Sexist Magazine Ads
We are the image generation. Without even trying, we are exposed to thousands of images every day. There are pop-ups as we surf, billboards as we drive, TV spots as we relax, not to mention posters and fliers and neon signs.
But before we had the internet or television, or even cars, we had magazines. The first known publication was in 1734, London’s Gentleman’s Magazine. It was so well received, that dozens of copycat publications sprouted up within a few years. Today, there are over 10,000 magazines circulating in the U.S. alone. [1]
Ads push more than just products. They sell concepts, emotions, behaviors and lifestyles.
Many magazine ads can be simple, clear and relatively harmless. However, many are also dishonest, unhealthy, and manipulative. Here, we examine how modern ads spread some insidiously warped ideals, particularly regarding women.
DEFINED BY A NUMBER
Ranking women by their weight and wrinkles.
AD CAMPAIGN: Aprilla Motorcycles (Italy)
“The Arrecife Range: Now Several Sizes Smaller.”
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Motorcycles
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Our product is better when it’s small, just like you.
Showing a male technician measuring a woman’s naked behind implies that women’s bodies are as closely inspected as motorcycle parts. We don’t see her face; the only part of importance is highlighted clearly in the center. While it may work to judge your machinery by parts and pieces, it’s never good to classify a human being’s identity to physical measurements.
AD CAMPAIGN: Fit Yogurt (Brazil)
“Forget about it. Men’s preferences will never change.”
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Yogurt
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Be thin, or no man will want you.
Since when is waist size a woman’s only lovable quality? There are plenty of women who look as beautiful as these plus-sized models, and plenty of men who find them attractive. But thanks, Fit yogurt, for trying to make a profit by shaming your customers.
AD CAMPAIGN: Detour Protein Bars
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Protein bars
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Being plus-sized is unattractive.
The body language of the plus-sized model shows insecurity and weakness, as if she’s ashamed of her body and food choices. The athletic model, on the other hand, stands with pride and strength. Imagine if the positions were reversed. Who would seem empowered then?
But Detour has angled it to you this way in hopes of reaching a single goal: selling more Detour bars. Industries like these train people to judge themselves and others by how they look in a swimsuit. This devalues other traits like having a sense of humor, being intelligent, honest, loving or creative.
AD CAMPAIGN: Equinox Fitness Center
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Membership to Equinox fitness center.
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Join Equinox! You might hate your husband, but at least your son’s friends will think you’re hot.
The strategic placement of a fairy-tale reference beside a hundred-candle birthday cake implies that older women should wish to be young again, and achieve that youth through sexual prowess of younger men. Feeling healthy and attractive is a great goal, but this ad implies that having a fit body is a woman’s only chance at living “happily ever after”.
GOLD DIGGERS
Taught to be bought.
AD CAMPAIGN: Rinat Levy Clothing
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Rinat Levy Clothing
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Women can be bought and paid for.
A man is worshipping this “sold” woman, though it’s unclear whether he is, in fact, her new owner. Likened to a product with a price tag, she commands some sort of power over him, while locked in a plexiglass tube. Rinat Levy parallels two contradictory messages here, neither of which are healthy.
AD CAMPAIGN: De Beers Diamonds
WHAT IT’S SELLING: De Beers Diamonds
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Control how she treats you by buying her diamonds!
Shaping an entire gender as predictably Pavlovian dogs, De Beers encourages you to buy your way into a better relationship. Or at least, De Beers used to encourage that, before they were banned from the U.S. in 1996, due to a variety of crimes and human rights violations. (See Article Here)
AD CAMPAIGN: Natan Jewelry
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Natan Jewelry
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Give her this ring, and her legs open right up!
Even more Pavlovian than the De Beer’s ad, Natan sets up the expectation for diamonds to demand sexual compensation. And we thought prostitution was illegal.
RELATED LINK: CurrentTV’s Sarah Haskins does her best impression of “jewelry face” with Target Women: Jewlery.
SEXY SEXINESS SELLING SEX FOR SEX SAKE
Because that’s all that matters, right?
TARGET: TEENS & TWEENS
AD CAMPAIGN: Aerie (American Eagle)
WHAT IT’S SELLING: American Eagle Underwear
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Bras aren’t for support, they’re for getting attention!
