Sexism in the Media

           At no point in history has technology ever been as influential and wide spread as it is today. My generation has grown up with technology, so much so that we probably do not realize how dependent we are on it. With technology comes the vast flood of advertising and images. Thus, I feel completely confident in saying that we are the image generation. Every day all of us are effortlessly exposed to thousands of advertising images. We see billboards as we drive, posters around campus, pop-up windows on the Internet and commercials on television. Sometimes we are able to consciously recognize the messages that these advertisements are sending. Other times, the hidden context and meaning can seep into our thought process subliminally and subconsciously affect the way we view others and ourselves. When this happens we internalize and then project onto others the viewpoints and opinions of the people manufacturing these images and advertisements. This internalization and projection is monumental in shaping our society. I chose two advertisements that reflect and demonstrate the sexist currents that are prevalent in today’s society.

            The first advertising campaign that I selected was promulgated by Fit: Fat Free Yogurt. The advertisement features three frames of well-known pop culture movie scenes. The first frame originally featured Sharon Stone in the movie Basic Instinct. This film was widely successful and Sharon Stone was hailed as extremely sexy and erotic. She became the fantasy and ideal of many men in the United States. During the specific scene in the film, Sharon Stone’s character famously flashes the detectives while she is being interrogated. This act is overtly sexual and erotic. Similarly, the other two frames, from American Beauty and depicting Marilyn Monroe, originally symbolized the ideal sexualized woman. More importantly, they are posed for the viewing pleasure of men. The American Beauty scene stems directly from a male fantasy, in which he lusts for the younger girls body, not her personality or other qualities.

Turning towards the Fit campaign, we see that all of the women portrayed are not intended to be sexy or attractive. The print on the ad reads, “Forget about it. Men’s preferences will never change.” Not only is this demeaning and stereotypical to women, especially larger women; it is also extremely presumptuous of men and their capacity to change and evolve. Marilyn Frye’s article Oppression discusses the detrimental effect that patriarchy has on society as a whole. As we see, this advertisement is constraining both men and women to very strict and demeaning roles. Women are expected to be thin, sexy and pleasing for men to see. Accordingly, men are only supposed to value women for their bodies, instead of their values and mind. This advertisement makes it appear that a woman’s waist size is her most defining and important quality. I believe that images and messages such as these are finding a growing audience because of enlightened sexism. This is the notion that women are now powerful and stereotypes are acceptable because they are so untrue or considered a joke. Essentially, it is ok to enact stereotypes because we have proven them to be antiquated and incorrect. Unfortunately, it is painfully clear that stereotypes such as the one depicted in the advertisement are not only taken seriously, but also have a very real effect on our society.

Susan Douglas directly addresses this issue in her chapter ‘Sex R Us’ and ‘Lean & Mean.’ The former addresses the huge presence of sex in the media. The growing trend in the industry is to market sex to increasingly younger demographics. They are convincing young girls that the only way to empower themselves is to act like a sexual object and please men at whatever costs. This might mean dumbing yourself down, hiding your true interests or losing weight so you can resemble a sex symbol. Her chapter ‘Lean & Mean’ delves a little farther into the consequences of these messages. The ideal female body has now become that of a white, twelve year old with big boobs. The ramifications and implications of such a narrow image are huge. The rate of plastic surgery is skyrocketing. In 1992 only 32,000 women received breast implants; in 2004 this number jumped to 247,000 women (Douglas p.214.) Why is this happening you may ask? This increase is largely due to makeover shows, such as The Swan and Extreme Makeover, or companies such as Victoria’s Secret, which promote their ideal female form. All of these sources want women to believe that their body is essential in determining their worth as a female. Furthermore, if women don’t already or aren’t actively trying to make themselves look like Giselle (model) then they are inadequate. Despite the fact that in 2006 American’s spent approximately $12.2 billion on cosmetic procedures, body satisfaction is still abysmal. Women are not happy with their bodies because the media does not want them to be. As long as women continue to strive for what they see in Cosmo or Vogue than companies such as these will continue to have a steady and reliable stream of income. It is crucial to understand that wanting women to feel and look better was never the intention of these companies. The ideal body is about capitalism and class privilege. It costs a lot of money to have the ideal body and to be healthy. Thus, the minority, poor and workingwomen can resign themselves to a body image on the outskirts of society.

