Sexism...for your viewing pleasure

          The world of advertising began as a simple concept; it was a way for a person, company or cause to promote a good or service to a wider audience and bring in revenue from outside contributions. The idea alone was pretty solid and easy to establish until advertisers wanted to take it up a notch and grab audiences’ attention with more provocative and controversial methods. This is where sexism and racism became more than apparent in advertising and soon enough, it became a norm that is still used today. Within this post, I will draw several examples of sexism and idea of male dominance done by popular companies in their advertising and the backlash that have started a dialogue in our society.

            Throughout my twenty years of being alive, I’ve always been the impressionable girl that marketing companies’ prey on with their hyper sexualized campaigns and ploys. At first, if I saw a woman with her cleavage excessively showing, I would’ve cover my eyes from how embarrassed I was. I’d wonder, “How can that be up there for everyone to see?” I’d ask my cousins and friends about sexuality and why some feel the need to expose it all to promote their cause. Most of the time, I got a lecture saying that’s just how it is. No if, and or buts. As time progressed, I became desensitized to the raunchy nature of advertising and accepting of the “standards” that have been set for me by companies.  

Vintage Advertisement
making women not feel good enough

            Unfortunately, this is the same fate your average woman faces throughout her life due to lack of feminist reinforcement and it’s not new either. As you can see in the advertisement pictured on the left, playing up one insecurity or flaw in a woman is one of the oldest and most successful marketing tactics. What good is any of your other amazing qualities if your body’s natural Oder isn’t deemed as attractive or approachable? “All ads are social texts which respond to key developments during the period in which they appear” (Kellner, 128). When this advertisement was published, it was during a time where movie stars and teens doing the swing were on the rise. Everyone wanted to be Hepburn and Monroe and the image they gave off was a classic, glamour look where they appeared to be the epitome of perfection.

            Nowadays, we have a movement promoting body positivity, which encourages every gender to dress as they wish and not be judged for it regardless of their body type, morals or styles. This is deemed as a major progression in today’s society, yet some popular companies use this new platform of self-expression as a way to hypersexulize women rather than treat them as equals. American Apparel is an American made clothing store that prides themselves in making their own clothes rather than using sweatshops and underpaying workers. The mission alone is noble but they are also known to launch controversial advertisements that work in favor for sales and for sexist everywhere.

The double standard is too real

            As you can see on the right, American Apparel offers pictures of female and male models in a unisex flannel that they sell at their stores. The male model is casually sporting the flannel by looking suave and candid, whereas the female model (in the same flannel) is posing provocatively in her underwear. This could normally be acceptable but why is the female model expected to look unnatural and try to sex up a casual top while the male model can just stand there with pants on and still sell the same top?

Setting unrealistic expectations
for men everywhere

            This type of advertising can have negative effects on males and females alike. It affects their self-confidence, worth and instills the desire for an unattainable lifestyle, as they feel that material items can give them happiness or a sense of hope. On the left, there is a picture of a male model advertising Calvin Klein undergarments. But we are less focused on the product itself and more on the model’s physique. Imagine how a young male feels when he sees this advertisement? It’s just like how women feel when they see pictures of “bombshells” in the media. One thing we could do to fix this stigma is creating a safe space for males and females alike when it comes to advertising. If women can have a campaign (i.e., the Aerie untouched campaign), men should have the same time of support in the media. That's one of the logical and achievable methods of creating a support system for anyone and everyone who has fallen victim of false advertising ploys that have distorted their self-worth and altered their expectations. 

             I always found something unsettling about the pressures and expectations set for women at the hands of big shot companies yet no one else around me was vocal about it. They all accepted and became what was expected of them rather than stand up and teach their children something outside of the social norm. As comedian Amy Poehler stated in her book, ‘Yes Please’, “It takes years as a woman to unlearn what you have been taught to be sorry for. It takes years to find your voice and seize your real estate."  And I resonate with that statement so well since I’m beginning to find my voice and mold my own ideals of normal due to the difference lenses of productive feminism that this class has provided me. I feel that if we had more male role models who stood up for other men by letting them know they don't have to be manly in order to gain self respect or attention. If we had more male Amy Poehler speaking out and advocating the issues of sexism in the media, there would be a lot more feminist out there.