Sexuality in Advertising – an Occurring Issue

Abramovitz 1 She arches her back, glancing at the camera with a look of ecstasy. Water pours down her body, draining further soapy suds from the loofah in her hands. While a pink bottle of herbal Essence body wash sensors a mature view of this wo mans body, the tagline on the human face reads Our new moisture-rich lather turns H2O into H2Ohhhh This is a real advertisement Clairol for Herbal Essence body wash, provided there countless advertisements the like this one that American society is bombarded with on a daily basis. These ads design womens innerity to sell both high end and everyday products to consumers.Even though the objectification of women in advertising has be have more apequationent and worse, it is non a new phenomenon instead the insecurity of women run into through comparing themselves with idealized women in advertising has been an ongoing problem since the 1920s. As fashion changed though womens social empowerment so began the sexual objectification of w omen in advertising. The iconic figure of the Roaring 20s was the Flapper. In Edsels, Luckiest and Frigidairies Advertising the American Way, a flapper is defined as A women who could vote, work, drink, and smoke. 327) Women became more authorise to vote and to go into the workforce, and such large social changes brought new fashions. The once suppressed woman changed turn out of frumpy petticoats and into short beaded dresses. These were reflected in the flapper style and impacted the sale of silk stockings. Silk stocking initially had been regarded as a luxury item few of whom felt any great compulsion to display their social circumstance in such items. But since silk stockings motorcarried status, once they were made more available to middle and lower clan women display became almost a necessity .Women would become increasingly self-conscious about their legs. (Mquade and Wright 327-28) Silk stockings, once a luxury to have, now were used to objectify the legs of women. A w oman could non read the newspaper without regard advertisements speaking to her awful, ugly, nude legs. Unless she Abramovitz 1 went out and bought herself a pair of silk stockings she would not be sexy overflowing to be seen in public. Women would be pressured to go out and purchase stockings so she could be up to par with her womanish friends.The beginning of sexual advertisement in silk stockings promoted the idea of one body part world sexy. As one progresses through the history of American advertising, one will see that the victimisation of different body parts linked with sexual desire as a technique to try the sales on items. The Roaring 20s not only brought the flapper and her iconic silk stockings, but the popularity of the toughie T. The automotive industry heavily relies on the sexual objectification of women in its advertising, from the 1950s to today.One popular car of the 1950s was the Pontiac champion Chief, a convertible with a roomy interior. In a 1957 adve rtisement for the Pontiac Star Chief shows a woman in the car, captured at an angle where the viewer cannot see the woman on a lower floor the waist. A man is right outside the car peering in, and the caption on the ad says circle Your Legs taste maximum leg room in the new Pontiac Star Chief. While the phrase Spread your legs is meant to talk about the interior of the car, it too refers to the woman as she opens herself for the mans pleasure.The double entendre link up together motors and women. If a man has a faster and better car, he is likely to get a prettier woman. This mentality is still relevant todays society, even if the design is more refined. In 2006, Audi, a company that designs and sells luxury vehicles, released its Designed to thrill advertisements. One particularly is shocking. Its simplistic a black background and whites, reminiscent of a blueprint but in the shape of a distaff breast. On the side in small print the ad reads designed to thrill and on the scre wing right corner the Audi symbol is present.The tagline, on the surface, is talking about Audis internal mechanics and the fact that engineers improved them to go faster and cause a thrill in the driver. Because of how the graphic is shaped, the catch Abramovitz 1 line entertains a new meaning. When Designed to thrill is pictured next to the form of a female bosom, it implies that the woman anatomy was made for the mens sexual pleasure, or thrill. Objectifying the breasts implies that if a man were to obtain the luxury car, he would get women to show themselves and be more promiscuous.The modern objectification of women in advertisements does not just happen in male oriented products, but female ones too. An online ad for Blush lingerie shows a women in a skirt, a dog and the dogs apparent owner a man dressed-up in a business suit. The dog is looking up the womans skirt and blushes because of it sees. Because this is an ad for lingerie, one can assume that the dog is getting a lo ok at scandalous underwear. The master pleating of the skirt the womans wearing, and her low demure heels, the ad represents the woman as a high end professional in the business world a person to be taken seriously.The blushing dog takes away her credibility though because if she is allowed to be sexy she cannot be respected and intelligent. Ads like this do not embrace the many sides of women, but force them to choose one or the other, although they whitethorn appear to be smart and sexy. Because you cant see her face, just her legs up, it depersonalizes her, dehumanizes her, objectifying her into the sexy, classy, high end lingerie shes wearing. Not only do ads promote the objectification through the type of underwear women wear, but they also promote reckless sexual behavior.Jean Killbourne, who wrote the book Deadly Persuasion, discusses an ad which promotes this behavior. The only downfall to female guests that stay over for breakfast is they leave with your nicest shirts, s ays an ad featuring a man getting dressed. His back is to the young women in his bed, who is covering herself up as if embarrassed. People in ads like this arent lovers, they are users being used. Advertisements like these promote a culture of commodity people objectify their friends to what they have toAbramovitz 1 offer sexually, and the aftermath of feelings that naturally come after a sexual connection are thrown in the trash and replaced by a diminished feeling of self worth. When advertisements promote cultures of reckless sex, they pressure people to shallowly judge others by their appearance and how sexy they are rather than their moral character. The objectification of women in advertising is not new. It has been an issue in our society since the 1920s when print commercial advertisement began to boom.Women today continue to compare themselves with idealized women in advertising and the creates a lasting harm on their self-conscious. Carol Shepard, said The objectification of women in advertising campaigns mental ramifications. It socializes women to think of themselves in the manner in which they are depicted, and causes them to engage in self objectification. This creates anxieties relating to their weight, appearance, body satisfaction, and also creates a negative mood. (qtd Harper & Tiggermann, 2008). Thus, their body image causes them to suffer emotionally and psychologically.Perhaps, by buying the publicise items, the viewing audience of women believes that they will instantly become taller, thinner, younger and prettier. (Shepard, 5) As the objectification of women in advertising is not a new phenomenon, neither are the mental issues that women deal with because of it. Little girls will always rarity why they look at the pretty models in their mothers magazines and then glance in the mirror only to wonder why they arent as pretty. Although the days of silk stockings and red convertibles are commodious gone, the advertisements and slogans that destroyed our women continue today.