Melissa Kuhns
Jacob Craig
ENC 1145
26 September 2013
Women and their Portrayal in Society
The portrayal of women in society is an issue that has started to create problems among people in our society. We have given women so many stereotypes to live up to it making it almost impossible to be truly accepted by society. With ads starting to target younger generations through social sites and television, much of what you see now targets certain demographics. These demographics are women of all ages. They are using sex, the historical ideas of women, and Wall Street to abuse the images of women. Companies use the looks of women to sell their products and it is harming the lives of everyone in today’s society. We are so influenced today by the thought of what people think that we will listen to anyone and anything telling us what to do and how to look, no matter what the cost is.
The media uses women in order to sell objects because they can attract both men and women by portraying a woman a certain way. They use women as sex objects in more than one way because “sex sells”. The way they attract men is by making a woman look sexually appealing. Ad companies throughout all of the media do this because they believe that all men will be drawn to an ad with a sexual woman on it. The way they pose her and the clothes she wears are all strategic moves for the companies; it helps them sell. However, this method is creating a negative view of all women in society. They draw in women the same way they capture a man’s attention. They use the same women with perfect bodies to attract females because they know that women all want to look good and what better way to get them to buy a product than to make them think they can look sexy if they buy what they are selling. But this is all false; they are causing problems among all women in society by doing this. Ad companies are making women feel bad about themselves and lowering their self-esteem.
Also, women in society today have come a long way, they own businesses and support families the same way men do, and some ads target this power among women. They show products with women being portrayed not only as sex objects, but also as the stay at home mom. With this targeting the empowerment of women, why are the ad companies still so successful? And, what can we do to help fix the problems that the media is starting in society?
An Example of an ad that targets women is the Victoria Secret Ad. When the Victoria’s Secret ad says “A Body For Every Body” , it is a clear target to the appeal of women. It shows six women who all have bodies of a goddess, wearing lingerie. These women if seen by a man, would be called sexy or beautiful, and if a woman looked at the ad they would say that they wish they could have the body that they see in the advertisement. These statements that are so common in today’s society can be drawn from viewing this ad. The ad shows how women are perceived to themselves and to others. They are conveyed as sex figures and show the stereotypical thought of an attractive woman. This ad is making women feel as though they have to look like the girls in the image to be pretty. Also, with the text of “A Body For Everybody” it is saying that there is a body type for everybody, however, with the six women in the ad all looking identical in body type it contradicts itself. It makes women feel like they have to have a skinny body with a nice chest and bottom in order to fit in with society. The text on the ad make it seem as though everyone has a body similar to the one portrayed on the advertisement. Also, the advertisement has women in bras and panties gazing in a sexual and seductive manner. These looks and attire portray women as sexual objects. This makes men believe that what they see in the media about women is true for the real world. Men have been brain washed to believe that all women must look like they are out of a Victoria’s Secret magazine to be sexy; they only look at the physical body of women to determine if they will talk to them. This is due to the fact that Victoria’s Secret has brain washed men and even women to believe that what they see in their advertisements is what is right. Likewise, women who would view the ad might end up hurting themselves, physically and mentally because they want to look pretty like the women they see. Women want that irresistible skinny toned body, big breasts and nice butt.
The main targeted demographic happens to be young women who spend so much of their time trying to figure out how to fit in. They all take what they see in advertisements and believe that is how they should live their life. Everyone wants to feel like a super model, and know that they are just as pretty as the girl in the magazine. You will see girls spending hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes just because they saw the latest celebrity wearing it. This creates trends in the world, and they are trends that everyone wants to follow. It causes girls to try to be other people; they become people they are not. The media plays a role in this by trying to create women who everyone will want to look up to, when in reality they are not who we should be admiring. For example, Miley Cyrus is supposed to be a role model for young girls all over the world, but her actions have influence even when they shouldn’t. When she was caught smoking marijuana, many girls thought that it would be okay to do; their excuse being “but Miley did it.” With this influence of the media, they are creating a society where life-threatening decisions are being made. They do not realize the influence they have on the lives of everyone who views what they are showing. The role these celebrities we call role models have on us is inevitable, they make sex look like a good thing, which in turn encourages young girls to do it. There are so many girls today who know way too much about sex at such a young age, and this is happening because their role models are guiding them to it. They are making them believe that everything they see on TV is how a girl is supposed to act, even if that means they sleep with every guy on the football team. The excuses “but so and so did it” or “but that’s what I saw on the TV” are not acceptable. We need to learn how to make our own decisions and not let our lives be so easily influenced by other people and the media.
