1. The first advertisement is for Drummond sweaters. It's an old magazine ad from the 70's, but it's interesting to see that not much has changed as far as sexist advertisements go. In this ad, the nude model is laying in a seductive pose, and the sleeves of sweaters are covering her private areas, but the sleeves look like arms that are touching her in inappropriate places. The copy reads, "If you don't buy these new Drummond sweaters, we'll go right back to male models." To me, this is suggesting that having women as models is a privilege to the men looking at the ads. This ad is obviously sexist because the model is an object for men to look at, she's not even wearing or "modeling" any of the sweaters.
2. The second ad is a Burger King ad for the BK super seven incher. It shows a woman with her mouth open and the seven incher sandwich inches away from her open mouth. The copy reads, "It'll blow your mind away." This ad is very sexist and offensive because it gives the appearance that the woman is about to perform oral sex on the sandwich, which coincidentally is shaped like a penis. The model in the ad looks like a blow-up sex doll with her open-mouth expression and wide eyes. Once again, this woman is being used as an object in the advertisement, not really modeling anything.
3. The third ad is an interactive advertisement for AXE body spray. It is a magazine cover that shows only a woman's neck, and she is wearing a leather jacket with a real zipper. If the reader unzips the zipper it reveals the model's chest and she is wearing a leather bra with the AXE body spray can positioned between her breasts. This ad is sexist because the woman model's face is not even shown, only her chest, and the leather bra she is wearing barely holds in her breasts. The copy is in Spanish, but translated it says, "Discover the power of leather." This ad is yet another example of a woman model being used as an object to hold the AXE body spray in her breasts.
4. The fourth ad is another AXE body spray ad. It shows a woman therapist wearing a very short skirt and low cut blazer. The copy reads, "Show me on the doll where the sorority girls touched you." The therapist is holding up a tiny doll and is sitting in a seductive way. This ad is sexist because it is depicting sorority girls as overaggressive women who couldn't keep their hands off of this guy. Also, the way the therapist is sitting and the expression on her face shows that she too is wanting to "feel up" the guy. This ad is portraying women as animals in the way that they want to pounce on this guy who used AXE body spray.
5. The fifth ad is for a company called Deckadance. It shows one girl in a swimsuit that barely cover her breasts and the other girl wearing a thong and no top, facing the back. The first girl is climbing a ladder onto a dock and she has her eyes closed and is facing away from the camera. The second girl is towering over the first with her butt being the main focus of the ad. This ad is supposed to be selling speaker equipment. It is very sexist because neither of the models are even facing the camera, which insinuates that they are objects for men to look at. Also, the topless model towering over the first suggests that something sexual is about to happen between the two. This ad is demeaning towards women because it is using their bodies to "sell" the speaker equipment.Pop culture definitely defines the roles that men and woman are supposed to play in society. Women are depicted as objects for men to look at and are seen as far less superior to men. Men are seen as playing the dominant role in relationships and advertisements as they are usually controlling the woman in an ad.
Pop culture also depicts race in specific ways. For example, an African American model is usually depicted as animalistic, even wearing animal print clothing. This goes to show that pop culture can have a great influence on the way people view men, woman and people of color. Pop culture attempts to define the roles that each one is supposed to play, and many times people think these roles should be standard in real life.
When I see something sexist on TV, I will sometimes say something to my friends if it is outrageous enough. But some things are shown so frequently that I no longer am outraged every time it comes on TV. For example, I have come accustomed to seeing Girls Gone Wild commercials late at night, because this happens every night.
When I hear the word feminist I think of girls who don't shave their legs or wear makeup or dress in a feminine way. I have this image in my head because it is what the media depicts as feminist.
In your first advertisement you found for Duncan Sweaters, that is definitely depicting women as objects only for men's viewing pleasures. I didn't even notice until I read your commentary about how they threaten to "take the female model away" when you said, "she isn't even modeling the clothing." This is extremely true. I completely overlooked this fact until I saw your post. Good observation. I also noticed that the male sweaters, representing men are all touching the female model, like they are feeling her naked body. I don't know why anyone would enjoy being attacked by sweaters.
ReplyDeleteI also found the BK ad, it is horribly degrading and suggestive. Makes you wonder how they were able to get that advertisement approved to be run at all.
The most alarming ad of all of yours is the one for Deckadance. I was looking at the advertisement and trying to figure out what they were advertising, and I could not figure it out. It turns out from their website at http://deckadance.image-line.com/ that they are advertising DJ equipment. How on earth do two women on a cruise ship that are mostly naked represent DJ equipment?
I think the most shocking thing is that women are constantly objectified in ways that have absolutely nothing to do with the product they are supposedly advertising. It is sad that our society is allowed to do that and that we continue to do this.