The Image Of Women In Tv Advertisements Media Essay

The Image Of Wo men In Tv Advertisements Media EssayThe first television advertisement appe ard on July, 1941 during a baseball game on a local New York channel. The 10-second commercial spot broadcasted by the company Bulova Watches has revolutionized the television (Business Wikipedia). It k clean a macroscopic overwhelm that pushed some other companies to jump on board .By 1948 numerous additional companies adopted this new merchandise technique, and little by little , the new tool has become familiar and actually utilize and companies were obliged to compete against each other to draw and quarter the largest number of customers . For this movement they tend to employ the more than attracting image to convince people to buy. One of these images is that of fair sex. Since the late 60s, there set out been concerns most cleaning fair sexs portrayal in the media. Western advertisers introduce her in different commercials since they had noniced that her appearance is very effective in term of attractiveness. But, it is so noniceable that in the majority of ads, women atomic number 18 stereotyped and ab utilize. However many wrong fancys are promoted about them, since they are always viewed as objects used to attract peoples attention. Besides their devaluation, the content of advertisement contains a stagger of power against them.Their abuse and their image misuse should be considered a serious issue as it affects the audience and change their minds and gazes. In Fact, advertisers tend to play on peoples psychologies, so they can easily manipulate and convince them to buy unnecessary goods.The question here is how western TV advertisements stereotype women and how oftentimes this could impairment the audience.Chapter 1Literature review1. The Image of Women in TV Advertisements1.1 Women in TV advertisement from a subject to an objecta) Women as a Sex ObjectNowadays, advertisements are seen everywhere at any time. Most of advertisers seek to founder a beautiful sexy woman in their commercials in inn to market products and by doing so they consider her as just a sex object that can persuade the consumer by means of conquest to buy. Many companies thrust succeeded in increasing their revenues by using the pick outledgeable context which has enlarged their customer base and attracted a largest number of clients. Therefore, Berger considers these advertisement techniques as sexploitation of the fe manlike personate as star of its communication tools ( Ilona P.Pawlowski,2007).Historically, the employment of women as a sexual object has evolved gradually in 1983 scarcely 28% of women sh possess in ads had some sexy clothes in their bodies but in 2007, 75% of them dressed in an attractive sensual way. Nowadays women appear partially unclothed in advertisement. In other words, women not only continued to be depicted in a sexual bearing, but as wholesome as the degree of sexual action mechanism increased over tim e (Ilona P.Pawlowski,2007).In the article The Exploitation of Women in Ads written by Kanter on the web cite Study mode, the fact that many fashion photographers return pornographic publications to take sexual and attractive poses or only move of womens body is menti id. The book stresses the image of women as a sexual object, a thing or a part of the merchandise to be dehumanized especially by showing just parts of her body. To pause as Cortese notices in his book Provocateur Images of Women and Minorities in Advertisement publicise sells much more than products, it sells values and cultural representations, such(prenominal) as success and sexuality.Moreover, women are more used than men in advertisements and according to this article How Advertising Women Models Can Reach Market? the writer confirms that even for products that the target consumers are males woman image is often employed. It creates on them an impression that women would like a man that uses that product. In o ther words, women want this. Get the product, get the woman (Cortese, 2008). This shows that nowadays, women are used as a sex object with all kind of products from electronics to process-up.An article titled Russia-Campaign against sexism in advertising insists on the comparable idea, the female body is pictured as a propaganda for pornography, furiousness and prostitution in order to advertise products that men buy such as cars, beers, perfumefor example in cars advertisement, womens hot body is most of the time present, they act as a supplement to the car, as one of the options available to be expensively purchased by a successful man.Danesi, a moralist, advertising professional and student of contemporary marketing communication knowledge, writes in his book Sex in Advertising that if we take on about psychological studies that examine how males think, we can notice that the take centers in the head words of recent heterosexual males were activated by female face. This m eans that the reason of creating a suggestive advertisement is that by showing womens body as a sex object we can activate and work the reward centers