Also, with sex growing throughout the media industry they are causing girls to believe that they are supposed to be participating in sexual activity, when in fact all the companies are trying to do is sell a product. Although, I’m not against companies trying to sell their products, I am however against the way they are doing it. They are promoting seductiveness, and sexiness, which is encouraging women to wear what should be worn under you clothes out to bars and clubs. These women want feel hot and wanted by guys, so they wear what they think men will like, because that is what they have been told to wear if they want a guy to like them. What they don’t know is that men only look at these women for sex and sex alone; they will never want anything more. Women need to figure out what is more important to them, lowering their standards to impress others or having respect for their self. I feel that women need to start standing up for themselves and proving to everyone that the stereotypes they have developed due to the media are not true. They need to show that they are not sex objects but rather women with skill and intelligence who can do anything they set their minds to.
When ads are trying to sell a product they place these women in their ads that all have perfect bodies. They have that hourglass figure that everyone wishes they could have. The ads are showing a stereotype of what women are supposed to do, or what they should look like. Theses ads increase a women’s own body shame and appearance anxiety. These are real problems that are caused to the viewing of idealized bodies seen in magazines or on TV. The female body is objectified in the media in a way that makes women look slender and healthy. Women in society are forced to believe that they must look a certain way in order to fit in. However, they are only hurting themselves.
The media may think they are encouraging a positive attitude, but they are merely creating an unhealthy lifestyle throughout all of society. There are young girls who are out there causing danger to their health because of the ads that are posted all over the world. With a lack in self-confidence there becomes an increase in body shame and appearance anxiety. From these stem many major physical and psychological health issues that are increasingly occurring all over the world. Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are the most common way girls are physically hurting themselves. They do all of this just to try to look like the woman on the cover page. Why should a girl starve herself in order to feel like she fits in? The body shame of an individual takes over because people told them that if they wanted to look sexy, look like the girl in the magazine.
Another serious effect of women trying to look “perfect” is the risk of suicides, due to depression. The young women feel depressed because they do not believe that they fit in. They are not comfortable in their own bodies and they hate themselves for it. This causes depression in women of all ages not just teenage girls. They want to rid themselves of the shame they feel everyday because they do not have the “perfect bodies” to appear on the cover of Teen Vogue or Seventeen magazine. They want to feel sexy and loved and they do not think that is possible for them based on their physical appearance, which is what leads them to kill themselves. These are all the effects of the influence the media has on the lives of women in today’s society.
One minor, yet important stereotype that is portrayed throughout advertisements comes from Wall Street. The amount of women in the business world has grown. The ideal family where there is a single income that comes from the man’s hard work has been decreased. While, many still want to believe that men have power, women are surly rising up. They have become successful on their own, and they are capable of supporting a family. This is all the reality of society now. Yet, we continue to lower the self-esteem of women even in the work place. Business related ads show the femininity and masculinity in ads because they show how the man is more powerful. This is partly because our country was founded on values and every powerful man was supported with a wife that stayed at home. By targeting this principle it causes women to believe that they can never beat a man when it comes to being CEO of a major corporation. Although some women are strong, others still feel week and discouraged by a man’s power. However, although this is shown in some advertisements it is not a huge issue because women have to learn to overcome the stereotype and rise to the top. This is an effect of the changing world and women are only going to keep rising up the Wall Street ladder, proving that the stereotyping needs to stop and women need to create their own image and not live based on what the media created for them.
