Negative Impacts of Sexism Portrayed in Advertisements Essays

Negative Impacts of Sexism Portrayed in Advertisements Essays Negative Impacts of Sexism Portrayed in Advertisements Essay Negative Impacts of Sexism Portrayed in Advertisements Essay Essay Topic: The Second Sex Negative Impacts of Sexism Portrayed in Advertisements Name: Course: Institution: Tutor: Date: Negative Impacts of Sexism Portrayed in Advertisements Introduction Jean Kilbourne discusses the role and impact of various advertisements in the article Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt. She looks at the various ways through which advertisements for different products portray sexism, gender disparity and male violence. She notes how the advertisers use images and words to encourage male violence. She discusses how women have been objectified in the ads, and how the men are seen as superior. The advertisers are interested in making sales rather than the impact the ads have on the society. Kilbourne’s essay properly depicts the negative impacts of advertisements on women in the fashion (clothes) industry. Discussion According to Colombo et al. (2007), young girls are affected by these ads, whether they are the ones in the advertisements or watching them. The ad by the American apparel in the year 2009, a young girl was posted scarcely dress as she advertised a Flex Fleece zip hoody. In a sequence of six photos, she only has the hoody covering the top side of her body and underwear on her lower part. In the first photo, the hoody is fully zipped up to the upper chest. In the second photo, the hoody is half-zipped and her part of her cleavage is visible. In the third photo, the photo has been shot from the side so her thighs are fully exposed but her upper body part is covered by the hood. In the forth, fifth and sixth photos, the the hood is completely open and her breasts are exposed. In the sixth photo, especially, her nipples are almost exposed. This advertisement was banned because of the alleged age of the model. The girl looks as though she is under the age of 16 and thus not suitable for such commercial ads. She portrays a negative image of the girls and to the younger girls. Why did the advertisers have to make her wear nothing else apart from the underwear and the hoody? Did she have to wear the hoody without a bra or a top inside? The attention will be drawn to the girls body and not on the hoody as intended. By looking at the advertisement, a couple of messages are passed across. Clothes are worn for sexual appeal and not just for the simple aim of covering the naked body, keeping warm or looking smart. It is as if the advertisers are encouraging the young girls towear the hoody in order to look more sexy. To top it up, unzipped hoodys make one look sexier than zipped ones. This is in regard to the number of photos portrayed of the girl wearing the unzipped hoody thus exposing her body. Kilbourne insists that women and men are encouraged to execute certain things or act in a given way. This is proved true by this picture, the message being passed across at first glance is that the person should wear the hoody for sexual attraction. Such a hoody can be worn with other clothes. In fact, most girls will wear this hoody with another top inside. The extremists will wear a bra inside and then zip it up. In using the young looking model, the advertisement depicts that young girls can only look good when they expose their body as much as they can, even when watering a hood. In an another ad done by Calvin Klein fashion house in advertising jeans, the models depict a violent and a sexual scene. The ad has three men and one woman (Lara Stone). Two of the men are only wearing jeans with nothing else on top and the third man is wearing a shirt. Lara Stone is wearing something that looks like a dress or a too that has been pulled up to her bust so that her body is exposed. Her head is laid on one of the men’s laps. This man is holding her head. The other man has her jeans unbuttoned and ready to lie on Stone. The third man wearing a shirt is seated on the ground and seems destructed from the on-going scenario. By the look of the woman (Stone), she does not seem to be bothered by what is about to take place. She seems to portray a sensual face. The billboards with this ad were taken down and the ad banned because it depicted sexual violence to women. The woman is used as a sexual and vulnerable subject in this advertisement. She is not only vulnerable to one man but to many men. Kilbourne insists that women are encouraged to give in to a man’s desires when buying a particular product. The message being passed across in this ad is that men can have their way with no objection from the woman, after buying the jeans from Calvin Klein. By showing that the woman has given in to the men’s demands, the ad implies that women can simply give in because of material things. The ad shows as if the woman is about to get intimate with three men. This is extreme sexual negativity on the women. Kilbourne also establishes that men tend to be possessive and aggressive towards the women. This is greatly seen in this ad. The men want to be intimate with the woman at the same turn and in the same place. Although it is true that there are men who fantasize about a woman at the same place, very few men are willing to get intimate in the presence of other men. In another advertisement done by Dolce and Gabbana in the year 2006, violence and nudity were depicted. The ad, portraying men’s wear in the 18th century, features six men and one woman. The men’s suites and hair portray the dangerous liaisons-style of this period. The woman wearing boots is completely naked. One of the six men is lying on the ground with blood oozing from his forehead to portray a gunshot. Two of the men are holding knives the other two seated, (one of them wearing a mask) and the last man is holding a gun on one hand and a naked woman on the other hand. The six men are decently dressed but the woman is naked thus leans on the man to hide her burst and her pubic area. Kilbourne has further noted that some advertisements pass on subliminal messages to the public. This advertisement proves this statement true. Why is the woman naked while all the others are decently dressed? This question pops within the first few minutes of looking at the ad. The woman is depicted as a sexual being to the men. The ad was meant to advertisement men’s clothes. It is as if the woman was featured in order to make the ad have more ratings. The men are also featured as violent. However, due to their clothes, the women overlook their violent nature and thus sexually attracted to them. In another perspective, their clothes make their violent nature attractive to the woman. In a third perspective, women are generally attracted to violence. All these angles of the ad can be perceived by the audience. The message passed on to the audience by this ad is that a woman’s attraction to violence is sexy. Her sexuality is a men’s pleaser and there is nothing wrong with it. It also portrays that the exposure of a woman’s nudity to the public is appealing and not embarrassing. It even calms violent men. Conclusion Colombo et al. (2007) point out that the impact of advertisements on the society cannot be ignored. Kilbourne has also put it clear that both woman and men are portrayed in certain ways in most of the advertisements. In the three examples of ads given above, this statement by Kilbourne has been proved right. Above all, the women seem too be on the wrong receiving end. The three ads have portrayed women as sexual subjects in the fashion industry. It is as if wearing clothes that cover much of the body is no longer sexy or fashionable. The fashion industry has used feminism to uplift the man’s ego when wearing particular clothes. The women are used to show that they are vulnerable and without defense when these wear these clothes. The men are portrayed as very attractive, their weaknesses covered and their will fulfilled when wearing these clothes. It is up to the audience to decide how they wish the advertisements to portray both men and women. If the society takes the necessary action, the advertisers will do something about it. Examples of the Advertisements Example 1 debonairmag.com/the-most-controversial-ads-fashion-history-part-two/9 Example 2 fashionist.ca/2010/11/controversial-advertisements-violence-in-fashion-ads.html Example 3 fashionist.ca/2010/11/controversial-advertisements-violence-in-fashion-ads.html References American Apparel, (2009). FlexFleece. Retrieved From debonairmag.com/the-most-controversial-ads-fashion-history-part-two/9 Calvin Klein, (2010). Calvin Klein Jeans. Retrrieved From fashionist.ca/2010/11/controversial-advertisements-violence-in-fashion-ads.html Colombo G., Cullen, R., Lisle, B. (2007). Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s Dolce Gabbana, (2006). Dangerous Liaisons Style. Retrieved From fashionist.ca/2010/11/controversial-advertisements-violence-in-fashion-ads.html Kilbourne, J. (2008). â€Å"Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt†. True Women and Real Men :418-431.