How, and to What Extent, Does Advertising Subvert or Reinforce Cultural, Racial or Sexual Stereotypes?
Advertising is virtually everywhere in everyday life. It communicates information about products or ideas through the mass media, which persuade or influence behaviour of viewer. Sexuality has been constantly being exploited in advertising, but somehow the exploitation depends on how people derive the meaning in an ad and decide whether it subverts or reinforces the culture.
Crowley (1993) argues that women are often being exploited as sex object. She summarized the representation of women in advertising and the media that,
“For more than a decade, research has found that the portrayal of women in the media and in advertising is grossly insufficient and inappropriate… Where women are portrayed they are too often shown as unintelligent, or sexy, or as housewives responsible only for housework. As one woman told Consumer Contact research in 1992 ‘you are either a bimbo or a drone – a sex object or a drudge’… Too often women are depicted as sex objects or victims of sensationalized and often violent sex crimes. Sexist stereotyping of women persists in journalism and advertising” (Crowley 1993).
Sex is used in advertising (some subtle, some blatant) because it is appealing to the viewer. According to Taflinger (1996), “sex is the second strongest psychological appeals, right behind self-preservation. Its strength is biological and instinctive, the genetic imperative of reproduction” (Taflinger, 1996). Thus, sex is used in advertising because it works effectively.
Over the centuries, women have always been shown as a beautiful, seductive image in advertisement. In the Tony White Nissan Ad “Simply Irresistible”, and the old ad of Bornhoff Bread, women were portrayed as seductive objects. In a negative view, these ads seemed to degrade and humiliate the women who appeared on the ads as well as the women who watched them. Feminists complained that, this sort of ad leads to a continuation of women being seen as objects, purely for sexual gratification of men
Crowley (1993) argues that women are often being exploited as sex object. She summarized the representation of women in advertising and the media that,
“For more than a decade, research has found that the portrayal of women in the media and in advertising is grossly insufficient and inappropriate… Where women are portrayed they are too often shown as unintelligent, or sexy, or as housewives responsible only for housework. As one woman told Consumer Contact research in 1992 ‘you are either a bimbo or a drone – a sex object or a drudge’… Too often women are depicted as sex objects or victims of sensationalized and often violent sex crimes. Sexist stereotyping of women persists in journalism and advertising” (Crowley 1993).
Sex is used in advertising (some subtle, some blatant) because it is appealing to the viewer. According to Taflinger (1996), “sex is the second strongest psychological appeals, right behind self-preservation. Its strength is biological and instinctive, the genetic imperative of reproduction” (Taflinger, 1996). Thus, sex is used in advertising because it works effectively.
Over the centuries, women have always been shown as a beautiful, seductive image in advertisement. In the Tony White Nissan Ad “Simply Irresistible”, and the old ad of Bornhoff Bread, women were portrayed as seductive objects. In a negative view, these ads seemed to degrade and humiliate the women who appeared on the ads as well as the women who watched them. Feminists complained that, this sort of ad leads to a continuation of women being seen as objects, purely for sexual gratification of men