The sexual objectification of women in advertising Essay

The sexual objectification of women in advertising - Essay Example This "The sexual objectification of women in advertising" outlines the issue of gender inequality and the image of women as a sexual object ad. Ads are great, in several senses. They are one amongst the rarely thriving creative fields in the society. They make us smile and forget our problems through their imaginative rosy world. But, sadly a great proportion of ad directors simply believe they can sell their product only by portraying a woman sexually. The history of this notion started way back from the days of Esquire magazine and several others like the "Play Boy" continued on their footsteps. The copy writer turned editor of the Esquire magazine initially started to feature the petty girls and the pin up models to satisfy the male ego. They were in a crucial state to produce a magazine which attracts men. They used strong sarcasm under the cover of humour against the growing women power in the late 20's. Men who lost their jobs to the ever increasing women flock, found solace in such magazines. Everything from the cooking talent of women to their housekeeping norms were strongly criticized in the Esquire (Breazael, 2003). The magazine simply represented the mainstream idea of "Why don't these women keep quiet and let men manage the world?" in every bit. Several women groups stood up strongly against them. In fact the magazine was forced to keep their views under elite cover, mostly because of the rising feminist groups. There doesn’t seem to be much change in the way the advertising world view women. In fact, the objectification of women in media only increases as years pass. There are several reasons for this. Goffman who researched over 500 advertisements on a gender based view noted three important points. The size and the height of men always seemed to be higher than women. Women were shown as stereotypical, overexcited beings often laughing or acting hysterically. Their touch and body is always combined with overt graze, usually representing th em lying down in sofa's or beds (Goffman, 1979). The poses and mannerisms of women are usually depicted to be childlike, innocent or immature. Men see in such poses what women see in a baby, the need to nurture. A woman buys a product where a baby looks at her sheepishly with its finger on the mouth, kindled by her motherly instincts. Similarly a man buys a product showcasing a beautiful woman, with wide eyes, slightly open lips, stretched hands and legs, kindled by his natural dominant side. The problem here is both men and women are equal and the necessity for prince in armour has long disappeared. There is no point in portraying women as helpless, innocent, dependable creatures, luring men with sexiness when they live a completely respectful life. Women movements and associations should join hands together to stop such senselessness. If men cannot accept themselves being portrayed as cavemen when they wear Armani suit, why should a normal women accept a bimbo portrayal wherever s he turns to. This is an age where governments are overthrown through Facebook. If women around the world join hands, such arrogance will be put to check immediately. The products of the Nestle Company were boycotted because they buy palm oil by destroying forests where orang-utan’s live. The company was forced to stop the worthless act saving the primitive species. If consumer