disorder because
they want to be a model.
Most
of the ad these days show a woman’s role of attracting consumer’s interest by posing
sexually. This is because, customers tend to think that by purchasing the
product they believe that they can be a person in the ad. To make the image
seem sexual, the ad uses young, skinny women. After people watching the ad,
they want to be a model like in the ad. As ad use more erotic image and skinnier
models, people will think erotic image and skinny body is looking good. The
advertisement is more than just a mirror of our world, it can change people’s notion
about gender.
Reference
Goodman, R. (2002). Flabless is Fabulous: How Latina
and Anglo Women Read and Incorporate the Excessively Thin Body Ideal Into
Everyday Experience. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly. ProQuest. 79(3).
712-723
I think there is validity in your argument about advertisements having a role on what society views as gender. In theory, I don't think there is anything wrong with having different depictions of women through advertisements; however, I think it can pose problems when one of two things happens. First, when an 'ideal' type of image is engrained into our minds about what each gender is supposed to represent. I think through this class we have realized that there is no ideal image or characteristics that compose gender. Gender is completely created by society - not biology. If anything biology doesn't even clear the lines because there are people that do not fit into the category of male and female. The point may be that there are no lines that define gender. But it is so common to see advertising promoting specific guidelines creating a very one-dimensional, in-the-box type of thinking about what gender is.
ReplyDeleteSecond, a problem arises when objectivity and sexuality are placed on different genders. Sex is just one aspect of a person's natural life; however, our society puts magnifying glasses around anything regarding sex.
Advertisements can be more powerful and influential than they come off at first glance. Companies can sometimes be unaware of these negative consequences when all they think about is the bottom-line profit. But as consumers we can voice our opinions about which advertisements really promote a diversified palette of gender roles while question why some/how other advertisements restrict gender roles into a box of conformity.
I think that your post is accurate about the modern representation of women in society. I especially like your point about becoming "used" to such images after seeing them day after day in commercials, magazines, and other mediums of advertisements. As people become more used to such images and tendencies I believe it becomes much much more difficult to be able to reverse the trend. Some may argue that such companies are suggesting that purchasing their product will give you a similar appearance to their model, but to me these women are there to simply grab attention. The purpose for advertisements, especially commercials that seem to have no credible point, is to make space in the brain of whoever is watching and therefore create a more lasting impact on the viewer. On your point about gender, yes I think advertisements shape peoples notion about gender and how each gender should be represented and advertisements expansion and changes overtime usually have an effect on the growth of society.
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