...Racism and Sexism in Advertising I think what is wrong about Sadiq’s opinion with a phone company’s depicting an African American having a good time is that the author is too judgmental against companies who use this kinds of methods of advertising. The Boost Mobile Phone Company features this kind of advertisement because of some certain reasons they have, such as Sex Sells. The image of this “African American young man sitting in a hot tub and staring into the sky, joined by the three attractive women- two white, one under each arm and one African American action farther to his left” is a way to catch people’s attention. It’s obvious that the author is in favor with the African American people, but what about the white people? He is also discriminating them by their actions of nudity, in my opinion. It doesn’t mean that the company is unabashedly releasing those images to stereotype the African American sexuality, its up to the models if they want to portray that kind of image they want to convey. They are the ones who make the decision if they want to pose or not. Also, it’s the audience opinion if white women really are the “pay off” for today’s young African American male. Sexuality is one of the keys for a product to sell its produce just like what the Boost Mobile Company wanted to do, to make a profit out of it. In addition Sadiq sounds biased of the way he’s protecting the African American people. I mean it is right to protect somebody’s image but he should also...
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...Running head: SEXISM IN THE MEDIA 1 Sexism in the Media Ada Anderson Chamberlain College of Nursing/DeVry SOCS 185N: Sociology Feb, 24, 2013 SEXISM IN THE MEDIA 2 Television and commercial advertising have been a dominating force for over sixty years, and people learn to specialize and are trained to create ads that entertain and provoke the viewer into buying certain products. The main purposes of commercials are to stand out from competitors, and to sell an idea or way of life for those who allow themselves to become influenced by the appeal. Women and young girls are often subjected and greatly influenced by these advertisements, and many from an adolescent age will alter and pattern their lives to partially adhere to this televised fantasy. Often, some young girls use these forms of advertisements to psychologically change their views about themselves, and thus, may have an unhealthy attitude towards their body type or status in society. I would hope to analyze the effect that commercials have upon society, and how it can create a prejudice frame of mind through subtitle symbols. Television commercials are an agent of socialization and have been used to persuade the viewer into voting for a certain president, stereotyping a certain ethnic group or race because of comical value, using sex to make a product look appealing, or learning what qualities in a beer is important. Yet, although such trivial information exists in commercials and would permeate...
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...Sexism is the discrimination by members of one sex against the other. It has always been a major issue for women which also applies to men, but it is less common. Sexism is one of the five major forms of discrimination. Discrimination in gender is indicated in jobs, sports, advertising, etc. Although, it has decreased compared to before, it is still alive and around. Women struggle to get the same rights as men, especially in the work place. For example, my parents both work as nurses, however, my dad gets paid more when they both do the same exact thing. So where does sexism come from? In the old days, sexism is learned from your parents or the people around you. However, we don’t live in the old days anymore. Children, nowadays, pick up things from the media. The media plays a huge role in kids and teenagers lives. They don’t entirely shape us as the person that we are today but they are a big reason for the way we think, act, and speak. In the media, women are displayed as objects instead of actual human beings. Take a Carl’s Jr. commercial for example, most of it includes a half naked woman advertising their food which I find very disrespectful, demeaning, and very insulting to women. How can we be taken seriously if we can’t be treated with respect. How would guys feel if the roles were switched, if instead of the women, we have men making a fool of themselves on commercials. I understand that discrimination does not only apply to females, however, we do have it worse. ...
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...n the American media, gender roles are still prevalent. The adaptation of gender roles has occurred because they are socially constructed. Gender roles are distinct and defined in the media. With great ferocity, gender roles are perceptible in our exposure everyday to the media, such as in advertising. The media demonstrates clearly the imposed and inevitable gender roles. For example, advertising for cleaning supplies consists of a woman stating the difficulty of removing stains. Advertising for motor oil consists of a man and his luxury car, often with a beautiful woman by his side. The function of gender roles are impediments of dreams, hopes and the future. Limitations, among both sexes, are set when gender roles are present in the media. Certain expectations and criteria are involved with gender roles, crippling the individual to act against the status quo because of the...
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...Sexism and Society: How Women of Gilead and Women of Modern America Endure Similar Trials, Tests, and Tough Times Women of modern day America can relate to the women of Gilead in the manner in which they are treated. In Gilead, many women were merely, to the government, slaves to be used for domestic practices: childbearing, food production, housekeeping, and leadership. Treatment of these women was harsh; consequences of going against Gileadean laws could equal deportation to a dangerous nuclear waste land, mutilation, or execution, among other forms of physical punishment. Nowadays, in modern American women’s lives, many injustices are experienced. These can come in various forms, such as trivialization in the classroom, receiving less pay...