of a man and push him to purchase a product, simply because there is the image of a female body on its cover. Also, by showing womens body we can access to the subconscious of a man and make him implicitly remember the sexual thing (women). Thats why Advertisers believe that the more outlandish, the sexier, the more scratch shown, the more the brand image will refuse to leave your memory (Dansei, 2011).Figure 1 A nude woman in DG ad.This psychological explanation is another definite proof that womens body is abused for marketing benefits for which many famous companies tend to portray women in a sex context , such as Dolce Gabbana, Calvin Klein, Yves Saint Laurent and many other well-known brands. Besides, according to the article Sex in advertising by Dansei, there are 5000 advertising essences a day that a person can receive and 20% of these ads contain sexual images. So, advertisers consider that womens bodies are not only a beguiling approach to attract consumers attention, but also the best tool and can be Commodified as products that run through a use value.(Dansei,2011)Its so clear accordingly that a sex object is something that has become essential in every advertisement in a way that objectified and dehumanized women. This can be explained by the fact that people believe that sex sells products (Province,Monique,2010). As a result sex in advertisement contributes to the building of strong, vibrant, and long-lasting brands (Ilona P.Pawlowski,2007). Verhoeven explains in her article chop body spray ads and women as sex objects that advertisements do not just sell products, they also promote and establish our cultures values and ideas so naturally stereotypes are reinforced by advertisement (Verhoeven, Hanna, 2011). Axe body spray is one of the many examples of ads that make stereotypes against wom en.Figure 2 pictures of Axe spray commercial The fallen angelTo set an example, these two images belong to the commercial spot of Axe body spray for men. It is titled Fallen angels this ad shows many beautiful women introduced as angels that came from sky, on earth, they go directly to the trust from where comes the smell of Axe body spray. When they find the man who puts it, they take off their crowns, forget about their innocence and seduce him. The heart and soul this ad delivers to the male audience is that women can not defend themselves when smelling such a perfume. Its always a sex context.b) The image of the traditional housewifeAnother inappropriate image the advertisement reflects is the improve housewife whose tasks are raising children and winning care of her house and husband .An article titled Womens Images in Magazine Advertisement How Far stick out They Come? discuss this topic. It emphasizes in fact that advertisers characterize them as possessing low intellig ence, analytical ability, and rationality and when the audience especially men get this message, they will popularise these characteristics to all women and of course this result in a devaluation of the woman and its important role in society. Standing for the same idea, Naughton Michael states in his book The Popularized Housewife in Advertisements, that The creators of ads do it appear that the full time job of a woman should be a housewife. Women are considered as mades or servants who are responsible for(p) just for the rest of the family. Figure 3 The traditional image of a housewifeTherefore, many advertisements present the image of the housewives wearing the magic uniform of work. commonly ,they wear aprons, skirts, high heels, and pearls (Naughton,Michael,2006). He adds that The ad showed that women are expected to be in this professional uniform all the time. they are always put in the kitchen or the bathroom (described by Naughton as their office).These two elements o f job (uniform and office) strengthens that the housewife is, indeed, an important job as any other is. This message delivered by advertisement reinforces the idea of the dependency of women on men.Figure 4The commercial of Schlitz beerNegative characterizations made by advertisers such as womens place is her house or women are weak and need men protection, push men to think that these ideas are true and women are really weak fallible and unable to go out for working. Moreover, advertisements show that women as housewives can not make expensive purchases.They are not well-informed enough to make such decisions. Differently, men in advertisements are introduced as businessmen who are usually busy outside the house .They also make big decisions and realise later women who are not capable of requireing after themselves (Shrikhande,Vaisahli 2003). It is so obvious here that advertisement stands for gender inequity. In fact it tends to present women in low-level positions comparing to males. Moreover they are very devaluated when their activities are limited to house shores. As an example, an ad for Schiltz beer shows a woman that burned the dinner that she prepared for her husband. She cries for this, then her husband says do not worry darling, you didnt burn the beer. The idea of the woman who