Advertising

Even as someone not in the advertising industry you may be aware of the old adage “Sex sells” and indeed, looking at advertising today, that seems more than ever a go to strategy. Using women's bodies to sell merchandise appeals to the male gaze and women's insecurities, rather than attempt to connect with consumers on a higher level.  This perpetuates the patriarchal culture that is already deeply ingrained in our society, such as the idea of biological essentialism “the belief in the inborn inferiority of women”  (Tyson, page 83).

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When considering advertising aimed at women, including affluent women, these are positioned in a way to keep a woman in her place. As Gloria Steinem recounts in her essay “Sex, Lies and Advertising”, when presented with evidence that the readers of Ms. Magazine, a feminist publication, would be good customers for Estée Lauder the president of the company, Leonard Lauder admitted “Estée Lauder is selling a ‘a kept-woman mentality.’” (Steinem, page 119). This is just another example of manipulating the public and women’s perception of themselves, “She has to survey everything she is and everything she does because how she appears to others, and ultimately how she appears to men, is of crucial importance for what is normally thought of as the success of her life. Her own sense of being herself is surplanted by a sense of being appreciated as herself by another”, (Berger, page 46).

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Keeping women as objects to be seen can have disturbing consequences not only in the self esteem of young girls and women but also in how this objectification can be taken by certain men. Seeing women as nothing but objects to be used can be used as justification or even part of the thought process of violence against women. 

This is not to say that all men, even all men who do indeed objectify women, will be violent criminals.  But it is something to consider. Do images like this....

 directly lead to headlines like this? Probably not. However the subtext of ads that portray women as objects to be consumed is a  dangerous one. 

Yes, I'm looking at you, PETA.

Advertising strategies that do not uphold the normative power structure, or boldly challenge it are often critiqued or not as successful. Based on a study conducted by their parent company, Uniliever, in 2004, Dove began their Campaign for Real Beauty, a marketing initiative to promote the natural beauty of real women in all shapes, races, and ages and self esteem in young girls. The campaign consisted of commercials, viral videos, and advertisements.

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However certain billboards from this campaign received criticism and the general public was not as receptive as hoped. One situated in Times Square featured an average American woman and people were asked to vote whether she was “Fat or Fab” eventually the fat votes outnumbered the fab ones.

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In a promising sign that pop culture is moving in a positive direction,  there has been a recent shift in TV ads featuring genders beyond the typical binaries, such as a Kindle spot that portrays a heterosexual married couple and a homosexual one. Also a popular Doritos ad shows a dad and his friends dressing up like princesses. But these examples deal with gender and sexual orientation. Issues of body image and maintaining patriarchy still hold up to the old standard.

Sources:
Critical Theory Today, Lois Tyson.
Ways of Seeing, John Berger.
Sex, Lies and Advertising, Gloria Steinem.