The advertising industry is used to create needs, or false needs, in relation to sexism, racism, and power hierarchies. The images are positioned in a way to distinguish the product from its competitors. Even if they have to reinvent the product to attract a consumer, it is creating an image for a product, associating with trends of Sexism, racism and power hierarchies, and even reinventing its identities. This then gives you a theme, which is then translated into advertising. This is the identity that the campaign is trying to draw out, even if it could be offensive to people, to attract attention.
The purpose is to manipulate the consumer through sexist imagery to make them relate the product to feeling good. Brands such as "Hennessey"and "corona" for example use black and Hispanic women in their advertising, which relates to racism, to gain the attention of the black and Hispanic audience. Using stereotypes such as rappers, models and celebrities, the millennial generation, is viewing these pervasive images in a negative effect to their daily lives. Headphones for example “beat by doctor dre”try to create a persona that they think directly relates to a specific race, black, Hispanic audience, and almost stereotyping them in every way.
An alternative to mainstream media advertising is using a non-profit way, and maybe using alternative funding, which makes the consumers and audience support to stay active and be out there, by showing the consumer different ideas and maybe audience feedback instead of just going by popular mainstream demand. A way that this could happen is if the consumers could blog about what their expierinces are and voice their main issues and concerns on the product. Another idea is to make things exclusive and hard to get. For example HBO does not advertise any of its product unless its on the channel, and has almost a “word of mouth” type of system where the people need to specifically buy the network to view the content, also the network does not show commercials unless it has to do with the network. Another idea could be the use of social media, if used in a consistent way, can be a great way to get the consumer what is going on.
Another idea is to try and create a unisex or gender-neutral way of advertising, and can be seen in a different approach. Stop using sex and especially women, as pure sex objects. The companies should make all the women look like they are being taken seriously and not like a piece of meat. “The use of the male figure is one strategy, in contemporary ads, for representing compulsive eating as “natural” or even lovable”(108, Bordo)
Society has made a very strong image especially to women, as to what is considered attractive or beautiful, giving girls as young as 7-8 years old a complex about body image. Celebrities and social media low are posting pictures constantly and making young girls be influenced more and more. “Girls are now expected to “do it all” in competition with men” (Gunther 219)
Never have I ever considered going to the gym like a maniac, or getting breast implants, or even lip injections until, Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner came into play. I see it in my friends who are also influenced by these people and images. But they are also fake images, because half of these celebrities are airbrushed and have botox. Tabloid magazines for having cellulite, acne, etc, so therefore the images are really not real then exploit most of the celebrities. “And such research suggests not only the mass media significantly affect the way audiences think about themselves but that representations of the body in particular have a resonance with self identity and self worth”. (216, Gunther)
But is that really what they want? To use someone like Kim Kardashian who is not famous for anything to make women and young girls idolize her? Is she okay with herself exploiting herself by becoming famous for making a sex tape and basically degrading herself? “Female stars also have added news value as “elite” personalities and the work on print represent feminity as a whole in that they dominate news and features about women” (211, Gunther).
Advertisers like to strike where the iron is hot, even using negative people who are famous for negative reasons to sell something that can be popular at that current situation, or create a buzz or 15 minutes of fame.
Advertisers use flaws, as an effective way to sell products by showing before and after effects. Basically to fill a void that a woman is feeling insecure about to make herself buy something to enhance her appearance once again to gain the attention of a man. Women then buy clothes, makeup, and dress in accordance to get the man and have the male gaze in mind.
The advertisers can try to reduce this by not using sex or gender at such an early age. Children’s toys even at that young of an age are sexualized. A little girl is growing thinking that looking like a Barbie or a Disney princess is the right way of life, when I fact many of the messages are false and create some time of insecure way and makes the female at that young of an age feel like she has to be dominated by a male. The ads should not however make the child or adolescent feel low self worth, and almost making the consumer feel powerless and a slave to it. One advertisement that I found not in the US, unified children of all sexes. If we could do that to more toys maybe we could set an example for the youth to not be so gender dominated by toys, colors or anything in their future.
Works Cited:
Bordo, Susan. “Hunger as Ideology.” Unbearable Weight. Second Edition, Tenth Anniversary Edition. 99- 133. University of California Press, 2004.
Butler, Judith. “Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire.” Gender Trouble. Routledge, 2006. 1-46. Print.
Clark, Danae. “Commodity Lesbianism.” Camera Obscura. Vol. 25. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1991. Print.
Cortese, Anthony. “Constructed Bodies, Deconstructing Ads Sexism in Advertising.” Provocateur: Images of Women and Minorities in Advertising. United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. 45-76. Print.
hooks, bell. “Selling Hot Pussy: Representations of Black Female Sexuality in the Cultural Marketplace.” Black Looks: Race and Representation. South End Press, 1992. 122 -132. Print.
Le Espiritu, Yen. “Ideological Racism and Cultural Resistance.” Asian American Women and Men: Labor, Laws, and Love. United Kingdom: Rowman & Littlefield, 1997. Print.
Pinkney, Corrine. “The Effects of Internalized Oppression on the Black Community.” Web. 14 Mar. 2015.
Wykes, Maggie, and Barrie Gunter. “Conclusion.” The Media and Body Image. SAGE Publications, 2004. 204 - 221. Print.
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