serves the man of the house (Naughton, 2003) in order to make him happy is so clear.c) The Image of the Dumb BlondeThe article The Dumb Blonde Women Stereotype demonstrates that blond women are considered as beautiful, thin, sexy and attractive but not intelligent not serious and not responsible. Again she is seen as an empty minded who has no opinion or personality. Blonde women are always shown busy taking care of themselves in order to look beautiful their main interest is to wear provocative clothes, put sexy perfumes and make-up .They are portrayed as unthinking and superficial. This stereotype is often expressed also in blonde jokes (The dumb blonde women ster eotype). In addition, advertisers treat blond women as a opus of meat (Kazay,Ginger 2007). The question here is why this image of the dumb blonde is employed in ads? Advertisers portray a blonde as a stupid women to attract the consumer attention and to restrain the ad in his mind. They want to create original, funny ideas. When the consumer square upes such funny images, he will laugh and tell others about it. The ad is registered in his mind and transmitted to others. This is the result that advertisers aim to achieve.1.2 forcefulness against Women in Advertisementa ) Physical ViolenceThe first aspect of abandon against woman that advertisement shows, is the sex context excessively used when introducing women in ads. Women are objectified and seen in a weak position, helpless and bound (Evans,Rachel), however men are seen strong and with power over women (Evans,Rachel). Advertisers send, through this image, the subliminal message that women like and want cutthroat men. Evans explains this idea in her article American bring forth Does Selling Sex in Modern Ads Advocate Violence against Women? she writes about modern advertisement They are preferable to women, that desirable women are submissive, and that a woman doesnt really mean no when she says it she adds that this image of violence towards women results in desensitizing consumers into thinking that violence against women is not only acceptable, but encouraged (Evans,Rachel). such message is really a very dangerous way to portrait women .It is so unhealthy to make people believe that women like violence. Dealing with the same issue, Mc Cormack an assistant sociology professor collected many ads from the most famous magazines in America like Business Week and Cosmopolitan that show women delightful as they are being bring in ( Rob,Roberts1991). He deduces that advertisement make the audience believes that women like to be hit and this is of course so wrong. Unfortunately, this kind of message th at people get from advertisement encourage men to be violent with women. Mc Cormick ensures that We never see men in these positions, we never see men upside down, we never see men tied up, we never see men being assaulted by women, we never see men being hit by women, being hit by things in the head. We certainly would not see men enjoying it (Rob,Roberts1991).This picture is a concrete example of the conception of violence that advertisement emphasizes. It is an ad made by the famous company Calvin Klein, the image was demeaning to women by suggesting that she is a plaything of these men. It also demeans men by implying sexualized violence against women. (Doherty,Elissa 2010) Figure 5 a woman as sex object in Kelvin Klein adAnother company that its ads are plenty of violence against women is DolceGabbana. For this reason Dina Price made an interview with the Italian designer of this brand.He stated that these ads do not represent rape or violence, but if one had to give an interpr etation of the picture, it could recall an erotic dream, a sexual game. The idea of this sexual game is adopted by the majority of famous brands. wholly these companies consider violence and humiliation sexy.They transform these into that art that shocks the public opinion (Sex and Violence in Advertising, A Mainstream Phenomena). In fashion world, we notice that fashion photographers relieve oneself an ongoing obsession with images of women feel dead (Katelate Stephanie,2011). These dead-like women are shown in a sexy and attractive poses. We can deduce here that advertisers and designers use violence to present something sexy (Katelate stephanie 2011).So women are shown again portrayed in shocking images. They are usually seen in an unhealthy way and suffering from the physical violence such as torture and killing (Rob,Roberts1991) caused by men.b) Psychological ViolenceSexual exploitation of women has increased over the last decades as a new marketing strategy. They are seen a s attractive bodies and nothing else. This emotional violence can also be proved by discrimination, based on splutter color, made by advertisers. sportsmanlike women are always preferable when choosing a model for a commercial spot. Its so rare to see an advertisement with a black model, and even if it happened, she would be introduced as a vulgar and unsophisticated one. More moral violence against women is seen in advertisement when just few parts of womens body are shown like legs