My second advertisement focuses on the relationship between male monetary dominance and female sexual suppression. The advertisement is for Natan Jewelry. The two frames illustrate the notion that women will have sex with men in return for diamonds and/or other expensive gifts. Besides the fact that this idea is bordering on prostitution, it is also highly offensive and demeaning. I believe this image can be linked very closely to the social atmosphere of the 1950’s. Betty Friedan’s famous work The Feminine Mystique highlights the loneliness and lack of accomplishment many housewives felt. While their husbands were out working, they were stuck in the house cleaning and dealing with the children. It is important to note that the 1950’s were a time of high consumption, because new products were being invented/ upgraded for the household, such as: dishwasher, stoves and laundry machines. The connection between the two is that in the 1950’s men bought their wives a nice house, car and dishwasher and expected her to be happy and not have the desire to work. In their minds, they had provided their wives with all the essentials items. In fact, they went above and beyond the necessities and included several luxuries. Thus, when more and more women were clinically depressed, men for the most part could not understand why. This advertisement is picking up on this notion that as long as you give women presents and gifts she will be happy and also sleep with you. This totally discredits a women’s capacity to judge a man for his personality or other good qualities. It is sending an awful message to men, that their personalities are irrelevant as long as they buy a woman a big diamond ring.

 It is so dangerous for young boys and men to see and internalize advertisements like these. A subconscious expectation will form that makes them believe buying power is the best and fastest way to sleep with a woman. So what happens the first time this tactic fails? Does he accept her rejection and move on or does he respond with violence, because she has the audacity to reject what has been engrained in him? Sadly, the media wants us to believe that purchasing power is the true path to happiness. In her chapter ‘New Girliness’, Douglas discusses how the media manipulates society, but more specifically women into believing that true empowerment comes from buying goods. Unfortunately, in our country, men are still predominantly wealthier and thus have a stronger buying power. Thus, instead of women being able to buy these goods for themselves they must depend on a man to do it for them. The whole cycle is absurd, because it creates unneeded systems of dependencies.

Our society is truly dependent on the media for everyday information, entertainment, guidance and advice. Unfortunately, the media is sending some truly despicable messages to the general public. The overt and covert sexist beliefs only help to reinforce patriarchy. Women have been given a body image standard that they are expected to meet at all costs. Dieting, excessive workouts and even dangerous cosmetic surgery are all acceptable means to achieving what the media has deemed beautiful. Sadly, this false notion of beauty is so deeply rooted in our society. One of the leading problems amongst young girls is body image. It is almost impossible for women to be totally satisfied with their body because the new definition of beauty is so narrow and constrained. Additionally, most of these improvements are done for male approval and recognition, because it is essential to be attractive and pleasing to men. This is so important because men have most of the buying power. The media have berated women with the notion that buying goods is really empowering. Unfortunately, women make significantly less than their male counterparts, so if they cannot buy for themselves, they better be attractive so men will buy things for them. Thus, we have women depending on men and patriarchy prevailing once again!

Ad Campaign #1 

   

Ad Campaign #2

Media Culture Project: Real Beauty by Candice Green

Candice Green

Intro to Women Studies

“Real Beauty”

Throughout the years millions of women have asked the question, what is real Beauty? Back in the day this question was not as hard because being pretty was not as important as being able to feed your family. However today it is completely different; women of all ages are being told what is beautiful and how to get there by the media. The media has such a hold on society, and we see it everywhere through advertisements, billboards, TV, movies, etc. They try to convince young women that beauty is 6 foot 2, perfect hair and skin, 110 pounds, and a double D cup size. One company took a step back and realized how much this is affecting women and especially young girls; dove decided to launch a campaign for what real beauty is. They created two commercials that really expose what is wrong with advertising in today’s society.

The first commercial by Dove is called “evolution”. It starts with a pretty girl in chair with two lights on her, it then proceeds to fast-forward as people adding makeup and doing her hair transform this woman into a beautiful billboard model. Then a photographer takes a series of photos of her and one is selected. Then it is brought up in Photoshop where they again alter her appearance even further by lengthening her neck, altering her skin, enlarging her eyes and mouth, etc. Then it is transformed to a billboard advertisement for a fictional foundation makeup. It then ends with the statement, “No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted.”