An example of the third stereotype is the Swiffer advertisements. This ad shows a mom holding the Swiffer mop in what is believed to be her kitchen. Her son is eating a PB&J sandwich and being very messy. With no dad or husband in sight it is safe to assume the advertisers were trying to show how he was at work, while she stayed home to take care of their son. With the entire scene of the image based on different shades of purple, it shows the femininity in the image. The mom is modeling the mop to show how she is going to be the one using it and it portrays to society that the women do all the cleaning in the house. They are hitting the subject of what history said was the role of women. This shows how evident the stereotype of women belonging home and in the kitchen is throughout our media. With the long lasting belief that women belong in the kitchen and should be cleaning, the stereotypes are very evident. Men in our society today, and throughout our history have made or still do make comments like “go make me a sandwich,” or “shouldn’t you be cleaning something?” to their wives. The reason is that most men in today’s world like to feel powerful and in control. So, in order for the media to keep their attention they have to make a man believe that they are the powerful ones. And that is done through showing women as house moms, just like the ad above. Much of society has been changing and we are saying that women are equal to men. We say that women need to be strong and stand up for what they believe in. But, how can they do this if advertisement companies are telling them they should be doing something else. Also, I have seen very controversial ads using the American belief of Rosie the riveter. These ads show Rosie who is a strong women, yet she is used in a cleaning ad, something mainly women use. The ad is trying to capture a woman’s attention. But, they are sending a message that although women are strong; they still belong in the house cleaning. This is another way that the media present in today’s society targets women. The media will do anything to grab a viewer’s attention. They are giving women stereotypes that do not exist anymore. Women can be both strong, and a stay at home mom. They can also go to work and earn an income to provide for their family. The choice of what someone does with their life is theirs alone to make, and the influence the media has on society takes some of a person’s choice away from them.
A good example of a company that makes money, yet doesn’t use the stereotypes of women is Fruit of the Loom. As shown in the advertisement below; they use women of all shapes and sizes. Fruit of the Loom, is advertising their Size Large as being Size Lovely as stated in the picture. This helps to give women more confidence in the way they look. When a woman feels confident in her own body she becomes a lot more of a healthier person. It no longer makes her want to suffer anorexia in order to feel like she looks more attractive. By Fruit of the Loom targeting all types of women it will help the women throughout our society grow and become more confident. It will help to decrease the rate of women who hurt themselves physically by becoming bulimic or anorexic, and it can also help to lower the suicide rates of younger girls who kill themselves because they do not feel pretty. I think more ads need to start taking this approach or portraying women not as stereotypes, but as real people in order to better the future of our society.
Understanding that there is a different way to sell products as opposed to bashing the way a person looks, or telling someone they must act a certain way because that is what is expected of them is ideal for our society. There are many ways that products can be sold without having to cause both physically and emotional harm to women. This is how society has been since it started, and it is all because of the advertisements that are showing stereotypical women. Dating all the way back to the 1500s with oil paintings, women have always been portrayed the same way. They have always been shown as inferior to men, or as sex figures. They’ve had these small bodies that were admirable to look at. Which is exactly how our media is now. Nothing has changed for the stereotypes of women, but I think it’s about time something changes.
Many ads these days target the youth because they are so easily influenced, and want so bad to be hip and cool. What we don’t know is that ads change who we are as a person. They get us to change our views on ideas, encourage us to look a certain way, and tell us to do certain things. The media clearly has today’s society figured out, we are easily influenced and mislead into believing we need a certain product just because it’s cool. But, what we don’t know is that we are continuously hurting ourselves to try to be physically appealing in order to look like the women in the ads. The media has such an impact on our lives that we do not even realize they are doing it; it is natural for us to believe them. We need to change the way we let society portray women, and the affect they have on the lives of women all over the world