"...Women are shown almost exclusively as housewives or sex objects... A woman is conditioned to view her face as a mask and her body as an object, as things seperate from and more imprtant than her real self, constantly in need of alteration, improvement, and disguise." (Kilbourne, 122). Woman are abused in the world of advertising. Advertisements such as the one seen above is one of many Kilbourne is speaking on behalf of. Woman in all these ads have pounds of make-up and are displayed to you in specific ways to sway your attention and loosen your purse strings to purchase the product they're representing. Burger King seems to have the idea that sex sells, and correcting advertising does as well.
Is there perhaps a way you can make commercials without demeaning the woman gender in any way? Or without suggesting when it comes to cars and beer, men are the dominant gender and when it comes to such things as cooking and cleaning, woman are? One of my proposed ideas is that commercials be done through consumer response; although, you do see more of these types of ads nowadays, and cannot be faked (seeing as how there are stern laws in advertising and you see "Actual Customer" or such things written in fine-print on the bottom of the ad). Its still not a preferred tactic when it comes to advertising some companies prefer selling sex over it.
Another option can be to use pure statistic whenever it comes to advertising. You do see this occasionally... only when you hear commercials on the radio (where visual aids are not available). However, over billboards and television it would be a scarce sight to stumble upon such an ad. Understandably, some companies have worse statistics than other when it comes down to it. Yet it is almost unheard of where one brand of a particular item has one up over everything than its other competitors, which means there would always be something factual to be able to lead into a commercial with. Although statistical data doesn't always yield positive results. "But long after figures showed a third, even half, of many car models being bought by woman, U.S. makers continued to be uncomfortable addressing woman" (Steinem, 114).
Which leads us to the last point. Targeted consumers. When on the topic of advertising electronics to woman: " 'But woman don't understand technology' say executives at the end of ad presentations" (Steinham, 114). Why is it that woman are not thought of as tech-savvy? or that men are the targeted audience when it comes to selling vehicles. Even through the data Steinem presented they still turned the other way. Not only is it insulting to consider that woman aren't meant to be the decision makers when purchasing cars or electronics, which goes the same with men with household appliances and utensils, but it must also hurt the sales of the companies themselves as the discrimination they are practicing hinders them in a that particular market for advertising.
Maybe one day it'll be possible to rid this idea of a certain type of people not being good enough, and have woman who are still beautiful without pounds of make-up, or a photo-shopped face and body in our ads. Maybe one day we won't have to use human beings as objects, and therefore make people seeing this media messaging also objectify themselves. Hopefully one day comes soon, but until then, at least we have these lovely posts and our delicious websites.
Aram, these two images are very interesting. The food image provides a subconscious image of another sexual act in everybody's mind when we immediately look at it. The second image is sad because it is a black man who feels as if he wont be socially accepted by his peers unless he pretends to be of a white man. This is a unfortunate thing, but today people from almost every race feels this way and wishes they were another race instead for whatever the reason may be. Great choices of imagery and nice solution.
ReplyDeleteHello Aram,
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I enjoyed reading it. I wanted to know, do you know of any woman in your life or upbringing who was a decision-maker when it came to buying products other than hair, make-ip and fashion accessories?
Since taking Women and The Media class, what observations have you notice and/or actions have you taken that has enabled you to a much more conscious consumer? And, how have you brought these ideas you are learning to your friends and family?
Thanks.