Advertising Deconstruction

       

We can See the female body being used to
sell perfume in this Tom Ford Ad.

  In todays world we cannot separate gender and sexuality from advertising images. The female, or more in particular her body is always used as a sexual object. The male, or his body, is used is always shown in context to athleticism. The gender binaries that exist between the two sexes create the differences in the way that advertisers use each to sell their products. “Although social science refers to gender as a “factor” or a “dimension” of an analysis, it is also applied to embodied persons as a “mark” of a biological. Linguistic, and/or cultural difference (Butler, 12).”

         “Gender is not to culture, as sex is to nature, (Butler, 10).” Predominantly advertisers seek out what is considered the ideal female when advertising pretty much anything. The ideal female in terms of advertising is of fair complexion, long hair, extremely skinny, and tall in height. As long as the female fits these criteria, she can be used to sell any and everything. For example lets take the Paris Hilton Superbowl commercial, in which we see Paris in nothing but a bikini washing a car, doing seductive moves, and in the end we see a burger in her hand and realize, the use of the commercial was to promote the sale of Carl’s Jr. burgers. The commercial as a whole shows more of Paris in sensual moves then the burger, if you missed the burger, you might have mistook the commercial to be about the car or simply Paris Hilton. The power hierarchies that primarily exist in advertising are the skinny female and the athletic build male.  We examined the way in which the female is used in advertisements, which is sexually and provocative. The male on the other hand, even when shown in the same light as the female, is depicted as selling their body stature and not sex. So when you see a male in an advertisement half naked the emphasis is on achieving his built not the fact that he is close to naked. “Gender is a complexity whose totality is permanently deferred, never fully what it is at any given juncture in time (Butler, 22).”

The male is shown in his boxers
with emphasis on his athleticism,
the female on the other hand is
used as a sexual object. 

         Through advertising, advertisers not only promote their products, but also point out what are considered flaws in others. “Advertisers are aware of their role and do not hesitate to take advantage of the insecurities and anxieties of young people, usually in the guise of offering solutions (Kilbourne, 129).”  In simpler terms advertisers pick on the things that they know one might not like about them and in turn tell them if you buy our use whatever product they are selling, you will feel better about yourself.  “Advertising is one of the most potent messengers in a culture that can be toxic for girls’ self esteem (Kilbourne, 131).” Advertisers in the long run only criticize people, females in particular that they are not good enough if they have any types of flaws. They create the illusion that to fit in one must be perfect; when in reality no one is perfect. “In a variety of ways, the mass media helped make us the cultural schizophrenics we are today, women who rebel against yet submit to prevailing images about what a desirable, worth while woman should be, (Douglas, 8).”    

         Popular culture is found, learned, and critiqued, according to these images that are shown to the masses. When I say found I mean popular culture is based off of these ideas that advertisers plaster around and eventually end up in our heads and become what we consider the norm. For instance we are so accustomed to seeing the skinny female body close to naked that we sometimes forget it’s a reflection of us females as a whole. It may not be us up in the advertisement but it’s a reflection of us still.  When I say learned, I am referring to the continuous use of using these images as a way to gain cause in the end, sex sells. For example these advertisements teach girls that to succeed or fit in you have to look a certain way and females will in hand try and do everything to achieve what they see.  When I say critiqued, I am referring to the reference that we use these images as markers to define what we need to fix in order to achieve what is considered perfection. One might see a post of s girl with a flat stomach and critique her and say I want a stomach like that person. In the end majority of the times the models don’t even look like the pictures.

The image above points out the numerous changes
that were don't to enhance an advertisement.
Proving not even the model looks like herself.

         An alternative to the current mainstream images would be advertising the real raw deal. In other words use people of different skin complexions, different sizes, different sexual orientations, etc., advertising the products. This would be different because it would give variety in means of advertising, and would cater to more than one specific person or persons. There is not just one particular consumer, so why should we see one particular advertiser.  One means of achieving this would be to have companies take surveys of the people that use their products, and create advertisements for the different people that use them. Another thing that advertisers could do is not picking on what they consider peoples flaws but instead promote change. Instead of using words like fix, they can say variation.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have your original look that advertisers deem flawed and their look that is deemed flawless. But instead of considering it a fixing of a problem, we can refer to it as a variation of looks. Overall modern day advertising will not change unless we the consumers push for change and variety in what is showcased.

Works Cited:

1) Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge,    1990. Print.

2)Douglas, Susan J. Where the Girls Are: Growing up Female with the Mass Media. New York: Times, 1994. Print.

3) Kilbourne, Jean. "Beauty and the Beast of Advertising." Media & Values 1989: 121-25. Web.