For this assignment, I decided to look at advertisements that objectify women. Many of the advertisements we see on a daily basis objectify women, and many people look at these ads without thinking anything is wrong with them. When I see these ads, I am appalled. I know the objectification and sexualization of women in the media is a very strong, negative force that affects everyone, but most importantly, young girls who are trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be. These ads objectify women, so they portray women like they have less value than a human being. Even though many of us don't notice the offensive content of these ads, their message is strong and it echoes everywhere in the media.
The first ad of a blonde woman in a cage shows this perfectly. This picture brings the value of this woman, and women in general, down to the same level as an animal, such as a bird, which would be the logical thing to put in a cage. Furthermore, you could even go as far as saying this image depicts this woman as a pet. Because she is in a cage, she is submissive, passive, and helpless. Her worth as an individual and a human being is not evident at all, and to me that is what makes this ad so saddening.
The second ad is just as appalling, if not worse. When I first saw this ad, from far away, I thought this woman was tied up with black belts and other contraptions. But when I looked closer, this isn't the case at all. She isn't being controlled by these items, such as the shoes, belts, sunglasses and briefcases shown in the picture, but she is letting these items control her. Therefore, because of her passive attitude toward these inanimate objects, this ad is objectifying her. The ad also makes it look like she is struggling to free herself from these objects, which makes her weak and powerless, because objects obviously should not have the power to control a human being. Because of this fact, this ad is giving her little or no worth, and in many cases this is the message that the media gives off when it displays women in advertisements.
The third advertisement is even more offensive in my mind because of its content. The woman presented in this ad is devalued of her worth in an extreme way. To me it seems like the man gets his most satisfaction not from looking at the face of a beautiful woman, but from seeing a car in place of her face. I think this advertisement is horrible on many levels, so it is a great example of the devaluing of women in ads. This advertisement shows that this woman has no worth because her face isn't worth the eyes or time of her intimate partner. Instead, a magazine must be placed upon her face so that he enjoys their intimate experience. Furthermore, I think it's important to take note of the physical positions of the man and the woman in this ad. The man is showing little or no physical attraction toward the woman in the positioning of his hands, while the woman is embracing him with passion and attraction. Sadly, the only pure attraction that is obvious coming from the man is aimed right at the picture of the car. Clearly, the woman in this ad has no importance in the eyes of the man and therefore no value as an individual.
The fourth ad depicts a woman's body. I think the most important think to note when analyzing this image is the absence of the woman's head. This ad focuses purely on the female body, ignoring her head, which I think makes it very clearly an objectifying image. This advertisement doesn't consider the woman's smile, personality, eyes, brain, or anything else above the neck, which means her naked body means everything and is the most important part of this ad. Her personality means next to nothing in comparison to a shapely bust or a hairless body. While I wish ads like this didn't rub off on our culture, it does happen. Women's body's are constantly the focus of men's desires and wants. This ad, though actually advertising alcohol, shows off the beautiful body of a woman without taking into consideration her value as an individual.
The fifth and final ad is perhaps the most offensive out of all of the ads I've presented. This ad focuses on the mouth of this woman in an extremely offensive manner. With a little bit of analyzing, I think this image shows that the purpose of women's mouths is to give men blow jobs. This is an awful thing to display, but I think this image says that in many ways. Also, in my opinion, the expression of this woman's mouth, with her lips parted just slightly, is showing that this woman completed her "task" successfully, but now she is suffering for it later (because of the bandages shown). These are all things I am inferring, but I think they are reasonable. The shape of the woman's mouth is also very submissive and weak. Furthermore, this image displays this woman without eyes, and therefore showing that the sole purpose of not just her mouth, but all of her, is pleasuring men, which is a sick and wrong thing for an ad to indirectly say. This advertisement devalues women in a very offensive manner, and focuses on the sexuality of her and her partner.
Overall, these images are all very offensive in their way of objectifying women and bringing their worth down to a level much lower than that of a human being. Advertisements like these are everywhere in the media, and their effectiveness never fails. Their messages are all very clear, and women are protrayed as powerless, weak, and worthless. These advertisements are a strong force in the media that have a significant effect on our culture. The first step to stopping ads like these is identifying their messages and relevance in our culture, and then taking further steps from there.
I enjoyed reading your analysis and felt you were right on the money when you were deciphering these ads. I did want to add a interpretation however to the second photo however. As we can see these are all products that men with important jobs would likely posses. I always refer to products like this as power products (power shoes, power tie ect.). Knowing that these are those kind of products I find it interesting on where the shoes are placed on our naked model. It seems to be clearly insinuating that the products will allow men to walk all over beautiful women like the one in the photo. It sends two messages at the same time in this photograph. To men it is sending the message that to be of worth you need these products while sending messages to both men and women that women are essentially no better then a door mat.
ReplyDeleteI really thought your analysis of the ads was right on target and I too felt very offended looking at each of the ads. These types of images devalue women and send the wrong types of messages to young girls. You're right, there is a whole generation of young adults who haven't quite figured everything out for themselves. If this type of media is able to reach them and shape a part of their lives then there has to be a shift in the types of advertising because I don't think these ads send appropriate messages at all!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting selection. I want to add that many of the ads employ a form of irony and (perverse) humor, but entirely at the expense of women. They seem to be very conscious that they objectify. Be sure to pay attention here to exactly how the product is situated in relation to the woman and the man (either inside the ad or looking at it).
ReplyDeleteYes, you're right, Professor. After looking at these ads again with fresh eyes, I agree that they are very conscious that they objectify. However, that does not make them any less offensive or more justified. Even if these ads were designed and created with the intent to objectify, they were still meant to sell a product at the expense of women, as you pointed out.
ReplyDeleteAs for the placement of the product or brand being advertised, in the Bebe ad, I think the words placed in front of the girl show another level of objectification that isn't seen initially. I think these words printed in front of the girl could be showing the most imporant thing is the brand Bebe and then the girl in the cage comes next and is less important. Maybe this placement of the brand name objectifies this girl in comparison to the brand/product that is being advertised.
In the third ad, I think something similar can be said. For this ad, the man is looking down on the woman and the product, which effectively devalues the product and the woman in comparison to the man.
Also, I think the fourth ad reveals something similar to the first because of its placement of the product. This product is placed in front of the woman, which to me can be interpreted in two different ways. On one hand, the alcohol being advertised could be seen as more important and more valuable than the girl in the background based on its placement in front of the model. However, the alcohol placement could also be seen as a path to get to the beautiful body of this woman; the ad is almost saying "if you drink this alcohol, you will have access to the body of this woman." Both interpretations I think are correct, but portray very different messages.
Looking at these images in this new way just makes them more offensive, but it is a very interesting phenomenon that is occurring in most of these advertisements.
Everything here we see is sort of degrading women. Women portrayed as sexual objects instead of regular human beings. The one that I found most disturbing personally is the advertisement for Durex condoms. At first I didn't get what it was showing then I finally figured out what it was. It was band-aids on her face. Now again what does that imply? Well it implies oral sex, and the ma being really big. That goes on o signify sex and so on and so forth.
ReplyDelete