Taking Ownership of Our Advertising

by Jesika, Hayim, Phoebe, Zehui and Shannon

Ad for Budweiser
(a more traditional use of women in advertising-
overt sexualization and objectification)

Our presentation, Taking Ownership of Our Advertising, focuses on the detrimental effects of advertisements on the young girls and women who view them. Because advertisements are an unavoidable aspect of our lives, it is hard not to be influenced by the images that we see, especially if we subliminally absorb them. Beautiful, seemingly flawless models see us not only as their products, but themselves. Most women would admit that these depictions of women bring them down because they seemingly pale in comparison. Beer, cosmetics, shaving products, and basically anything you can think of use the female body to persuade the ideal audience, which is almost always a young heterosexual male.

#LikeAGirl campaign from Always
(a more inspiring message for girls and women)

However, there is now a demand in the shift toward women presented in advertising. The curtain is being pulled back on the tactics of a patriarchal media; we are beginning to see the photoshop process that makes beautiful women distorted into an impossible goal. We are now seeing a rise in campaigns, reminding women that their gender should not be diminished by the lack of self confidence traditional advertisements environments. #LikeAGirl brings up the point that the dip in self confidence begins as girls mature during puberty; the naivety of young girls makes them believe they are capable of being and doing things as well as anyone else. Advertising is absorbed by us, the general public. If we demand more advertisements like this, that encourage women to be their most honest, self-empowered, strong selves than we might see more ads like this. (For example, #BanBossy, #LikeAGirl #GirlsCan, and the Buzzfeed role reversal, which brings attention to the exploitation of women’s bodies).

The few campaigns that do exist to instill confidence in women is a great start, but we still have a long way to go.