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...Running Heading: Discrimination or Inequality: The Ideal Women Body Shape Kelly Rowland Research Paper: SOC – 412 - 341 Tarleton State University- Central Texas Professor: Dietert, Michelle Summer, 2008 Discrimination or Inequality: The Ideal Women Body Shape When I think of how the American culture views the woman body shape as the epitome of feminity, I get a little worried. In our society and in many other cultures, women are judged according to their physical appearance. Whether it is Africa, Asia, or the United States, women psychic can make life easier or harder for them. Many women become obsessed, depressed, and compulsive about their body shape. Body dissatisfaction can lead to eating disorders and low self-esteem Research on eating disorders have been concentrated on the effects of the wafer thin western Europe and North America body types (Forbes, Doroszewicz, Card, and Adams-Curtis, 2004, pg 333). Being wafer then started between the 1940’s and 1950’s. Very slim fashion models paraded across the run ways wearing the latest fashions on display to the world. As we all know, fashion models are seen as some of the most beautiful women in the world. Thus the ideal woman body shape surfaced. Rodin, Silberstein & Striegel- Moore are just a few of the researchers who have concluded that women who achieve extreme slender body types is unhealthy and unobtainable for long period of time ((Forbes, Doroszewicz...
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...Prejudice; the unjustified negative attitude towards an individual or group based solely on their position within certain societal groups. Prejudice is not merely a statement of opinion or belief, but an attitude that includes feelings of contempt, fear and loathing, which results from a preconceived cognition or stereotype. I.E. black people aren’t as smart as white people, all gay men are effeminate etc. These core beliefs more often than not lead to heavily discriminatory behaviour from the in-group in order to undermine the out-group/minority and force them to believe their own stereotypes. This idea can be clearly related back to the movie Remember the Titans where racism, sexism and homophobia were a regular occurrence backed up by such discriminatory behaviour as segregation, work-place favouritism and often, violence. Despite this, a number of practices can be put in place in everyday life in order to reduce prejudicial attitudes and behaviour, including superordinate goals, mutual interdependence and intergroup contact. Social psychologists throughout history have developed a number of theories pertaining as to how and why people develop prejudices toward one another; however, only a small number have been found to be applicable to most situations in life and can be readily observed throughout Remember the Titans. Such theories include, realistic conflict theory, social identity theory and mere exposure. The theory of realistic conflict was first conceived by Donald...
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...to be seen, and their message is meant to be heard. Many ads have always incorporated a part of society into it. Whether this be music, race, patriotism, sexism, or sexuality, ads are meant to define society. Ads are based off what society believes are social norms, standards, and values currently in society. Sociology in Advertising DOVE: “Dove VisibleCare” (Print Media) Racism To start off the analysis of this advertisement, we must identify the target audience. Although it can be debated or perceived in a different way, it seems plausible that the target audience for this advertisement is an African American woman who desires to have smoother skin. This is based off the positioning of the models in relation to one another, which not only provides clues about who the target audience is but also the racial ideologies that are still prevalent in society today. All three female models in the advertisement appear to be of different race judging from their skin color. Whether Dove meant to line them up like this or not, they are lined up from darkest to lightest starting from left to right. It is also ironic to note the two panels in the background. The panels are a representation of “before” and “after” pictures of what skin might look like before and after using Dove’s product. The panel behind the African American model is the “before” picture, which depicts the skin as being cracked and dry. In contrast to the “after” panel on the right, it shows the skin as soft...
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...“I am woman, hear me roar”. What is the definition of a woman? How do we as members of society, decide what that definition is? Where do these definitions come from? Are they our opinions? Or are they designed by others and transmitted subconsciously to us through various forms of media? The recognition granted to women specifically in the United States is embarrassingly low in comparison in accordance to what we as Americans like to believe. Media coverage is rarely ever focused on women. However, when a female is featured in media, it’s hardly in a positive light. The media contrives and distorts the perception we have on women to present them as sex symbols, basing all importance upon their beauty. One must occasionally think to themselves, “Why does this happen? Why in society do we place a woman’s worth on her appearance?” The sad truth of the matter is: We live in a world completely controlled by men. Alternatively, those doesn't mean only men are at fault, even women pick at each other; telling others what they should and shouldn't do or be. America likes to believe that we’ve come so far in the fight for gender equality. Those who believe this are not only wrong, but ignorant to the true workings of society. In an ideal “Golden Age” it was believed the household was ruled by matriarchy (ANU). However, in what we consider history today, women are always taking a supporting role; sometimes even when they are the main focus. There are many idea as to why women have been...
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...Who Wants Cherry Pie? Sexism in Today’s Music Lyrics Mark Boehler Diversity in Contemporary Society Abstract There is a problem in society today, but it goes largely unnoticed. The problem that I am referring to is that of sexism, specifically sexism in the American music institution. The most likely reason that sexism goes unnoticed in this country is because as an American, each of us has been surrounded by sexual inequalities since birth. From the color of clothing most parents dressed their babies in, pink for girls and blue for boys, to the types of toys children are given, trucks for boys and dolls for girls, we are continually and constantly exposed to one form of sexism or another. Thus, we tend to overlook all but the most blatant forms of it. It comes as no surprise that the innuendoes and sometimes blatantly explicit lyrics in music today get overlooked or construed as being harmless. It is most definitely not harmless; something needs to be done about it. For my action/research project, I chose to assess the lyrics and album covers of popular music artists and to discuss the ways in which women are portrayed. It is extremely easy to find music CDs containing sexism. Look in your own collection; that is what I did. Lorde (1995) states that, “Sexism is the belief in the inherent superiority of one sex over all others and thereby the right to dominance” (cited in Gollnick & Chinn, 1998, p. 130). Two of the most outstanding examples of albums of this...