The only way for a bra to “turn some heads” is if everyone can see it. So, this basically tells girls that it’s cute and “flirty” to show off your underwear. Of course, it doesn’t warn them about the dangers of harassment, molestation or date rape, and the common (albeit warped) misconception of “look how she was dressed, she was asking for it!” No one can plan or entirely prevent abuse, and the victims are never to blame, but they can definitely take precautions to minimize their chances of victimization. Of course, that message doesn’t really sell clothes, does it?
AD CAMPAIGN: American Apparel
WHAT IT’S SELLING: American Apparel clothes
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Objectifying yourself makes you powerful.
To broadcast a trendy teen model sitting spread-eagle in the backseat of a car is encouraging girls to not only wear this style, but to embody this attitude, as well.
AD CAMPAIGN: Lee Jeans (Australia)
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Lee clothes
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Everyone pays attention to a half-naked tease.
Her tube-socks, overalls, and curly red locks give the impression of a very young girl. Yet her tongue lingers suggestively along that popsicle, atop her barely-covered naked torso. This campaign, promoting Lee’s teen clothing line, has an uncomfortable kiddie-porn feeling. It’s no wonder girls start oozing sexuality before they’ve even hit puberty.
AD CAMPAIGN: Calvin Klein
WHAT IT’S SELLING: CK clothing
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Orgies are hot. You should try it.
Teens are so oversexed that subtlety doesn’t work anymore.
AD CAMPAIGN: Gossip Girl // The CW
WHAT IT’S SELLING: TV show
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Teen sex is glamorous, and a great way to get back at your parents, too!
Yes, these are real ads with real text. Gossip Girl’s target audience is under the age of 18, including many pre-teens barely approaching puberty. Impressionable kids worship shows like these, sometimes using them as a sole source of sex education.
Parents have swiftly reacted to these ads, which was presumably part of the plan. The campaign even uses a negative review from Parents Television Council as a badge of honor. But as one mom put it, “No pair of 16-year-olds has steamy sex. They have quick, awkward sex in semi-private unsexy locations,” and you would never know that based on these ads. A teacher chimed in, saying, “Last month we caught an 8th grader getting a blow job from a 7th grader. I wish that wasn’t a true story.” And it’s far more common than you’d care to know. [Source: MollyGood Gossip Girl Online Discussion]
TARGET: WOMEN
AD CAMPAIGN: Wonderbra
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Bras
WHAT IT’S SAYING: There are only two ways to get a man. If you can’t cook, you better be sexy.
We see this model hanging on, and hanging out, with an attitude of empowerment. But in reality, this ad perpetuates archaic gender stereotypes. And what’s worse, it promotes objectifying yourself as a way to feel strong and powerful.
SR SIDE NOTE:
If you want to have nice curves, or you love to cook, or it’s always been your dream to be a stay-at-home-mom, all of those things are perfectly good goals. We just oppose companies who say you should make those choices to please someone else. That is never healthy, fulfilling or productive.
AD CAMPAIGN: Imedeen Skincare
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Imedeen Skincare
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Technically, drink lots of water for healthy skin.
Way to keep it classy, Imedeen. Who is this appealing to? You do know your target demographic is women, right?
AD CAMPAIGN: Flirt Vodka (Russia)
“Keep The Memories”
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Vodka
WHAT IT’S SAYING: It’s fun to get drunk and give strangers blow jobs.
This woman is smirking and the focal point is on her scarred knees – implying that flirtation and sexual favors give women a sense of empowerment. While intimacy is nothing to be ashamed of, empty promiscuity is rarely the route to self respect. Why can’t she be an executive, closing a multi-million-dollar business deal? We’d much rather keep those kind of memories.
AD CAMPAIGN: Scandinavian Design & Streetwear Exhibit
WHAT IT’S SELLING: CPH Scandinavian Design & Streetwear Exhibit
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Any man with taste finds skinny, lifeless dolls attractive.
Clever. This man’s sex partner is a life-sized doll, implicitly better than any woman who walks, talks, or doesn’t wear a size zero.
AD CAMPAIGN: Lee
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Lee Jeans
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Porn is so in this season.
