Make Yourself: The Progression of Women in Advertising

After the analysis and comparison of the six selected advertisements, it is time to think about the question what the differences reveal about the image of women in advertisements. Did the role of women really change here, too? This question cannot be answered with a simple Yes or No. On the first look the modern advertisements seem to focus on positive feelings, while the advertisements of the 1950s, in contrast, evoke rather negative emotions. This is demonstrated especially on the example of the shampoo and the anti-aging cream advertisement. However, their actual statements are quite similar: the anti-aging ads suggest that a woman should look younger than her age if she wants

Advertisements are made to grasp a consumer’s attention to the item the creators are selling, and sometimes the decide to objectify an entire audience in hopes of receiving attention from the male population. Studies have shown that as time passes, women become less affected and offended by the oversexualization of women in advertisements. Therefore, women have become desensitized to their objectification, to the point they now view it as normal. During the initial period of the hypersexualization of women, advertisements about women in traditional roles such as housewife or being in the kitchen, receded. In 1991 a new wave of feminism appeared, where women are trying to reclaim their bodies by embracing sexuality, while it is a good concept,

Hook- Susan B. Anthony once said “It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less.”

• Media, in this case, has been used against women by showing some unrealistic beauty standards; we see that the woman in the advert is half naked which according to me is wrong. • There is a perpetuation where men get portrayed as being dominant over women this is aimed at oppressing women. • Through the advert, I can see that men are taught to be violent, physically strong by being ultra masculine as compared to women who are referred to as weak objects. • Women are prone to have low self-esteem than men that is why she is almost half naked to attract viewers by showing off her naked body parts. • The Culture that portrays entitlement is eminent in the adverts since men have a feeling of deserving something more by being entitled to power and women as well.

The level that sexism occurs in advertising in 2017 seems to be inequivalent to those seen in 1960’s advertising. The gender roles of women in 1960 were defined and marketed as being submissive, subservient and less than a mans role. Ad’s that air in 2017 show the side of this gender inequality and it is more rampant than initially thought. A quick search turns up just how many advertisers use sex to sell products, ideas and endorsements. As pointed out in Female Stereotypes in Print Advertising: A Retrospective Analysis by Yorgos C. Zotos, Eirini Tsichla, “Gender stereotypes in the media, and the mass media in particular, have a long-recognized capacity to define “socially-acceptable” ways of being or relating to others, as well as to

Women are suppressed and degraded in society. They are merely seen as pets for males or care-takers of the house and children. The advertisement on women’s equality is rhetorically effective due to its connection to the audience, emotional appeal, and how things are positioned in the ad, as well as the misogynistic comments and how society depicts women.

The so called housewife draws her bath settles in and thinks of the many duties that she has to do for the day, she calls her husband and tells him about her wonderful bath and the amazing soap she is using just like everyone else would. This is a 1950s dove ad, an ad that sexualizes and characterizes the women as something she is not and creates a stereotype of a stay home mom and skinny women who have nothing better to do. The appearance of people in ads has changed a lot over time, in the 1950's women were degraded and sexualized throughout advertisements to be skinny. Whereas now some companies are fighting to change this vicious cycle. Although many companies still portray the same perspective as they did in the 1950's, there is now hope.

The article “The Most Powerful Women in Advertising” highlights the introduction of women in advertising. Women make up a small percentage of advertising managers; however, they don’t match their male peers in the managerial ranks. Based on table one, the number of women as advertising and promotions managers has increased steadily. From 1983-2015, women in this occupation rose from 21.8%-56.5%. The most obvious answer for the increase is that with technology rapidly expanding, women as a target market have increased. Another assumption for this increase is the fact that women account for a high percentage of shoppers in households and women are better at speaking to each other. Even in race and ethnicity, the percentages have increased. The conclusion that I have drawn from table one is there is a demand for women, African Americans, Asians and Hispanics as Advertising and promotions managers.

Jean Kilbourne (2010) in the video Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s image of women pointed out that people always assume the women in advertisements have the perfect look and a good figure. Many women even feel ashamed when they failed to achieve ideal beauty and retain slim figure after they saw the advertisements. I agree with her idea that the advertisement depict women in a very dangerous way. Many people started to judge women by perfect look and slim figure. These kinds of advertisements may do harm to women’s health mentally and physically, especially to teenagers, when they are trying to achieve perfect appearance as perfect women depicted in advertisements.

Always is a feminine-hygiene product brand produced by Proctor & Gamble. Not only does Always sell feminine hygiene products, but they are also advocates of empowering women. Most brand advertisements have a sole purpose of promoting and selling their product or service. However, Always had a different agenda in mind when they released the Like a Girl commercial and #Likeagirl campaign. The commercial has attracted women all over the country for its promotion of the empowerment of women, as well as their line of feminine care products. I chose this topic because it targets women in a way no other company has before. The advertisement does not blatantly state what product the company is trying to sell, but rather appeals to the viewer’s emotions.

Throughout the past five years of advertising, women have been seen as nothing more than underdressed and oversexualized objects for men to look at. Women have been shown in advertisement as carefree and problem free people who belong in the kitchen. According to most advertisements, a woman is supposed to be getting guys drinks and taking care of their every need, and doing whatever a man says because he is in charge. Advertisements that oversexualize and overdramatize a woman’s looks and behaviors make it hard for a man to take them seriously, and sometimes men believe that it is okay to treat a woman as a sexual object, because “hey, everyone else is doing it.” Also, because of advertisements that oversexualize a woman, it makes younger

Many commercials represent the female figure as an unemployed character doing the traditional tasks in the household rather than being in the office, or as a sexual object that through seduction would be likely to obtain what it wants. In contrast,

These roles for females represent what the advertisement industry believe buyers deem as the real world. As Goffman asked," What messages about women have been given to society through magazine

Stereotypes in America have existed for hundreds of years. They were present before the Internet, television, radio, and even magazines. This is not to say that these newer media devices do not contribute to the overwhelming prevalence of racism, sexism, and stereotyping. Typecasting occurs regularly in society, for men, and especially women. Advertisers are the single largest contributor to the continuation of female degradation and sexual bias in our society.

Gender roles in the workplace are a common topic as equal pay is a right still being fought for today. Through these advertisements looking for workers, it demonstrates the differences expected by the genders in the 30s, 60s, and within the past 30 years.