or a mouth. This is a clear dehumanization of women. The reduction of women to body parts for mens breathing in can significantly damage a womans self-respect (Katele, 2011). Moreover, woman is treated as a prostitute in the majority of advertisements. She is not serious or respectful but happy with a smiley face. Considering this picture they are not only introduced as prostitutes but also proud of it1.3 Advertisers exposition of Beautya) The White SkinTo be beautiful as a first condition is to be a snow-clad-skinned person This what advertisers promote asWhite steady is viewed as superior as Banks Michaela Choo confirms, because white women are seen more innocent, shiny, with straight hair and light skin. In contrast, black women are viewed as animals more than as humans she adds. We can deduce then that racism is another contradict value advertisement spreads. Furthermore, advertisers define the white standard of beauty in terms of the skin tone, hair type and body shape, Bank says. One understands from this definition that not all white women are considered beautiful. Advertisers have many criteria to be followed. harmonise to them the perfect white women must be thin, with straight hair, nice smile and preferably blond. A concrete example is when an African-American model was refused by the company of Ciroc Vodka (Bitchie,Nicole 2009), simply because she was a black woman and the company admitted it. She wondered What message does this send? If you are not light you a re not right? If you are black get back? What does this do for the self-esteem of young dark-skinned African-American girls every where? Tell them that they are ugly because their skin is too dark? Is this a type of mentality that you like to promote in your marketing campaigns? (Bitchie,Nicole 2009)For more credibility, researchers made statistics to figure out the percentage that white women take in commercials. As shown in the table below, white women are used in most ads of product categories. Models with light skin accounted by 64.8% in the clothes products ads compared to medium and black-skinned models by only 35.2%. This shows that advertisement designers prefer white women and consider them the more beautiful. For perfumes products black models are present in just 20% of ads when the rest (80%) is for white ones. For make-up products 65.5% of ads for white models and 34.5% for dark models. Through this obvious discrimination, advertisers tend to manipulate the unconsciousne ss of the consumer and oblige him to adopt the idea that the white skin is the first condition of beauty. merchandise categoryLight skin modelsMedium and dark skin modelsHair productShoesPerfumesPublic service AdElectronicsSkin careMakeupOther50.0%66.7%80.0%58.8%54.5%57.1%65.5%61.5%11101210616194050.0%33.3%20.0%41.2%45.5%42.9%34.5%38.5%115375121025100%100%100%100%100%100%100%100%Table (*) Product for light skin modelsb) Super Skinny ModelsNowadays, skinny models are seen in all types of advertisement. They are preferred by many fashion designers who find them very attractive, beautiful and as the way their skin tightens up over the bone in most places in their bodies is what makes them look sexy and attractive (Barrett,Patrick,2004). Not only their bodies are easier to dress with but also the clothes hang better on them, says Joanna Hill, an advertisement designer in New York. Skinny models just look better says Karl Lagerfeld, a fashion designer from Germany. For that reason, most models shown in commercials of famous and well known brands are always super skinny ones. This excessive exposition to this image will lead people to think that to be elegant, beautiful and sexy, you should be too thin that your bone could be seen easily This is of course a wrong idea, women are of different angles and being too thin is not a beauty indicator. However many women today seek to loose weight just to imitate what they see in T.V. As a model of perfume ,clothes or makup commercials, they think if such a famous brand employed this model to advertise its product , they should be necessarily so perfect. And to be beautiful, they should just look like her.c) Beautiful is to be Young lustful women are frequently seen in all types of advertisements. As sex sells every thing, advertisers employ attractive women posed in provocative way to buy products. But in the first place beauty, models should be of course young women, the age is so important to advertise especially for fe minine products .Beauty is so related to youth, this what advertisers promote. This idea can deeply harm the female audience. Every woman that gets over 30 or 35 will consider herself as an ugly woman that can not be seen as beautiful in a way or another. A woman may think that way due to the fact that the message excessively sent to the audience generalizes the idea even if is to loftyy wrong, it makes everybody believe it even though it is illogical. It is so clear then that advertisers promote their own opinions and ideas and seek to govern peoples mind in a way that serves them and convinces consumers to purchase what is advertised.2. Stereotypes