Lee teeters on the border of ambiguity here, because hey – they could be cross-promoting Gatorade Frost. But the truth is, conjuring up images of porn stars in raunchy positions is just a cheap ploy to get our attention. How is this supposed to make us buy jeans?
AD CAMPAIGN: Dolce & Gabbana
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Dolce & Gabbana
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Gang rape is so in this season.
This ad was eventually pulled, and Dolce & Gabbana admitted they crossed the line.
AD CAMPAIGN: Exit Shoes (Belgium)
“They’ll find the way out.”
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Women’s Shoes
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Sex slavery is no big deal! If they only had the right shoes, they would’ve escaped by now.
Exit’s ads for Women’s Shoes feature girls in humiliating and powerless positions, but the alternate campaigns for Mens’ Shoes feature men as spies and action heroes. (See Mens Shoe Ad Here). Last we checked, you could still be creative in advertising without patronizing an entire gender.
TARGET: MEN
CAMPAIGN: Axe Shower Gel
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Shower gel
WHAT IT’S SAYING: This shower gel makes women do whatever you want.
Axe is notorious for branding women as a pack of wild dogs humping anything that smells nice. This ad shows a guy relaxing in a position of control, enjoying coffee and cigarettes while a girl gives him oral sex. The text brands this “the Axe effect”, implying that a liquid soap can give men complete sexual dominance over women. Please, do give us some credit.
AD CAMPAIGN: Che Magazine (Argentina)
“Let us keep dreaming of a better world.”
WHAT IT’S SELLING: A magazine
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Go ahead. She’s asking for it.
The camera is placed at such an angle that we have no choice but to look up her skirt. Which, in turn, will get shorter as men take her number. She has no face or identity, we know nothing of her goals or fears. Instead, she’s just a lump of flesh with apparently no standards, and “in a better world”, she’s willing to keep it that way.
AD CAMPAIGN: P&O Cruise Ships (Britain)
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Cruise vacation
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Go ahead. They’re asking for it.
Perpetuating the mentality mentioned in the previous ad, this implies bathing beauties are always wanting sex, whether or not they explicitly say so. The ad was quickly pulled, due to negative press.
AD CAMPAIGN: BMW
“You know you’re not the first.”
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Used Cars
WHAT IT’S SAYING: Used women are like used cars.
Apparently, if you can’t get a brand new girl, make sure she’s still young with very little mileage. BMW’s target audience is middle-aged men, so why does this seductress look 16? Not only is it borderline-pedophiliac, but this ad shames all women who are sexually experienced by comparing them to used machines.
AD CAMPAIGN: Evan Williams Liquor
“Aged 7 Years: The longer you wait, the better it gets”
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Liquor
WHAT IT’S SAYING: A girl is like a bottle of scotch: let her mature a few years before you open her.
Does this mean men should start looking in schoolyards for future sex partners?
AD CAMPAIGN: Organ Donor Foundation
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Participation in the Organ Donor Foundation
Using disturbing innuendos to grab attention for a charity? It’s reminiscent of PETA and Rethink Breast Cancer. (See PETA: Humanizing Animals and Animalizing Humans and Save the Boobs, Etc.)
AD CAMPAIGN: Tom Ford Cologne
WHAT IT’S SELLING: Cologne
WHAT IT’S SAYING: This fragrance is for men.
A strategically placed cologne bottle forges an innuendo that’s impossible to miss. We’re sorry, we were under the impression that belonged to us. Our mistake.
WOMEN
ANIMALS OBJECTS
The ultimate in dehumanization.
AD CAMPAIGN: Shootz Cafe & Billiards
Thursday night is Ladies’ Night”
AD CAMPAIGN: Arby’s
“We’re about to reveal something you’ll really drool over.”
AD CAMPAIGN: Playboy
“Everything looks different if you read Playboy”
AD CAMPAIGN: Absolut Vodka
AD CAMPAIGN: St. Pauli’s Beer
AD CAMPAIGN: Orbit Gum
AD CAMPAIGN: Details Clothing
AD CAMPAIGN: Milk (Russia)
AD CAMPAIGN: Dacron Slacks (c. 1960)
We have no desire to censor anyone, and bear no illusions of destroying these media giants. Instead, our aim is to empower those of you negatively affected by these ads, so you can determine your own truth, and shape your own reality.
