Sexy Sells Sex is everywhere in our society. It is on the television, radio, billboards, magazines, and basically everywhere you look today. Advertising has a great influence on what men and women buy, what they wear, and how they look, but is that always a good thing? "Pornography is more dangerously mainstream when its glorification of rape and violence shows up in mass media, in films and television shows,in comedy and music videos, and in advertising" (272.) Jean Killbourne, author of "Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt", has a very strong opinion of women being used for sex appeal, and that is that advertising has reached a point where bodies are portrayed as objects therefore normalizing attitudes that lead to sexual aggression.
Aaron Devor explores how these factors, gender behavior and various entertainments, potentially affect everyone in “Becoming member of society: Learning the social meanings of gender.” Not only do Kilbourne’s ads ridicule men by showing the obsession of males, but also the other two authors show how other modern society’s entertainments are meant to ridicule men and most importantly women with their acts of violence and sexuality. The males are the majority species that get hurt through music we hear and programs we watch, whereas advertisements hurt females. The entertainments substantially imply most men are violent, and the advertisements imply women as material objects. In A sense, men and women learning the consequences of violence and sexuality in daily life would help them to find a common ground with another built on respect and compassion because both genders are getting hurt
Sexuality is considered one of the most powerful tools of marketing and particularly advertising. The use sexual outcome by advertisers is a reason for the use of brands and the ability of sexual information to influence brand perceptions. Sexual information in mediated promotional messages, has maintained a presence since advertising's beginning. Sex in advertising has been the motivation for increased consumer interest and sales. In contemporary mainstream consumer advertising on magazines, network and cable television, sex is present in promotional messages for a wide range of branded goods.
Sexual content in advertisements began by targeting mostly men in their tobacco advertisements. Marketers soon turned their attention to advertising towards women as well. In the late 1800s, brands began using sex and nudity in advertisements to sell corsets and leers. In the early 1900s, brands also used the sex appeal to attract women to buy soaps and lotions. This same marketing strategy was used through the 1950’s and 60’s.
She explains that women are objectifying themselves and are equally to blame for the degrading image that men have of us. The article discusses how we do not have to put ourselves in this position and continue to objectify ourselves, however our culture teaches us that that is the acceptable way to live. Unless someone does something radical to change the norms of our society, men will continue to objectify women and the women will help them. This is the way of our culture. I enjoyed this reading because it really opened my eyes to how erotic our culture is, in fact.
This Axe advertisement shows the sexualization of women by emphasizing the extreme sexuality of women and how it attracts all men. As seen in the ad, the lower half of the man’s body is caught behind, staring at the mannequin dressed in red lingerie. The scene here suggests that men desire kinky, sexually appealing women, as compared to ordinary, casually dressed women. The lust this man’s lower half is displaying towards the mannequin in red lingerie shows that women are viewed as sex objects in society’s cultural norm, which in turn places a negative connotation on women. The Axe advertisement also engages gender stereotypes for men as well.
Let’s Understand Each Other Better The article "Sex, lies, and Conversation," written by the professor of linguistics Deborah Tannen, explains us about the many dissimilarities amongst men and women that occur in the way they communicate with each other. It explains to the reader why there is a lack of communication and understanding between a man and a woman who aim to pursue different objectives through conversations. The article is a very effective passage that provides logical reasoning to support its claim of developing cross cultural understanding in order to avoid the clash of genders that is caused by failed conversations. Most of the women complain that men are not good conversational partners at home. According to the females, men do not listen or talk to them and do not contribute in day to day discussions.
According to The Overseas Humanitarian Aid Agency of the ACTU (2010), the term ‘stereotype’ is defined as an idea that many people have about a group of people that may often be untrue or only partly true, such as a common belief about women in general, or sexual objects, where women are seen only for their bodies, in order to sell products or a service, this means that women are no longer viewed as equals but rather something that can be owned, Shari Graydon (Canada’s Media Action Média 2010) states that women become sexual objects when their bodies and their sexuality are linked to products that are bought and sold. (Media Awareness Network 18/10/2010) Many researchers question whether or not the deliberate sexualisation of women’s bodies in the media is beneficial, it could be seen as both a good or a bad thing, on the one hand, you have beautiful, fit and healthy women on the cover of magazines, this may inspire and push many women to become more active when it comes to exercising and eating the right food, this may be seen as the User-Gratification Theory, according to Blumler and Katz (The Uses of Mass Communication 1974) the User-Gratification Theory, is based on the idea that people use the media for different reasons, people will identify certain products with fit and healthy women and automatically assume
Does sex in ads principly enhance or hinder advertising processing? Another research by Tom Reichert (2012) talks about how sex shifts the attention from the main product or service. But a question arises that are people more inclined to remember sexual details more than non-sexual ones? 1.3
When comparing Julia Roberts' cover to Blake Shelton's it becomes apparent how there is a double-standard when it comes to how the media portrays men and women. Other ads and magazines, as well as other forms of media, have shown throughout the history to repeat the same unrealistic beauty standard, focusing on perfection rather than realistic women and their true selves. Further, it demonstrates how women are not allowed to be sexy once they reach a certain age, while men become sexier with age and often are praised for signs of aging, such as grey hair. Magazines such as these can lead to self-esteem issues in women, particularly young girls who look at forms of media to get a sense of societal expectations. In order to fix this issue, magazines need to be cognizant of how their images and portrayals of women and men can impact people's images of themselves and others.