The picture above is an advertisement for men's cologne by Calvin Klein. The model in the picture is a young, skinny, white woman who is obviously completely naked. Most importantly, where is the actual product that she is advertising? Why is she naked? The product itself is not even in the ad. Basically the woman was placed in the ad to attract the attention of the viewers. This does not sell the product as to why this would be a good brand of cologne, but the sexual feature and seductive posing of the woman is what sells this product. Again, "Sex Sells." This picture portrays women as sex objects for men to drool over. It belittles our worth as females because men are exposed only to sexuality. This influences their minds to think that women are nothing more than the product their advertising.
In this picture the woman's face is a BMW car and the man is on top of her in a sexual manner. This portrays women as being less important than objects, this being the car. The car is advertised as a man's ultimate attraction. The woman is used has a sex object. The man's position demonstrates that men are dominant and superior to women. It is ridiculous how women are portrayed by the media, but I am sure this will never cease. The media will always objectify women's bodies.
If more ads were published like this one above, then women would have more respect for themselves and their bodies. Women would not feel as if they have to be a certain size or look a certain way in order to be fit into society. I believe that women should not have to be half naked or completely naked to be on the covers of magazines or to be on television. Unfortunately, that is the way that society would rather accept women. Women should be in more positive ads that influence the younger generations and motivates the older generations. Ads should portray women in more respectable ways that show their true beauty.
One positive to the first advertisement is that at least she is being allowed to own her sexuality. The look on her face is not one of innocence, but one of seduction, so she is not being forced to adhere to the "virginally sexy" image that most ads portray.
ReplyDeleteI think the second ad that you chose is really the epitome of what's wrong in advertising. She is not only being objectified by the image of the car, but she is also being silenced. Of course, this also intensifies the message that, as you said, that "women are less important than objects."
While I definitely agree that the last ad "portray[s] women in more respectable ways that show their true beauty," none of these women are really anything other than thin, particularly for their age. Also, it is still not very racially diverse. The lighting on the sole ethnic woman's face is such that her skin is made to appear lighter (compare it to the skin on her arm). This ad does not sexualize or objectify women, but it still has a long way to go.
@ Kaylyn, owning her sexuality or not this ad still exposes entirely too much just for a bottle of men's cologne.
ReplyDelete@S. Terrell:
ReplyDeleteOf course, I didn't mean to imply that the ad wasn't wrong. I just think it's less wrong than most ads, though the fact that such a revealing ad is a lesser evil speaks volumes about the advertising world.