Article Sources:
Amazing collection, and insightful analysis. Thank you for putting this together. I’m not much of a magazine reader, so I miss a lot of these ads… and it’s nice to know what brands I’m seriously disinterested in buying. (I’m going to go give all my Lee jeans to charity right now.)
[...] GLOSSY GARBAGE: Sexist Magazine Ads « Stiletto Revolt We have no desire to censor anyone, and bear no illusions of destroying these media giants. Instead, our aim is to empower those of you negatively affected by these ads, so you can determine your own truth, and shape your own reality. (tags: advertising gender objectification misogyny) [...]
what’s too bad about the aprilla motorcycles, is that i thought the caption said something like, made for your behind. which i thought would be funny, cuz the campaign could have all sort of different bare butts in then.
These are an amazing collection. It is hard to believe that they business execs came up with them, and then approved them! Thank you for collecting these.
Ugggg. I have to go scrub off my brain now.
Some of these are fine and what this website has implied or read into these images is the destructive part. You suggest very often that women should not be portrayed as sexual. Why not? Are you prudish? Is sex not an appropriately female quality?
Some ads are not so good I think. But I have to deal, on a day to day basis, with people who’d fall for them as well as the ad itself.
No advert can ever be neutral in the eyes of everyone . And women are nice to look at.
I think you missed a big point here – all of the women in these ads are white and able bodied. Most of your critique centers around gender roles, sexuality, and physical appearance, however, I think it is important to note the ways in which racialized women and women with disabilities have been invisibilized.
While I deeply agree with your thinking on all of these ads which debase women, I must point out that the Absolut and Playboy ads which ’subliminally’ represent the vagina, are actually perpetuating ancient worship of the most common symbol of the Goddess, even if it doesn’t seem that way.
Thank you for putting this out there. I am sending this on to my daughter.
That’s a great point, and it’s something that wasn’t addressed in this posting. We’ll start research and, hopefully in an upcoming post, explore how non-Caucasian people are misrepresented, underrepresented, or not represented at all. Thanks for the insight!
Thanks for the comment. We absolutely support a healthy sex life! It’s a beautiful and enriching part of any relationship, and we love that in America, people have the freedom to determine their own personal preferences. We also never cast judgment on someone’s choice of lifestyle, since nuns and porn stars alike can be intelligent and empowered human beings.
What we do oppose is the abusive objectification of women in the media, as it perpetuates negative stereotypes and often encourages abuse. The article also reiterates our personal mission, that “we have no desire to censor anyone. … Instead, our aim is to empower those of you negatively affected by these ads, so you can determine your own truth, and shape your own reality.” If you aren’t negatively affected by this style of marketing, then it makes sense that the analyses don’t reflect your personal experience.
We appreciate you reading, and taking the time to spark further conversation!
what do you mean by the common symbol of the Goddess? Which specific goddess are you speaking of, and what culture commonly refers to her with the symbolic vagina? I know it sounds like i’m just trying to call bull-shit, but i am honestly curious. I’ve never really known of such a culture, or goddess.
These are all just so sickening, I can’t even laugh at the absurdity of it all. Every single one of these is increbily warped. However, I do find one exception; the Orbit gum advert, with the woman with a lit lampshade holding a pack of gum. I fail to see the offensive nature in this one, because I don’t think the message is any different if it were a man with a lampshade. Understandably, in an enviornment of adverts that objectify women, it blends right on in, but individually I don’t actually think this one is bad. It’s about shiney teeth, which is pretty gender neutral. Otherwise, these are all pretty scary.
Some of these are horrifying, but some of them, not so much. For example, the orbit gum ad? That particular ad campaign had billboards all over my area, and many of them had men under lamp shades. I think that the point was supposed to be that it made your teeth shine. I’m not sure what you read into it, but I’d like to know.
Maybe look at the other side of the story, at the dumbing down of men. An ad for a women’s only gym had a picture of a woman holding up her hand and the caption was “No Toms. No Harrys. And No Dicks.”
Another ad had just a bunch of flowers, with the caption “For Great Sex.” Wow, we can look at it as women only put out whenever they’re given items, but men are also given the message that women don’t want anything to do with them unless they spend money on frivilous items.