Against Women in TV Advertisements and its Impact on Society2.1 Womens Body DissatisfactionToday, TV advertisement is a common way by which a company promotes its products. Thin and beautiful models or celebrities are the main image that companies relies on to attract the audience. In fact, this repeated image of the same physical char acteristics of models create on women a feeling of dissatisfaction .They automatically tend to overestimate their bodies sizes in order to look like what they always see in ads. This causes them many serious problems.a) Eating DisordersEating disorders is eating more or less than the body needs. It is caused usually by psychological problems like anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa which are characterized by a disturbance of eating deportment. The first involves rejection of food while the second involves pursing after eating. Women mostly influenced by these disorders. In fact advertisement has a noticeable role in causing these troubles. After watching TV commercials that standardizes the conception of beauty, women would feel dissatisfied with their bodies shape. According to the researchers Harrison and Canter disordered eating symptomlogy and encompass related variables such as body dissatisfaction, drive for thinness, perfection, and ineffectiveness (Cohen, Sara2006). In adv ertisements, the portrayal of super-slim females is considered as more fashionable, desirable and attractive. Many researchers confirm that exposure to ideal-body images could increase eating disorders in two ways. First exposure could lead to internalizing the ideal-body stereotype (Harbin Channel,2011), which causes an excessive dieting in order to attain the internalized ideal. Second, exposure to thin-ideal could promote social comparison, which engenders intense dieting as a means of seeking to meet external standards.b) Low self-conceitAfter watching super models in advertisements, women tend to compare themselves with models shown in commercials. This comparison makes them dissatisfied with the way they look especially those who already have negative impression about their bodies. Women who already have low opinions of their physical appearance are at an even greater risk for negative effects from media images, says Bessonoff a professor in the Psychological Department in th e University of Connecticut who has more than 7 years in the fields of social comparison, body image, and women in the media.Moreover, TV commercials show also unrealistic images with many modifications. Viewing television commercials containing images of the unrealistic thin-ideal for women caused adolescent girls to feel less confident, and more dissatisfied with their weight and appearances(Dittmar Helega,2011). Women evaluate their own attitudes, abilities, and beliefs among others and they are not satisfied with their appearance which is more judged by themselves than by others. Comparisons interested on appearance commonly are upward, which means that a woman compares herself to others who are more attractive and better in order to find out the standard of excellence. This upward comparison is related to body dissatisfaction disordered eating, reduced self-confidence, depression, and anxiety (Cohen, Sara ,2006).c) The Need to be PerfectThe pressure of exposure in todays life l eads to dangerous effects on womens body. Exposure, in which the ideal body image is portrayed, will make women unhappy and dissatisfied with their body shape, especially when they watch thin models, who advertise new fashion designs, so they feel the need to be perfect like them. Thin body images of such models and actress have been getting thinner and thinner over the past 40 years. They are wearing very small sizes 1and 0 which make women attempt impossible standards in order to be beautiful and perfect. As a result, augmentative surgeries are very popular today. Many medical professionals confirm that the rising of cosmetic surgery is due to the rising accessibility to television programs. Thus, women become dissatisfied, worried, and haunt with their appearance, and they turned to be only concerned about looking for cosmetics and advertised products that promised to offer them solutions. It is clear then why advertisers seek to make women feel ungratified and unhappy with thei r looks.2.2 Stereotypes Against Women in Tv Advertisement and its Effects on MenNowadays, we are excessively exposed to advertisements in every single moment because of the well developed techniques used. Womans image is always the essential part in TV ads. This has a big influence on the audience.a) The Influence of Sexy Images on MenAdvertisements that contain plenty of sexy bodies may affect the audience and shape their ideas about women. A sexy ad in which a woman wears a bikini gets the attention of men. A research done by Susan Fiske, a professor of psychology at Princeton University, shows that in men ,the brain areas are associated with handling tools and the intention to perform actions light up when viewing images of women in bikinis(Landau,Elizabeth,2010). Another