“Evolution” really exposes the way models are made to look so beautiful in ads. If we all had a team of makeup artists we would look like that too. Those types of ads really mess with girls mind; the ad is telling them that if they buy this make-up they will look like this, when that is not the case. The model looks like that because of a lot of make-up and very good use of Photoshop. Dove did a great job with this commercial cause now young women can see that a lot of the faces they see in ads are not real, there computer generated. Ads take advantage of the advance technology we have available to us, so instead of using the pretty the model, they turn her into some super, super model that no girl can live up to. A lot of girls look at these ads of beautiful women and think, “what do I need to do to look like that.” They shouldn’t because most girls don’t look like that. Hopefully girls see this commercial and realize they don’t have to look like a computer image.

The second commercial entitled, Beauty Pressure, is also part of the Dove campaign for real beauty. It starts with a close up on a little girl and the background music saying, “Here it comes.” It then quickly switches to a series of advertisements of women in their bra and underwear (they are super skinny and very beautiful). It then switches quickly to a series of commercials and only a little bit of each commercial is heard, you hear words like, younger, smaller, lighter, firmer, thinner, softer, etc. And then you see a women getting fatter and skinner with different images going in between like running on a treadmill, eating carrots and lettuce. It then switches to all the forms of plastic surgery available like, breast implants, nose jobs, and Botox. It ends with the statement, “talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does.”

“Beauty Pressure” was my favorite out of the two because it really exposes why these ads are so wrong. And the reason why is because of their impact on little girls. The ending quote was perfect, “talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does.” That is perfect; it’s so simple, but so true. Young girls, especially in this next generation, are surrounded by technology and with technology come advertising. These ads can have a profound effect on them; they teach them what beauty is, when in fact that is not beauty. Surgery, dieting, and make-up are not the keys to being beautiful. Real beauty comes from within and just because you’re beautiful on the outside, doesn’t mean you’re beautiful in the inside and in the long run that’s what counts, that’s what is going to keep relationships intact and make you a good person. Relationships aren’t built on how you look, their built on other things like trust and heart. Dove once again does a great job of showing how the Ad industry seeps into our minds. They flash words like thinner and firmer and women flock to buy the product. Dove says forget the beauty industry; let your daughter know that real beauty is what you are inside.

The Advertising industry would not do all this unless it worked, because in all honesty they don’t care about how they skew what a real woman is, as long as they make a profit. There way of advertising is so effective because of how girls see themselves now a day. Girl’s self-confidence is directly related to how they think they look and how others think they look. “The Body Project” by Joan Brumberg really explains how girls in this era are really concerned with the way they look. I’m sure Brumberg would say that Ads today are a catalyst for this phenomenon of “how you look is who you are”. She would probably enjoy Dove’s commercials and would probably want more made. The pressure to look a certain way is very high on America’s female youth. Joan Brumbergs demonstrates the psychological and physical effects this quest to have a perfect body has on a female. Not only is it all they think about, some girls take on dangerous habits to obtain this body. This is obviously reinforced when girls are surrounded by ads telling them they are not pretty enough because they don’t look like the models in this picture. Joan Brumberg would support Dove’s campaign to show what real beauty is.

Enlighten sexism plays a huge role in today’s society; “it tells us that these beauty standards are actually empowering because they turn men into helpless, salivating dung beetles… (Douglas 214).” Enlighten sexism tells us that its cool to be obsessed with how you look because it’s empowering. The fact is however these standards are making us less powerful, this model ideal woman is not real. Douglas talks about how so few women in the world are satisfied and how it is so hard to get it because this standard of beauty is so skewed, you have to be thin, smooth, no wrinkles, perfect skin, perfect hair, and big breasts. She explains how the media adds on to this skewing it, by Victoria’s Secret asking us “What is sexy?” and showings us Giselle Bundchen is crazy (215). The enlighten sexism body is a Barbie, and your body is the female way of showing how much you are worth in society (214). Douglas hates this idea, but points out how it is growing faster and faster with every year. Check the stats for plastic surgery, it’s growing at an alarming rate and Advertising plays a huge role in that. They show us what body is right and we follow. Dove is trying to attack this enlighten sexism. They want to show what real beauty and expose the media for what it is, and that is fake.