Why is it men in these ads are also displayed as handsome, well-muscled, oiled physiques? Can’t we accept men as coming in all shapes and sizes? We cry about the portrayal of women in magazines, but what about the portrayal of men in soap operas, a medium that a lot of women watch. Women are sexualized; but men are romanticised.
While some ads do seem a little risque, what woman doesn’t want to be HEALTHY. Being overweight bears so many health problems, whilst having a good size and a good weight is ideal. Stick thin isn’t ideal, but the Fit Yoghurt doesn’t promote anorexia. It’s promoting a lifestyle change. How does the message best get through? Appeal to the vanity. How many smokers have quit because they’re afraid of the health affects? As opposed to quitting because the guy/girl they’re into really doesn’t like the smell of smoke.
All I’m saying is that there is more than one way to interpret an ad. Yes, some are blatant; some are tongue-in-cheek; some are purely to create controversy. But, consider all that the message may be portraying, from both genders, from different sides of the story.
I know men certainly don’t like being compared to the immensely romanticsed versions found in romance novels and TV. But us females do it all the time, and expect material items to prove their love.
BTW, I’m female, if the assumption is made for arguing from the man’s perspective.
Being sexual and being an object are not the same thing. I think you are actually illustrating one of the effects of this kind of imagery. It makes both men and women think that for a woman to be sexual is equal to her being a sexual object for a man. Never mind her desire or lack there of, as long as she can turn a man on and is available. That is all that matters. Images like this also promote the idea that making a man want you is the only way (or at least best and easiest way) women have power and encourages girls and women to objectify themselves. It’s not “prudish” to find objectification wrong.
I am glad that you have taken on the subject with zealousness. You are an easy read with deep roots. Brainwashed is my word for this type of advertising indoctrination.
I agree that many ads here are pretty bad, some simply explicit for American audiences (why?) and some lovely.
But it seems there’s an opportunity to highlight good examples of gender-based advertising (both male and female.) Those Dove underwear ads come to mind.
Overreaction, much? Really, who cares? Don’t buy the products if you feel they degrade you.
Like some folks (at least from reading the comments) I’ll agree with you on some, and think you’re over-reacting on others…
example-the Axe ad: “This ad shows a guy relaxing in a position of control, enjoying coffee and cigarettes while a girl gives him oral sex…(etc.)”
Advertising photos are intentionally open to interpretation in many cases, and with this ad and others on this page, you’re imposing a narrative that supports your specific agenda/ideology and not implicitly stating what you’re doing (like the advertisers you’re reviewing). Receiving oral sex is both a position of control and a position of vulnerability, and there’s really nothing explicit in the photo that exclusively depicts domination or even that the two people have an unhealthy/unequal relationship, so why not stick to ads that are clearly misogynistic?
Also, on the Diesel ad: What makes you so sure the sex is reckless? It looks pretty orderly to me.
And on the Diesel and all the other jeans/clothing ads: Yeah, all they are offering is “a thin layer of denim” or whatever. Clothes without people in them are totally boring, people in nice clothes are so-so, depending. But sex? It’s exciting and it sells. I’ll agree with you that the ads are often gross, but you should stop being surprised by the use of sex to sell product… they’ll stop when they find something that grabs eyeballs better.
But overall, awesome article – good collection!
love it!
I agree with you for the most part, but the part where you say “The truth is, if you don’t put yourself in a dangerous position, you’re less likely to be victimized.” Is only somewhat true. A sad majority of sexual assault is perpetrated by someone the victim knows; such as a family member, partner, co-worker or date. This can make it hard or impossible to tell what a ‘dangerous situation’ is, because for example, if you are going out with someone for the first time you have no way of knowing they are a potential rapist.
Accepting a drink from your date could seem like something harmless. Kissing someone should be harmless, if you say no to sexual activity and they wont stop its not because you put yourself in a dangerous situation its because they are making a conscious decision to go beyond what you have consented to.
Obviously NO ONE should put themselves in ANY kind of dangerous situation (this would include playing on train tracks, running across busy intersections) but NO ONE should sexually assault or abuse. To be old fashioned, no means no and yes means yes; accepting a gift, walking down the street alone or wearing short shorts do not mean yes.