research uses brain scans to show that when we see images of sexy bodies an activity increased in a part of the brain called the premotor cortex, which is involved in taking actions (Lan, 2011). Moreover, these sexy images portrayed in TV ads tend to increase the sexual appetite of men. According to the authors Bram Van den Bergh, Siegfried Dewitt, and Luk Warlop, the desire for immediate rewards increased in men who touched bras, looked at pictures of beautiful women, or watched video clips of young women in bikinis running through a park ( Science Daily,2008).b) The Influence of Models on Mens Desire and Want towards Their WivesAs models are portrayed in different and frequent ads in their stereotyped manner, men are influenced by their bodies attractiveness and they want their wives to become like these models. Men are attracted by young women with small lower part of face with full lips, high cheek bones and long neck, large eyes and small nose (Men know what they want, 2011).c) Males gazeAccording to Jonathan Schroeder, to gaze implies more than to look at-it signifies a psychological relationship of power, in which the gazer is superior to the object of the gaze (Chandler, Daniel,201 1). The males gaze is the way how a man considers a woman.As TV ads are plenty of sexy women employed by advertisers to sell products the idea being that if you buy what they are selling you will get the girl (Abgond, 2011).In this picture of Channel advertisement, Nicole Kidman appears in such a way looking straightly into the eyes of the viewer (Lowen Linda, 2010). This advertisement is directed to men, Mulvey explains males may believe that buying this product as a gift for a woman might make her look like the model in the advertisement , also using this perfume could change the way people look at you (Lowen Linda, 2010).Figure 6 An American actress in Channel ad2.3 Stereotypes against Women in TV Advertisement and its Effects on ChildrenTelevision continues to represent women in highly stereotyped manner in order to influence viewers and specifically children who are easily affected.a) StereotypingIn TV ads, women are portrayed in different ways. These images have an influence o n childrens attitudes and beliefs. Children who watch female characters as passive, indecisive, and subordinate to men, and who see this reinforced by their environment, will likely believe that this is the appropriate way for females to support (Witt, 2011). Furthermore, children after viewing female characters in advertisements, have difficulties to distinguish fantasy from reality Television characters are often exaggerated stereotypes that can distort childrens expectations of people in day-to-day life (Raizada,Parul, 2009). Moreover, women have a sex-role in TV ads and it leads to a harmful effect on childrens minds as they keep thinking about these sexual ads, young girls may feel inferior compared to this artificial beauty which may result in depression and underestimation of themselves.b) Violence against Women in Ads Influences Children BehaviorAfter watching TV ads involving violence against women, children may have aggressive thoughts which leads them to use violence aga inst their sisters and even against their mothers. According to the psychologists Craig Anderson and Brad Bushman violent cognition may start a process that reinforces kids aggressive knowledge and makes them more likely to engage in aggressive acts (Science Daily, 2008). Moreover, when kids watch aggressive actions in TV ads, this may raise the risk and the aggressive tendencies children have. The two psychologists confirm that when you let your children watch violent ads you are allowing your kids to have higher potential to engage in this activity and it puts them at a higher risk because they become desensitized to violence. Due to the presence of violence used by males against women in TV advertisements, children are primarily influenced by these sights and that males are always superior to females. Consequently,very terrible images are built in childrens memories which are based on gender inequity and violence.c) Womens Tobacco Ads and its Impact on Children BehaviorWomen are present in many baccy advertisement which has a psychological effects on children. Tobacco advertisers use different techniques when advertising cigarettes. Their convincing tools influence many children and push them to consume tobacco products. In fact, celebrities shown in tobacco ads are a very important mean to convince children that tobacco is a sign of luxury and sophistication. Many famous tobacco companies tend to use this technique such as Winston, Virginia Slims, Salem and Marlboro. This picture shows a well known American singer with a tall cigarettes. Figure 7 An American singer in tobacco adWe all know that young people are more influenced by stars behavior .This is a deliberate message for children and adolescent to buy cigarette.Indeed, advertisers do not care about how harmful their product is, they only tend to enlarge their consumer base.* Questionnaire A* Question 1 -How old are you?The sample analyzed