When we see a commercial on TV, we look at the product and the way it is presented to us. What we fail to realize though is the consistency in ways that the media tries to influence us. The media takes
advantage of the appeals they know work on their audience, and repeatedly use it until a better form emerges. However, there has been no, and most likely will never be, a decrease in affectivity in sexual appeal. Knowing this, advertisements always have a guaranteed basis on which they can expose their
product. The way to change this is to increase media literacy in the public to help bring down the oppressive structure the media has built upon women.
When women are purposely used in media, they are most commonly used for their looks.“Beautiful” women are dressed in revealing clothing, and try to indicate that by using a product, women are going to throw themselves at you, most commonly shown in Axe commercials. In these commercials, you see a male use the product, and women go out of their way to be with the male. What you don’t think about, is how the underlying message is saying that women are
simple-minded and want few things. Not only that, but advertisements are
contradictory when it comes to expressing male and female
products.
advantage of the appeals they know work on their audience, and repeatedly use it until a better form emerges. However, there has been no, and most likely will never be, a decrease in affectivity in sexual appeal. Knowing this, advertisements always have a guaranteed basis on which they can expose their
product. The way to change this is to increase media literacy in the public to help bring down the oppressive structure the media has built upon women.
When women are purposely used in media, they are most commonly used for their looks.“Beautiful” women are dressed in revealing clothing, and try to indicate that by using a product, women are going to throw themselves at you, most commonly shown in Axe commercials. In these commercials, you see a male use the product, and women go out of their way to be with the male. What you don’t think about, is how the underlying message is saying that women are
simple-minded and want few things. Not only that, but advertisements are
contradictory when it comes to expressing male and female
products.
As in this Dr Pepper commercial, women are not shown to not like action and violent movies, but are told to stick to “romantic comedies and lady drinks”. When presenting the product, the Dr Pepper Ten is said to have “ten manly calories”. Yet, is this not the same thing as a diet drink? Females are expected to watch their figure and it is only natural for a woman to drink a diet soda, but a man needs something more manly, even if he decides to watch his physique.
To change the media, we must educate ourselves in media literacy. We, as the audience aimed at for advertisements, must learn to look underneath the surface of the presentation. Question whether the motives of advertisements are suppressing feminist efforts. Media does not always present the truth; it presents what is best for sales. Seeing women being sexualized degrades the intellectuality that they contain; bodies comprised of nothing within. Standing against this false representation can further the efforts made by women tremendously.