By putting the responsibility of preventing sexual assault on the potential victims (I assume because the page is about women being portrayed as sex objects in advertising you meant women) it causes people to live in fear, and censor themselves because they fear victimization instead of actually stopping the crime from happening by teaching that it is wrong to treat another human being this way.
And it is a great thing that you are pointing out the fact that ads like these are contributing to perpetuating a culture that treats sexual violence as acceptable. All things aside from my little rant, really interesting post!
Where do we develop this sense that ads depicting sexuality are wrong? Is it from the religious based society all too many of us have been raised in? If so, should we still be shaming ourselves with this type of analysis?
It would have been much more interesting to see this done with a balanced approach and include the male perspective as well plus addressing questions as I have asked above.
I would also like to note that objectification can and does occur within healthy respectful relationships. When people can see it for what it is it can become a tool to enhance a fun and lively sex life!
From an artistic point of view these ads are drawing in the viewer and making people ask questions. That is the sign of well produced art and that is what advertising executives look for in their artists.
All the ads are fantastic!
Thank you.
Thanks for bringing up that point. In no way is it someone’s fault if they’re abused. And, we would never want a society where women live in fear or censor themselves! Our issue is instead with the promotion of self-objectification, especially in young girls. Tweens and teens are not emotionally equipped to handle adult situations, but they’re being taught to present themselves as such. Certainly no one can predict sexual abuse, but every girl can be informed about risks, hazards, and ways to minimize her chances of victimization.
i like these advertisements very much – where can i buy that chick?
I addressed this same opinion in a previous comment, but am fine with reiterating my response. We absolutely support a healthy sex life, as it’s a beautiful and enriching part of any relationship. We also never cast judgment on someone’s choice of lifestyle, since nuns and porn stars alike can be intelligent and empowered human beings. What we do oppose is the bottom-feeding style of marketing that often encourages unwarranted exploitation and abuse. The article states our personal mission, that “we have no desire to censor anyone. … Instead, our aim is to empower those of you negatively affected by these ads, so you can determine your own truth, and shape your own reality.” If you aren’t negatively affected by this style of marketing, then you aren’t our “target audience”, as it were.
Those are all very valid points. The unhealthy messages toward men are hardly ever addressed, which perhaps makes them even more insidious. (When was the last time someone took a “Men’s Studies” class?) So we are very aware of the gaping need for confrontation of the topic. Just as women are told to be thin, young, and sexually desirable, men are told to be muscular, emotionless, and financially successful. It’s a lose-lose set of gender stereotypes, and we see it everywhere.
This particular website focuses on “women and culture warfare”, because we are women and that’s what we know best. However, we’re very interested in how the manipulative media affects all people, and the StilettoRevolt hopes to one day create a partner website focusing on men and culture warfare. After all, we’re all in this thing together.
Thank you for your poignant and intelligent commentary.
wow… i never looked at it that way …
thank you
I don’t like images that are demeaning to any demographic. Referring to the Fit yogurt advertisement in particular: I don’t like the particular way in which they say it, but obesity is not healthy, and while there are many men out there who like large women, I’ll venture to say that it’s more due to a fetish than a lack of concern for body type in choosing a sexual partner.
Fit yogurt needs to stop throwing it in peoples faces, but people do need to be aware of the health benefits regarding a healthy, active lifestyle. How can anyone be physically attracted to someone who’s as unfit (no pun intended) as the people in those pictures? It’s a genetic red flag: they seem to be predisposed to either slow metabolism or binge eating. Evolution is unfortunately very conservative; things like that are just a turn off.
I’ve been told that most women feel the same about men who are below average height.
Granted, these things I’ve said could all be due to my cultural conditioning. Egyptologists claim that excess fat was once a sign of financial affluence. Entities such as “diabetes”, “heart disease”, and “cancer” would likely be nonsensical to an ancient Egyptian physician, as their theoretical orientation regarding medicine was drastically different from our biomedical one. In the present, the aforementioned disorders are meaningful to us; they should not be ignored, and those at risk should not be exploited, especially not for corporate profit.