I think the real question is: when did this obsession with looks start and why did it start? What does what you look like have anything to do with what kind of person you are? This Dove campaign is really trying to expose how the Ad and beauty industry have it all wrong and how it’s mostly fake. Maybe one-day women won’t be judged on how they look but what they have inside.

Commercials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I&feature=related

Media Culture Midterm Project: Smart or not?

Allergan is a pharmaceutical company which produces saline and silicone gel breast implant, and which is one of the two breast implant manufacturers that approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Allergan released an advertisement for its breast implant products with a slogan “You’ve never looked smarter.” People can easily get confused with this advertisement. Because traditional advertisements always accentuates the so-called ‘aesthetic’ beauty of enlarged breasts by putting large breasts, or, veiledly, a pair of big size bra on the advertisements. However, this advertisement has only a lightheartedly smiling woman in casual dress on it with its obscure slogan, and people even can hardly see her cleavage! What does Allergan try to suggest? Actually, this is the best and worst breast implant advertisement that I have ever seen. It is the best because it does not suggest that large breasts are important with before-after pictures. However, it actually denotes that smart girls know how to largely take advantage of their bodies. This advertisement makes me indignant because it was developed on the idea that women basically are sex objects and we are smart when we understand and accept this idea ourselves.

This advertisement indicates that smart women know how to apply the effect that their bodies have on men. It is self-evident that the trend that more and more women undergo breast implants is another manifestation of patriarchy. Because it is a surgery that provide male with sensual pleasure while exerting painfulness on female. Instead of resisting patriarchy, many women tend to submit to patriarchy because they know they can gain privileges by their bodies. Therefore, undergoing breast implants can be perceived as smart choice because it is an action of taking control though painfully. In this society, women can still use our bodies to gain a lot of things: marrying rich men can provide women with affluent life, sleeping with directors can earn actresses places in the world of film, and even young girls know that they can make their fellow male students to help them by simple acting in a pettishly charming manner. As Douglas has said in her book, nowadays, the mass media has created many powerful women, though these women in media often look professional in certain areas, independent, and highly open on sex issues, they are also be depicted as sex objects for most of them must also be sexy. This kind of women is usually be regarded as smart because they use their bodies. While gaining privileges by regarding themselves as sex objects, these so-called powerful women also acquiesce and promote patriarchy. Then, how can these women be regarded as smart?

Through the woman’s lighthearted smile, this advertisement also suggests that women can gain happiness through breast implant surgery. Nowadays, more and more women become disappointing with their bodies for this society perceives female bodies as sources of power. Therefore, many women turn to cosmetic and breast implant surgeries to gain confidence and happiness. Because there is an idea prevalent among these women that “if your(their) exterior changed, then, ipso facto, your(their) interior did, too, and always immediately and for better” (Douglas, 223); women can be happy and confident when they are beautiful and sexy enough. In American culture, the public is constantly being told by the mass media that women’s happiness is closely related with their appearances. Endless makeover shows such as The Swan always tells that how many women live unhappily because of insipid appearance and how their relationships and sex lives are suffering from their appearances (Douglas, 224). After going through a three-month of makeover without seeing their faces themselves, the participants of The Swan often scream, cry, and exclaim into camera that they look beautiful (Douglas, 225). And many people do accept that they have been “directly influenced to have a procedure by the plastic surgery reality television shows they watch” (Douglas, 226). However, as makeover shows like The Swan do not continue to report the later lives of these participants, whether these participants lead happier lives after the change of appearances or not remain unknown to the public. But studies have shown that “the suicide rate among women who had received breast implants was twice the suicide rate of the general population”(Douglas, 233). Does this happen because breast implants and cosmetic surgery actually cannot provide people with happiness and even may cause sufferings?