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...Killing Us Softly Reflection One of the films that struck me the most was “Killing Us Softly”, the documentary on how advertising and the media as a whole, in general, can basically control this entire world. Sounds a bit drastic, but I really believe that this statement is true because of disgusting incidents that happen throughout the world from media portrayal today. The documentary effectively demonstrated how easy it is for advertising to send across various different hidden messages that can cause tremendous effects like bulimia, rapes, murders, disrespect towards women, and several other things that would lower a women’s self esteem level. The documentary portrays women in such a way that it is derogatory. It sets a medium for women on what the perfect figure should look like. For example, since decades, the media has been showing women who barely weigh 110 pounds as an ideal weight to be. Don’t you think every girl who weighs over 110 pounds is going to try to do the impossible and attempt to fit into what society thinks is the norm? All due to the fact that the media has embedded it into our subconscious minds that this is acceptable. The more exposure we get of something, the more acceptable it becomes in our society, whether it’s wrong or right. Personally, I’ve realized that the media brought about even my style of dressing. If you see a commercial on TV or in a magazine for a shirt you thought looked good, wouldn’t you buy it? I know I would. I guess that’s...
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...Mad Men is a television series narrating the life of a creative director named Don Harper at Sterling/Cooper advertising agency on the Madison Avenue in the 60s. From the first episode, the show tries to undertake the American society and culture-specific characteristics such as sexism, feminism, racism, and adultery. When Peggy Olson is introduced to her new workplace at Sterling/Cooper, we witness that all of her executives are male, on the other hand, employees with lowest salaries, for instance, the typists and secretaries are all females. The point that men are making less complicated machines for women is mentioned and also self-acknowledged by the female gender. The men also expected the CEO of the other company to be a man. Peggy...
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...Miss representation” Carol Pardun writes, “Is advertising a mirror of society? Or an agent of change? The basic premise is something like this: if advertising is a mirror of society, then the advertising industry is not really to blame for all the problems associated with bad advertising. We’re to blame.” Introduction Advertising is the process of communication whereby a person or group of people are persuaded to take some form of action, usually to make a purchase or participate in a particular behaviour. Studies undertaken by the Media Awareness Network estimate that on average, the typical North American will see 3000 ads per day (2010). With such a high level of advertising around consumers every day, is it likely that advertising shapes society, or that it merely mirrors pre-existing social trends? This is important because should advertising shape society, the high numbers of advertisements in existence could have a substantial impact to society’s wellbeing, as well as the ethical issues surrounding the messages and behaviours advertisers are trying to achieve. The question of advertising as a mirror vs. creator of culture is one of the most debated issues of the relationship between advertising and society. Does the image of woman represented in advertising shapes society or mirrors already prevailing social trends? Hypothesis The advertising media produces messages,images and ideas of woman, which therefore affect the process of social change. Conclusion ...
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...to multiple things. The overall controversy known as Gamer Gate, in essence, is a polarized debate that began with criticisms of the videogame industry's misogynistic culture. In response to these claims, individuals amassed under a Twitter campaign of the same name to slander critics of the videogame industry and those that spread those claims. Eventually, slander became threats and these threats metamorphosed into a fiasco of indistinguishable muckraking that shook the video gaming industry to its core. Advocates of Gamer Gate and its crusading supporters rally against a supposed unethical reporters. They engage in a variety of extreme actions against anyone or anything they deem to be their opposition. The Role of Feminism and Sexism For many years, gaming was considered to be a “boy” activity. Many young boys would spend hours playing video games like Mario Kart or Super Smash Bros. Lately, there has been a shift in that dynamic as there are more women who are a part of the gaming community. There has been a recent spike in the percentage of female gamers; the number...
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...transforming your experience of the world. --Oprah Winfrey American people are bombarded with our society’s ideals of beauty day in and out. The National Eating Disorders Association states that more than 80 percent of Americans watch television for more than three hours a day. Our media plays a pivotal role in the way that we structure our thinking as well as our idea of normality and beauty. As Jean Kilbourne explained in her documentary “Killing Us Softly”, advertising is a “powerful educational source” and the media sells not only products, but also the ideal of what one “should” consider standard to be, do, and look like. These societal standards of feminine beauty are nearly impossible to reach though, and as the media glorification of women with unhealthy body types, unnaturally flawless faces, and perfect hair remains, so do the consequences of the desire for these things. Corporate Profit Corporations profit massively from American media consumerism. Advertising in media is one of the most instrumental constructs of our society. We see advertising in our faces everywhere from bus stops, cars, billboards, magazines, websites, and television. According to Kilbourne the average US citizen sees over 3500 ads per day and advertisement is a $250 billion per year industry, just in the States.ibid We also digest these advertisements subconsciously, as most people claim that they don’t affect them personally. American advertisers appeal to women’s insecurities and have sculpted...
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