Most of us believe that malevolent spirits, witches, or angry deities don’t give us heart attacks, diabetes, etc. It’s time we all started being realistic about our problems. The people in those photographs need to get help.
hi i think some of these adds are actually quite artisticaly good…rhetorically and otherwise the fact of the matter is …sex sells and these adds obviously work…objectifying women while not essesntial in advertising it is a great place to start…
besides MOST women dont mind
We suggest doing some research before making a sweeping generalization that “most women don’t mind”. If you can provide academic resources to support that statement, then we’re open to exploring it. If you can’t, well, then you’ve done the work for us and proven yourself wrong.
Sex can certainly be artistic. And I agree that some of these ads are artistic – I wouldn’t flip out quite so much over some of them.
But all of them? There is a difference between depicting a sexual lifestyle – the Calvin Klein ad – vs. making women into sex objects – Details, Che, Lee, and most of the other ones up there. There is an artistic way to portray sex. But giving people the impression that anyone – men or women – are only powerful when they have a sexy body, or offer sex to others, or can be used by sex is pretty inappropriate and sickening. All it does is tell people – youth especially – that they need to be sexy, popular, and a flirt to be powerful/successful. Thats it.
While I find most of these ads, in fact the majority of these ads disgusting. There are a few that seem to be taken out of context to make a point. Namely the Pear one and a few that just seem to be expressions of sexuality, in fact the American Eagle one may be a bit risque, but it is intended to sell bras, and it seems rather tame…compared to many of the others. Just an observation. I really do applaud your work compiling these, but context is key, and demographics are vital in advertising. If I were to see an ad for something to make me a bit sexier, I would probably pick it up…but the ads that are exceptionally sexualized and objectifying are just terrible.
And you’re ok with that?
One of the first things I wondered was…why are these female models doing this? Are they aware of how they are being presented? I mean…I’m sure they’d have to be in most cases. The plus-size models doing the Fit yogurt ads…how sad is it that they would facilitate that kind of advertisement? Is it for the money? Do they believe in the same ads they are contributing to? As far as the others, some women do not mind being portrayed sexually that way, but how were some of the younger ones able to do those poses with such minimal clothing? In some cases, such things can be considered “art”, but the content is so explicitly sexist in a lot of them…ugh. I’m at a loss.
I couldn’t agree more.
A lot of these ads are showing sexual imagery or promoting sexual ideas. Objectification is in the eye of the beholder.
I’m big enough question ideas adverts try to promote. They don’t make me think anything. They are not ready-made thoughts.
Many real-life girls create a façade to attract attention and desire (from men or anyone else). This has been the case since forever and wasn’t because of adverts for beer or cigarettes. It’s a human trait.
Woman are interesting, sexual, for men (and vice versa) and some of these ads are showing that and that alone. Not good for humans, but fine for shifting products.
Darren, I know damn fine that you have in your mind, scenes, images and actions far more “warped” than this.
You and me and every other human have been given a imagination capable for creating much weirder and scary stuff than this. I’d trust you less if you hadn’t used it in this manner.
I agree that buying something because of these ads is absurd, but the images aren’t depraved ideas from media monsters.
We got the idea that ads depicting sexuality are wrong from a range of places and conditions.
Religion is the most obvious, but probably a scapegoat for others. Victorian times gave use ideas that we developed and hold to this day. Media hype has also created an unrealist idea of sex – a lot of peeps feel inferior to this idea and react with disapproval to all sex. And something I might also think is that people are control freaks and don’t like sex going on in other peoples minds – they want to be the object of desire.
You really can’t think why the models might take part in this ads?
You’re post suggests that plus size girls should be more reserved and less sure of their bodies. The idea of the ad is ugly but these are incredibly attractive woman.
You shouldn’t be at a loss – adverts selling object associated with sex are sexist.
And the younger models, they can take all their clothes off and pose for these images because their bodies will never be as attractive as it is now, and they (like you and me) know it.
@GMcG, that’s not really what the post says (Also it’s really annoying to me when people use you’re instead of your… but I’ll leave that alone this time). Anyway it says the ADS are suggesting plus sized women be more reserved, even ashamed of their figures. This post agrees with you that they’re attractive.
Also ads depicting sexuality are fine, but ads that are sexually objectifying people, turning their bodies into lifeless objects that can be bought and sold, those ads ARENT ok. Sex is about a connection between 2 people, not 1 person and a blow up doll barbie.