This advertisement also largely weakens the troublesomeness and risks of breast implant surgeries. Breast implant cannot be efficacious forever. Breast implants actually have a limited life which can last sixty years or just six weeks (Douglas, 227). “According to the National Institute of Medicine, 25 to 40 percent of people who get breast implants end up needing another operation to correct something wrong with the first one.  (The rate varied in particular studies, depending on things like how long women were monitored, the typical time being five years.)” (1) Moreover, breast implant is actually very harmful to human body. Silicone gel may release into the body causing the breast to collapse and may even lead to various diseases (Douglas, 226). Though implants filled with saline seem relatively harmless as they will only release salt water into human bodies (Douglas, 226), they may cause other troubles; for example, since they gradually release salt water, the patients need either to undergo further breast implant surgeries or to bear shriveled, sometimes nonidentical, breasts. And “saline breast implants can rupture, change shape, and, er, “shift position” ” (Douglas, P227). In fact, it was reported that an Asian actress’ fake boobs shifted to her shoulders after she played bungee jumping when she was recording for a Tv show. Although breast implants do not cause breast cancer, they do make it harder to to detect breast cancer (2). While research has also showed that with fake boobs “are more likely to die of brain cancer or lung cancer compared to other plastic surgery patients” (2). But are women really smart when they risk their health?

It is not surprise that in this breast-obsessed society women who undergo breast implants are regarded smarter than feminists who refuse to yield to male-dominated beauty rule. Just like girls sometimes receive suggestions of how to be smart before men such as “keep mouth shut when men are speaking”, so women gain suggestion from this breast implant advertisement that smart women know how to please man and gain from it in regardless of the pains they must suffer.



Resources:
48 REASONS NOT TO GET A BOOB JOB, http://www.paulkienitz.net/no-implants.html.
What You Need to Know Before You Get Breast Implants,http://www.breastimplantinfo.org/what_know/before_you_get.html.
Douglas, Susan， Enlightened Sexism，New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2010.

Media Project: Beer Ads and Gender

The media presents us with countless examples of sexist ads that perpetuate gender stereotypes as dictated by our culture and the patriarchal structure on which our relationships are based. We are constantly inundated with messages from television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and internet that tell us how men and women should and should not act in society in order to be accepted. Susan Douglas in Enlightened Sexism brings up several examples of television programs and print advertisements that perpetuate gender stereotypes, portraying middle class, white, thin, and made-up women as ideal females and middle class, athletic, humorous, and powerful men as ultimate males. In her article, “Sex, Lies, and Advertising,” Gloria Steinem explains her struggles as an editor of MS Magazine to secure untraditional advertisements targeted towards the un-stereotypical woman reader. She points out that most advertisements we see geared toward men, like cars, technology, and beer, are products in which women too are interested. Yet, these industries continue to advertise solely to men, perpetuating stereotypes that a man should be interested in cars, electronics and watching football on Sundays with a cold glass of beer in hand, while a woman should dress in a short skirt and cleavage-bearing top as she rides in the passenger seat of a pickup truck, begs her male counterpart for help fixing the stove, and serves her honey a frosted mug of his favorite brew for the big game. Fortunately for us, advertisers have it all wrong; women are interested in things other than makeup and fashion. Then why are we continually ignored?

When thinking of the most sexist ads in the media today and the ads that are most clearly directed at male consumers, one cannot forget to mention beer. There are numerous examples of sexist beer commercials and print ads that depict stereotypically “hot” women, with low cut shirts and overwhelming cleavage, as merely props in a man’s world. In one commercial, brought to us by Miller Genuine Draft, a man asks a stereotypically attractive female bartender for a light beer. When she asks him if he prefers a certain taste, the man responds that he does not care. The bartender’s response? “When you start to care, take off your skirt and grab a Miller,” as the camera pans to the gentleman’s frilly sarong. Miller’s “brilliant” advertisers have devised a way to threaten men into drinking their product. Stop being such a girl and start drinking Miller! Unfortunately for Miller Genuine Draft, the fact that a “hot” female delivers the line does not make up for its sexist message that only real men care about how their beer tastes. Would a woman ever care about how their light beer tastes? Forget it. Her only concern is that she doesn’t spill beer on her frilly skirt or accidentally order a regular beer, jeopardizing her new low-cal diet.

