Have you ever really looked at an ad and thought what the heck does this have to do with anything? I think that all the time. Most times, I don’t even care about the ad itself – whether it’s a commercial on tv or the radio, or a print in a magazine or a billboard – for a number of reasons.


The way women are being portrayed in ads around the world is a shame to me. It’s as if there are only 2 types of women out there. The perfect provocateur and you.  “The Perfect Provocateur is not human; rather she is a form or hollow shell representing a female figure. Accepted attractiveness is her only attribute.” (Cortese, 54).  These types of women are not real, they are artificial. They are made to make the average women feel insecure. Advertisers are banking on these insecurities.

Dolce & Gabbana Fashion Campaign

 “Sexism is any attitude, behavior, institutional arrangement, or policy that favors one gender over another. Advertising sells more than products; it sells values and cultural representations, such as success and sexuality.” (Cortese, 45). Take for example, the Dolce and Gabbana ad. Why is the woman on the floor looking helpless yet perfectly provocative? She looks like she is about to be gang-raped by all these men. Is that what they want me to know? If you want to dominate women, wear D&G. If you want to be gang-raped by men, wear D&G. This is not the kind of message anyone should be selling. If I didn’t know what D&G was, I would have absolutely no idea what this ad is for. All is see are beautiful people in surrounding a woman in a compromising position. Back to my point of how does this have to do with anything?

Craftsman Campaign

On the other hand, men are being portrayed as independent, hard-working, and strong. Look at the Craftsman ad. This ad stereotypes men and conditions young boys into the mindset of domination, and independence. “A physically powerful look validates masculine identity and provides a dominating image for safety and protection.” (Cortese, 59) Not to say that these are terrible things for any boy to aspire to be, but they aren’t the only characteristics a person should possess.

They say a picture says a thousand words. What words are we trying to portray? Advertising is  “overwhelmingly persuasive and symbolic and its images not only attempt to sell the product by associating it with certain socially desirable qualities, but they sell as well a worldview, a lifestyle and value system congruent with the imperatives of consumer capitalism.” (Kellner, 127) It makes you think, is this STILL how our world views gender? Isn’t the goal to eliminate the pressures of gender roles?

People are progressing towards real equality in respect to gender but it is proven a difficult mission when there are ads all around you subliminally telling you that gender roles will remain in existence. So the question now is how can we change the way people think? What ways can advertising help change those mindsets?

My suggestion is to show more ads that empower both men and women as equals. The best example is to the Always #likeagirl commercial aired during the superbowl. The first time I saw the commercial I was touched and I truly felt empowered. At that moment I was proud to be a woman. Not that I not usually proud, just more proud at that moment. I think there should me more examples of successful women who have it all (beauty, brains, success) out for young girls to look up to. Just like in the CoverGirl #girlscan ad campaign and the youtube webpage This Girl Can.

Another fun alternative is to show more role reversals like these fun videos/experiments: Men Try On Make-Up For The First Time  and Day In The Life: A Man vs A Woman  I think they help give insight on to how the other gender thinks. Just for the simple fact of being open minded enough to put yourself in someone else’s shoes always deem effective in coming to an understanding. I feel when you have an understanding, you have respect and when you have respect you have equality.

This is not going to be an easy task what so ever. But I think through time, it will get better. The more positive messages we put out now, the more we can change the future of gender representation and expectation as well as sexism. I am not saying you cannot be sexy, by all means please do what makes you feel good. All I’m saying is to do so where it empowers women as well as men. We need to show real life with real people doing real things.

Last thing, here is a fun website: 35 Extremely Sexist Ads


work cited:

Cortese, Construced Bodies, Deconstucting Ads: Sexism in Advertising (pages 54, 45 and 59)

Kellner, Reading Images Critically (page 127)