Sure, Miller advertises beer to its male consumers, but fear not! Miller advertises to women as well. This print advertisement, which appeared in magazines in 2009, promoted the 64-calorie Miller Genuine Draft 64 (better known as MGD 64). The ad features a stereotypically beautiful woman, thin, fashionable, looking carefree and happy. Next to the model it reads, “Looking to: drop a dress size or two? Put more pep in your step? Have a little less jiggle in your giggle? Join Resolution64.com. Get in Shape. Look Great. It’s FREE!” The website, which is no longer in existence, featured “customized interactive fitness programs, e-mail with custom exercises plus tips for better eating, drinking, fashion and beauty, leisure and relaxation recommendations and a community of members to encourage one another” (Librescu). Besides the fact that Miller is equating beer-drinking with weight loss, which is simply contradictory, the ad is clearly directed towards women, whose only desires, according to Miller, are to lose weight and appear to be as happy as the size-zero model in the picture.

I think that Miller’s advertising tactics have clear goals: to appeal to each group of consumers’ interests and aspirations. However, Miller has false conceptions of what each demographic values and as a result, the company fails to develop accurate portrayals of the markets to which they are advertising. In the first commercial, Miller assumes that all men wish to belong to the selective “boy’s club.” In order to gain entrance into this selective group, Miller seems to say, men must display their macho persona, boasting their heterosexuality and manliness. Gloria Steinem in “Sex, Lies, and Advertising,” agrees, “Beer makers are still selling masculinity” (4). While she says food and beverage have no gender, beer companies continue to market to who they believe are buying their product: masculine, white, middle class, heterosexual men. And while USA Today reported in 2001 that women made up twenty-five percent of beer drinkers and forty-five percent of Amstel Light drinkers, there is no sign that women are gaining entrance in the exclusive boys’ clubs.

Further, while the statistics show that women drink beer, it seems that the only beer advertisements geared towards women take the form of the second ad, which combines beer-drinking with dieting and weight loss. Steinem, in her article, expresses her same concern that advertisers are not paying enough attention to the facts. She asks, “Do you think, as I once did, that advertisers make decisions based on solid research? Well, think again. ‘Broadly speaking,’ says Joseph Smith of Oxtoby-Smith, Inc., a consumer research firm, ‘there is no persuasive evidence that the editorial context of an ad matters’” (Steinem 7).

As a result, we continue to see ads that further expound gender stereotypes. In “Body Projects,” Joan Brumberg explains how dieting has become a way of life for women and young girls in the twenty-first century (Brumberg 119). She states, “This preoccupation is persistent rather than episodic; it characterizes the teen years of most middle class girls, regardless of race; and it underlies their struggles with self-identity, peer relationships, and even educational and occupational choices” (120). Susan Douglas agrees that the pervasive preoccupation of females to attain the perfect body is kept alive through the media. She explains how companies like Abercrombie & Fitch and Victoria’s Secret idealize the Barbie doll figure, delivering the message to women and girls that “your body is your central, crucial resource in establishing your net worth as female, and if it isn’t like Giselle’s, well, aren’t you kind of worthless?” (Douglas 216). Miller’s advertisement for Resolution64.com is just another example of an ad that pushes this message to women that the number one concern should be to literally fit the mold.

I think that advertisements like those from Miller Genuine Draft, which ignore consumer research and merely further gender stereotypes, are major causes for more serious issues that face women and men today. The mixed messages we constantly receive through the media, and especially through advertisements, produce standards of femininity and masculinity for which each sex should strive. As a result, we see larger societal problems that include, but are not limited to, the prevalence of eating disorders, an entire economy surrounded by methods to make oneself more “beautiful,” and a culture that puts down those who do not live up to the media’s unrealistic standards of masculinity and femininity. Once companies start paying attention to the facts, perhaps they will begin to advertise to our real interests, excluding gender stereotypes altogether. Until then, it is up to us to navigate these mixed messages, however difficult it may be.


Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. New York: Random House, Inc., 1997.

Douglas, Susan. Enlightened Sexism. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2010.

Librescu, Marc. “Does MGD 64 (Miller Genuine Draft) Keep You Fit?” AdMonkey, 17 February 2009, < http://admonkey.org/2009/02/17/does-mgd-64-miller-genuine-draft-keep-you-fit/#comments>.

McCarthy, Michael. “Women take stage in beer ads.” USA Today, 30 April 2001, .

Steinam, Gloria. "Sex, Lies & Advertising." MS Magazine, July/August 1990.